La Dolce Vita
No Sweeter Way to Enjoy the Venetian Lagoon
Ferries, gondolas, and water taxis zipped up and down the Grand Canal and docked briefly near the Doge’s Palace before continuing their journeys. From our angle the busy boats looked as if they would collide before they slipped past each other. We were moored on the small isle of San Giorgio, just across the channel from Venice’s San Marco quarter. Sipping cool drinks on deck in warm spring sunshine and taking in the sights on the Venetian lagoon was our idea of heaven. “Today is definitely a TEN!” raved my wife, “And this is the perfect cap to it!” We toasted with the other barge guests to her jubilant exclamation.
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That morning we awoke on our cruise barge at peaceful Murano Island to the aroma of fresh espresso wafting from the salon. After breakfast we explored the island’s canals and friendly neighborhoods, viewed glass-factory artisans creating masterpieces, and then shopped the galleries to find the perfect Murano souvenir. We jetted to nearby Venice via water taxi and then motored slowly down its Grand Canal, past the marketplace and palaces, under the Rialto and Accademia bridges, then across the channel to again meet our floating hotel at San Giorgio’s marina. After a sumptuous on-deck Veneto lunch of tagliatelle and swordfish, we toured San Giorgio’s church and then ascended its high tower for the best views of all Venice. Now, our deck lounging afforded us the perfect opportunity to revel in the day’s activities and "la dolce vita." Adding to the joy was realizing that we were but two days into our weeklong cruise.
Italian Barging and the Venetian Lagoon
Originally built in Holland in the early 1900s to haul cargo, 65-feet-long La Dolce Vita has been retrofitted exquisitely for her cruise barge role. Accommodations include three comfortable double guest cabins, a salon/dining room, and a spacious outdoor deck. Bicycles are provided for all the guests. Our crew of three long-time residents of the Veneto region included captain Paulo, gourmet chef Davide, and our English-speaking steward Leo. He well represented the region: its culture, history, sites, and cuisine. High-spirited Leo gladly described the Veneto lifestyle, including the annual Venice Carnavale when the city decks itself out and goes wild for days, including a floating bridge to Guidecca Island, neighborhood dining parties, and firework spectacles.
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It didn’t take long to become spoiled by life aboard La Dolce Vita. Each morning after breakfast we would take an arranged tour, then cruise to a new mooring for lunch. We usually had the afternoon to ourselves for explorations, cycling, or lounging before sailing in the late afternoon to a new nighttime mooring. Here we again enjoyed explorations or pre-dinner relaxing before the evening's incredible meal.
La Dolce Vita is the only hotel barge in all of Italy and its itinerary is truly unique: the Venetian Lagoon with the islands of Venice, Burano, Murano, Torcello, Lido, Pellestrina, and San Giorgio. The cruise includes a journey from the lagoon up the River Brenta with its small countryside towns and centuries old Venetian villas. Averaging only about one meter in depth, the lagoon is scattered with many marshy wilderness areas. Navigation is done via a series of natural and dredged interconnecting channels. The marine climate includes a beautiful mixture of conditions: fogs rising and lowering, wind and sun, sudden thunder storms, clearing skies, rainbows, and beautiful sunsets.
The history of man’s interaction with the lagoon is equally fascinating: the rerouting of the Po River to inhibit silt buildup, the dredging of channels, the installation of locks and dams on the Brenta River, the embedding of thousands of vertical tree trunks in Venice to support its large buildings, the exploitation of shell fishing, and the formation of protected fishing basins. Man's attempt to control the lagoon continues today, as the government is considering installing gates to the Adriatic Sea to prevent the tidal flooding that plagues Venice in the winter.
| The Cuisine – "Molto Buono" A major highlight of life aboard La Dolce Vita was the excellent Veneto cuisine. An example dinner menu offered by chef Davide reflected the palate splendors: melon and prosciutto (antipasto), polenta with shrimp (primo), rabbit (secondo), and panecotta (dolce). All these courses were served with an excellent sequence of wines such as Prosecco di Cardizzo (sparkling wine), Riparosso di Montepulciano (red), and Ramandolo di Zuccolo (dessert). The ending selection of cheeses included Taleggio, Fontina, Assiago, Piccorino, and goat cheese with wild honey. Thank goodness our active days of walking and cycling enabled us to burn off the tasty calories. |
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Wonders of Venice
Venice is the core of the Venetian lagoon and the center of its amazing history. We stayed in the city for a couple of days prior to boarding the cruise, exploring countless canals, bridges, squares and churches in Cannaregio, Santa Croce, San Polo, Dorsoduro, Castello, and San Marco neighborhoods. Our cruise provided the highlight of our Venice explorations with a private tour of St. Mark’s Square, the Basilica, and the Doge’s Palace. Elisabetta, a Venetian, strikingly explained the sites and their history. Particularly stunning was the gold and gems altarpiece, the Pala d'Oro. Originally two separate 12th-century Byzantine panels, one sculpted with the story of Saint Mark and images of Christ, the other with Archangel Michael and the apostles, this ultimate Byzantine masterpiece was joined together in 1343 with the addition of 1,927 gems in a Gothic framework. Elisabetta provided an excellent recount of how the Venetian empire was administered by a network of special councils, all operating under the figurehead ruler, the doge. The tour of the palace’s prison demonstrated that the doges and their councils held a firm upper hand at the height of the empire.
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Quiet Islands
The most unique and enjoyable aspect of our cruise was mooring at the serene islands of Burano, Murano, and Lido. Burano exuded a special aura with its small canals lined with colorful, two-story homes of its fishing families. Friendly residents, chatting and sharing the local news, filled the main square. St. Martin’s leaning church tower reminded us of Pisa's, as it was a full meter off of perpendicular at its 82-meter high point. The church proudly displayed a large canvas of the Crucifixion by Venetian artist Tiepolo. Our visit to the museum of merletto, Venetian lace, was fascinating as we marveled at current day masters creating their wares.
Murano was an equally interesting island with its richly decorated churches full of Veneto-Byzantine mosaics, its lively open-air markets, and its glasswork galleries. Our glass factory visit increased our admiration for the artistry that has brought fame to the island for five centuries. Today’s masters train in apprenticeships for 15-30 years and lead teams of workers to produce a beautiful variety of glass jewelry, dinnerware, and sculptures.
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Our stay at Lido allowed us to cycle the full length of this slender isle that forms one of the barriers of the lagoon. Beaches that overfill with summer sunbathers stretched for miles on the Adriatic Sea coast. Lido became famous in the 1900s as the favored Venetian beach destination and for its historical hotels, Excelsior and Des Bains, where today movie stars stay during the Venice Film Festival.
Other small islands we visited included Torcello, the first lagoon island colonized by the Romans 2,000 years ago. We discovered the Veneto-Byzantine church Santa Maria Assunta and climbed its 12th-century tower, rising from Roman foundations. The views of the surrounding artichoke farms and the northern lagoon were well worth the effort. We also stopped at San Francesco del Deserto to visit the ancient monastery, now home to only three monks. Saint Francis of Assisi rested here during his return from Palestine in 1220. On Pellestrina, another narrow island that is part of the lagoon’s barrier from the Adriatic, we strolled through the small fishing village of San Pietro in Volta. Here we enjoyed the hustle of fishermen clearing their boats after a long day of shell fishing in the southern lagoon.
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River Brenta: Villas and Countryside
Our itinerary included two days cruising the River Brenta past the lush countryside and Venetian villas dating from the 1600s. We toured Widman Villa and the grandest of them all, Villa Pisani, with its Versailles-like gardens and huge rooms with Tiepolo frescoes. The villas were fascinating for their excessive luxuriousness and their history as vacation residences for Venice’s upper class. They were “overdone” for the era, as their landlords built them when Venice had started its long slide from its prime as a trading powerhouse.
The River Brenta offered the perfect opportunity for biking along the canal and through farmland, as well as exploring colorful river towns. Doro was our favorite town with its island and ancient waterwheel mill. Our steward Leo took us here to a great nearby enoteca, or wine bar, with an excellent sampling of wine and antipasti. On our last evening we were treated to dinner by the barge owners, Nicola and Andrea, who met us aboard the barge and brought us to Villa Goetzen, a fantastic family-run restaurant in Doro. They recounted the adventurous experience of finding and outfitting La Dolce Vita for its new role as the only cruising hotel barge in Italy. It couldn’t have been a better cap to the incredible week.
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Hard to Say Goodbye
The next morning each guest was provided with transportation to the most convenient point for continuing his or her travels. It was a sad farewell to Paulo, Davide, Leo and the sweet life on La Dolce Vita. One of the guests, Birgit, a vacationer from Germany, summarized it well when she said, "This has been the most interesting, relaxing, and unique vacation I've ever experienced!" La Dolce Vita!
Click here for details on European Waterways barge excursions: www.gobarging.com.
Les Furnanz
Photos by Rita Furnanz
