Venezia

We were up early to catch a train to Venice. Turns out we didn’t need to get the fast (more expensive) train as the slower one only takes about 20mins more! Still, never mind, we got there very smoothly and quickly, with just enough time to eat our pastries, and were tipped out into the busy city. We weren’t sure what the weather would turn out to be, but it ended up warm although cloudy until late afternoon when the sun came out more strongly…but that was all good for sightseeing.
We just wandered….taking seemingly random turns along the mix of busy streets and bridges over the canals and deserted tiny lanes squeezing between the high sided buildings, with washing hanging from windows and the soft colours of paint peeling….all very atmospheric and beautiful.
We remembered occasional places and felt lost at others, rediscovered shops or squares we’d visited before, and took some of the same photos from previous years.
We enjoyed seeing the Rialto markets with the fishmongers and their super fresh array of fish and seafood, and the greengrocers with huge tomatoes, artichokes and sweet chestnuts. We’d been heading for the Osteria della Basilica behind St Mark’s….a sort of worker’s canteen that we’d been to before, but too late we realised it was closed (hadn’t seen that when we looked it up last night). By then we were in St Mark’s square….and it was quite flooded. This was the first time I’d experienced it although I’ve seen photos before. The place was packed, because although some tourists had bought sort of pull on wellies like plastic bags over their shoes and legs, the rest of us were stuck on temporary walkways above the water and in the colonnades which were consequently packed out…mayhem! We were pleased to get past and out the other side into slightly quieter areas again. We stopped for lunch at a random restaurant as we were hungry, and had a set lunch of (delicious!) pasta pomodori/bolognese followed by plain grilled pork shop/chicken.
Good to have a rest and fill up, to give us the oomph to set off again. We explored some ‘glass week’ exhibitions that happened to be on, and saw some exquisite pieces in the old library in the San Stefano square, but not so many biennale exhibitions around the city as we remembered before. Maybe we’ll come back and do the Arsenale exhibitions later in the week.
There was quite a swell in the lagoon and the gondolas tied up along the front were being tossed around with spray flying around. We went into some churches which were huge, but plainer and far fewer frescoes than in Padua, but we enjoyed watching workers repairing the marble floor in the Basilica Santa Maria..
We had perhaps the most delicious ice cream I’ve ever had before….the cone was swished round with chocolate first, then a ‘crema mediterranea’ ice cream (almond, pistachio, orange and cinnamon flavour) was scooped in. As I got to the bottom of the cone it was full of still molten chocolate…oh my!
More wandering and admiring the sights (although I wasn’t tempted by a calendar of ‘hot priests’!!) then we caught a water bus all the way up the grand canal back to the station. Lovely to see the buildings and bridges from the water whilst we’re here and we enjoyed the trip, not envying those in the gondolas being tossed about in the waves and swells from all the boat traffic!
We had time for a drink in a little bar before getting on the train to be whisked home, and then after our nearly 10 miles of walking we jumped in a taxi to come home and collapse for the evening. Watched some YouTube videos about Padua to check why we’ve still to do tomorrow and then some more episodes of The Bear. A video called and I showed her the flat and we chatted about our very different days then collapsed into bed…a long day but a good one!