Birthday in Venice!

So there we were in Venice on December 26, which happens to be Claire’s birthday. Not a bad place to turn eight, methinks. (Though allow me not to delude myself; chuck-e cheese would hold just as much appeal.)

We started off the day at the Doge’s Palace after a laidback breakfast at Hotel Concordia. Three hours into the Palace we met up at the palace café – Ava and I had gone one way, Claire and Joe another. The place is immense and the audio guide goes on forever. At some point even I got overload and just wanted out but the maze of rooms, dungeon and staircases seemed to go on forever.

About the Doge’s:

A gothic palace in Venice, it's called the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia. The palace was the residence of the Doge of Venice.

Its two most visible facades look towards the Venetian Lagoon and St Mark's Square (the Piazzetta). The current palace was largely constructed from 1309 to 1424, designed perhaps by Filippo Calendario. It replaced earlier fortified buildings of which relatively little is known.

The palace was badly damaged by fire in 1574. In the subsequent rebuilding work it was decided to respect the original Gothic style, despite the submission of a neo-classical alternative design by Palladio. However, there are some classical features, i.e. since the sixteenth century the palace has been linked to the prison by the Bridge of Sighs.

As well as being the ducal residence, the palace housed political institutions of the Republic of Venice until the Napoleonic occupation of the city. Venice was ruled by an aristocratic elite, but there was a facility for citizens to submit written complaints at what was known as the Bussola chamber.

Eventually we surfaced to find the other half eating tiramisu and drinking fancy hot chocolate in the warm, brick/stone café. Emphasis on warm; the palace was a chilly experience. Imagine being imprisoned on wet cement during the winter, then trying to survive the opposite extreme: gross heat and humidity in August. Not to mention a continual influx of water.

The fancy hot chocolate was laced w/ alcohol – Joe’s amaretto version hit the spot so I tried the Baileys version. I highly recommend both.

From the Doge’s we headed to a boat taxi and Burano, an island knows for lacemaking. En route we had great views – the water, Venetian architecture, other boats -- all framed by mountains in the distance.

At Burano we found pituresque, brightly painted houses on the banks of lovely canals. We caught a snack at a bar that was busy with plenty of locals. After soom tasty paninis Ava and I did some birthday shopping for Claire; she chose a lovely blue mask for her sister.

We also found a pretty tablecloth and napkins to take home for a family souvenir.
Then back to Venice via another nice, relaxing boatride, lovely with the sun setting and lights sparkling on the water. We had a short re-group at the hotel, then went in quest of Osteria Zucca, which I’d researched for the birthday dinner.

Again, we hopped a boat taxi, this time from the Rialto. Our map led us astray but a very gracious Venetian lady showed us the way to Zucca (which means pumpkin, incidentally).

In a nod to the name, Zucca is a lovely little restaurant with subtle pumpkin décor. Joe and I shared the house specialty, a delicious savory pumpkin tort (appetizer). I had a fabulous vegetable entrée, he had lamb and the kids surprised us by ordering…pasta.

Claire opened a few gifts and enjoyed chocolate mousse with a candle in it. Restaurant patrons from Germany and England joined us and the Italian waitstaff in singing Happy Birthday to her.

The mousse was excellent, we decided, as was the pistachio chocolate torte we tried.

A very nice birthday experience and one we hope she’ll remember fondly.

Afterward we meandered Venice’s windy streets back to the hotel as quickly as the boating experience had taken.