Hop! And away to Venice.

Jolaade
Jolaade
Jul 24, 2017 · 6 min read

I love travelling. Or at least that’s what like to think about myself — adventurous, free spirited, an open book.

Overlooking the rivers Rhone and Saône in Lyon, France

Lately, since moving to Paris, I have done a bit of travelling around Europe. However, not as much as I’d like because ironically I never seem to be ready enough to just pack my bags and go without over thinking things. What I lose in not back packing around the continent though, I gain in flâneuring around the city. Story for another day.

Now, back to travelling — the stars aligned and I managed to psych myself up to buy tickets, pack my bags and hop on the cheapest available flight out of town. To be honest, there were hardly any stars aligning — that would have been great. There was instead an impending bout of silence in my little studio as I was about to have my space all to myself again after a couple 6 weeks hosting a good friend. I needed a reset - something exciting to prevent the almost inevitable “woe is me” drama which I’m prone to staging when or after parting with a loved one.

Me contemplating my life after parting with a loved one.

So hop! I took advantage of this timely offer to spend a couple days away in the charming collection of Islands that make up good old Venice — the city of Gondolas, speed boat metros, seafood and Murano glass.

Gondolas everywhere!

Leaving Paris from Orly airport, the flight to Venice Marco Polo took roughly two hours. The journey from the airport to the city and then to the quiet town of Noale, North-East of Venice where we would call home took another hour by bus. Noale is known for its vineyards and wineries. The quiet little town was an ideal break away from Paris' craziness- the perfect place to simply détente. My deep relaxation regimen consisted of early morning and late night tea in pretty tea cups, vegetable rich meals, fresh pasta, sparkling water, gelato and occasional streetfood sampling.

Left — Veggies sauce with mixed grain cereals; Right — Yummy seafood fries and creamy gelato (one scoop for #fitfam)

Mornings started with a run or some indoor exercises — afrobeats cardio, me doing the best freestyle dance exercise routine ever, and yoga which I only managed to participate in. I prefer my stretches without labels, thank you. Breakfast was mostly tea and leftovers from the previous night. While I’m #teamcoffee through and through, tea made such a strong showing that I mostly had no less than four cuppas a day thanks to a generous supply from our host.

Around Venice, sightseeing was something of a treasure hunt/ expedition. I enjoyed getting lost in Venice’s maze of tiny streets connected by bridges. One’s instincts could serve as the best GPS but if you are navigationally clueless cats like us, then you would easily do several loops of the same area before finally making your way around. We were so rubbish in finding our way that we only ever got the walk home right after two or three wrong turns ev-er-y day!

Tiny maze-like streets, and bridges

To say Venice is dreamy is true but that would only be putting it mildly for the two other islands we visited — Murano and Burano. Putting them together in one sentence makes me wonder what inspired their names. Maybe named after formidable and super creative twin sisters who sailed out of Venice one fine day looking for a place to live out their dreams of glass blowing, vibrant colours and fine art. Stopping over first at this one Island, Murano settled in quickly and started her glass magic. Making ultra beautiful pieces from vases to jewellery and whatever the heck crossed her mind including flying horses made from fine sand. You see, Murano and Burano were travellers. Sand from Venetian seaside didn’t quite cut it so hop! they sailed to Fontainebleu in France frequently to get some fine silica to make the most awesome glass art with — incorporating any colourful thing Burano could find from their travels around the world. Together they made fine pieces that got people from all over the world visiting and buying up their rare Murano glass art. Business boomed and soon Murano island became the business hub they hadn’t really planned it to be. So they sailed together looking for a new place to live and tada, new island ! How did they win the jackpot twice?! Burano claims this one real quick — she is the soulful one, the one who danced in robes made of bright colours and for whom calm and quiet meant the world. They would work in Murano — grey with workshops filled with most beautiful works of glass in the world and then come home to Burano where every hue of colour adorned the walls and hearts of its inhabitants.

Uhn uhn… better admire with your eyes only, sweetie!

The thrill of visiting these two jewels was that we literally stumbled on them. Venice’s city centre is rightly filled with shops selling Murano glass. So many that one could get dizzy trying to make a decision of what pieces to buy. A couple of questions here and there and we found out that Murano is an actual place! As a true Nigerian woman always down for a bargain, this was great news to my ears. We could sail to Murano to buy original pieces for probably half the price offered in the city centre. We wandered a bit around the city and came across the Galileo Museum where the kind young lady at the shop let us in on the (not-so-)secret that is Burano island too. So giddy. She helped us plan our next day’s trip and we were set.

Sailing to Murano and Burano: Fancy, when your metro is a speed boat not regular trains.

At Murano, we sat in for a glass blowing session of about 45mins that cost 5 euros per person. The process was nothing short of amazing to watch. Sand is melted in a burning hot furnace; so hot the molten sand comes out bright Orange. The masters — oh yea, apparently if you’ve got skills to make beautiful objects out of plain sand then, yo, you earn that master title — then draw out the shape of the desired object, remelting and drawing out shapes as required with a couple of metal tools.

Screen capture from a video I took there. Here, they are making a flower vase.

Once out of the furnace, the final object is left to cool and set in a clay oven or something of that sort for at least 48 hours. You don’t want to touch the object while still hot at a frigging <100°C, not even by mistake because it will roast you, hun .

Soon, it was five days and five nights and time to head back to city of light(s). Treated ourselves to lunch at one of the restaurants at Noale’s city centre and stocked up on fresh Mozzarella-Buffalo cheese, Ravioli, Gnocchi and pastries. Turns out Italian pasteries can’t hold a candle to French pastries; those are literally the best world over, and I’d rightly post up soon on heavenly bites from Paris.

Italy serves the best TIRAMISU: Dessert at restaurant Al Gallo, Noale

Besides that little point, I absolutely love Italian cities for the warmth, delightful people and amazing Gelato and Tiramisu. Won’t pass up an opportunity to visit Venice again — this time hopefully synced to catch the Venice Biennale.

Jolaade

Written by

Jolaade

Woman in progress.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade