We slept in a bit, as we were both somewhat tired. After a light breakfast of powdered croissant and orange juice, we ended up getting to the termini at 10:23 (the next train to Venice was at 10:30). Instead of rushing to find the right train (Mark’s idea) we caught the 11:30 (my idea) and decided to catch another little breakfast snack at the McDonald’s (sugared/frosted donut for me and blueberry muffin for Mark topped off with a small coke) before boarding the train. Mark had to sit by a grumpy little asian looking girl who did not look very pleased to be next to such a broad, arm-rest stealing American gentleman. But I insisted on the forward facing seat, and we were across from each other. Still, Dramamine is a blessing I count these days!
If you have ever been to Venice, you know (and understand with sympathy) the story that follows. Upon arriving in Venice Santa Lucia train station, we headed over the bridge and into the narrow streets and alleys of Venice. The rain was coming down pretty good (neither of us have waterproof jackets on or an umbrella at this point). We wandered around, getting lost in the maze of tiny streets that seem to go nowhere, surrounded by tall buildings, soaking wet. Why, do you ask? Because Mark thought it would be better to happen upon a hotel rather than attempt to actually book one and then try to find it. I’m not sure either option is better than the other, having gotten lost in this city with a map and an idea where we are actually going. So…carrying our backpacks and pulling our suitcases (that are not waterproof either) through the streets, carrying them over bridges that we happened upon, in many different directions, I finally lost my patience. Mark broke down and bought an umbrella, and after the third hotel that quoted no less then 100 euro a night, I nicely demanded he find a hotel quick before either walked off or beat him with the bags. Soon, we were able to happen upon a little place called Hotel Tivoli. It’s cute, and at 60 euro a night, Mark’s happy.
Since it was already getting late by the time we find the hotel and attempted to dry our jackets, my hair, and a few items from our bags, we headed out to the Frari church. We only had ½ hour so we quickly walked through as we listened to the Rick Steves’ audio tour I had downloaded on my ipod from itunes. This thing is really coming in handy! Mark’s favorite pieces here were this beautiful clock that was made of one single piece of wood and the painting above the main altar by Donetello. I happen to be much more of a painting person myself, but I really enjoyed seeing Donetello’s crypt and the ornate carvings.
Rain, rain, rain! We left the Frari before we could get kicked out as the place closes at 6pm. Armed with our umbrella, we figured we needed to find a place to eat soon, as my tummy was kind of grumbly. We passed a cute little restaurant, and as we were looking at the menu to see if I would want to eat anything on the menu the gentleman inside stepped out to tell us “no cook yet, half an hour.” Okay, then. We decided we really wanted to go to this place, so we walked around for a little while and stop in a couple shops. On our way out of one shop, I cut my finger on the umbrella when my glove got stuck (I still say the darn thing attacked me) and we ended up going back to the hotel for a bandaid. I know…I’m a total dork.
We luckily made our way back to the restaurant (no small feat for us at this point in our trip). We were the only customers sitting in the Antica Osteria at 6:45pm, which is still very odd for me. The idea that Italians eat so much later (and so much more) than most Americans, just doesn’t make sense to me.
Our dinner was wonderful though…and chalk full of more first. The antipasta (appetizer) Mark ordered was thinly sliced octopus (a first for me for sure) with peppers, celery, olive oil and some greens. He thought it was pretty good, and I even tried some, but the cold octopus was something neither one of us was really expecting. I ordered the spaghetti con promodoro again, and shared some with Mark, as my prima piatta. While it wasn’t as good as the one in Florence, it was still very delicious. Mark and I shared the secondi piatti pesce of grilled sea bass (don’t ask me the Italian name of it though, it was way too long). I have never had fished grilled and served with its skin on, so that was definitely different. But once you get past the “how do I eat this or take the skin off, hey its mouth is still open, and look at the slightly browned eyball” issues, the bass was scrumptious…the most tender I have ever had in my life. I love broiled walleye, but this was better! Mark ordered the mixed grilled vegetables for his side, and I ordered the French fries (go figure)…but no ketchup in site. As if this wasn’t enough, let’s order a dolce of Tirolese with layers of chocolate…hard brick on top with cake, cream, cake, cream and cake, surrounded by redi-whip puffs and all sprinkled with cocoa powder. Little too rich for me…okay WAY too rich for me. That and it tasted a day old and from a box. Oh, all the while, we had some naturale water to drink along with the best wine I have EVER had – Fior S’arancio Vino Spumante Dolce. I could definitely become a bit of a wine drinker if this is poured (or a drunkard if this is on tap)…yummy!
After finishing our wine and water, we headed back to the hotel to hit the sack for a fun filled day of site seeing. Least to say, when Thursday arrived and the alarm went off, we were still a bit too tired to actually get up. We finally got moving after 8, and hurried up with a shower to make our breakfast at 9am. Upon checking in, we were told breakfast was 8-9:30am (and she didn’t look like this was a fuzzy time of ending either).
We finally left the hotel close to 10:30, and headed back to the train station to catch a water bus (known as a vaporetto) down the Grand Canal and listen to the Rick Steves’ audio tour. Imagine bus stops and buses in a large city, now put that all on water and use a rope to connect the bus to the stop while people get on and off. It was a cold morning, which I was not completely prepared for. And putting that with being on a boat, I ended up buying a funny looking hat to keep my head/ears warm. Then I attempted to huddle behind my broad husband to stay warm. Mark took a few pictures while I listened to the audio guide and looked around. All I have to say is one set of headphones for the ipod just doesn’t work the greatest…definitely recommend the splitter so you can use two headphones! The 45 minute ride (actually I think our driver was going much faster and it only took 35 minutes) took us “slowly” down the canal to every stop as we took in lots of sites and hurried off at the San Zaccaria stop. I still feel like I’m on the boat!
We made our way back to the stop before by foot, St. Mark’s Square, and stopped first in Doge’s Palace. WOW…this place is huge. The armory, the halls, the prison – all the art and architecture were gorgeous, but by the 20th room I was cold and felt like we were never going to get out of this place. We finally made our way to the end, and stopped in the cafeteria where Mark had a small sandwich and I had a honey croissant and a hot chocolate apparently made the Italian way – which is more like eating hot chocolate pudding than drinking hot chocolate American style. At least the honey croissant was good!
We headed into the Basilica, with its beautiful mosaics. No photography is allowed in most of the places that we have been recently, so there are only a few pictures to put in here. We decided to head into the Treasury and pay the extra 3 euro per person to see some ancient artifacts that were brought to Venice when the city of Constantinople was sacked. Mark’s opinion was that it wasn’t worth the 6 euros…my response, “at least that didn’t get pickpocketed.” Since I failed to download the Basilica audio tour, we just wandered around and checked out the church. Even the floor was covered in mosaics.
With the church behind us, we headed to the Correr Museum (another non photo museum) which is made up of a lot of Venetian art as well as artifacts. We felt like we kept starring at the same painting…the virgin Mary with baby Jesus, with a variety of saints next to them, and in a variety of positions with the baby (which for the most part looked like a small version of an adult). It was interesting to see how different artists painted the same scene. Over all though, my favorite piece was something that looked like a large wood carving. It was in a glass case, which was not illuminated. But it looked very intricate. Once Mark found the light switch and turned it on, you could see the detail even more, and it was breath-taking. Oh…but there’s more. Next to it, Mark noticed there was a map of Venice, and thought the piece I was looking at must be a press. Sure enough! And that just made me even more amazed at this beautiful piece. Someone had to hand-carve all the details (down to the gulls in the air, and the waves) of this work.
Being almost 5pm, we were on our way out of the museum to wind our way through the “streets,” over bridges, around buildings, back tracking and finally finding the right direction to our hotel. I talked Mark into getting me a coke to go with my snack of Ritz and peanut butter we bought back in Florence. Then off he was for his daily snooze, and time for me to write.
We’ll be on our way soon for supper, now that it is after 8pm. He’s getting hungry, so off to feed the lion. Arrivederci!
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