A DAY OF PALLAZO’S AND CA’S

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The bed in the hotel was a bit to soft so we did not sleep as good in as past nights, but still slept from exhaustion. Breakfast was not included with this room, but they did have in room coffee, well it was Nescafe so if you call that coffee. I made a pot for us and showered.

The first stop of the day was to drop of laundry. We have started doing this the last several trips so we don’t have to pack as much. We still pack a lot, but socks and underwear are cut in half because we drop of laundry half way through the trip. Since we knew exactly where we were going it did not take long to accomplish this task. The place is run by a mother daughter, so we were thinking a woman in her 50’s and one in her 30’s, oh no, more like grandma in her 70’s and daughter in her 50’s. The younger spoke English, grandma did not. If in Venice, make use of this service it is 15 euros a load and they do a very good job. You have to drop off in the morning and if you want it the same day you need to be back by 12:30. We just opted to pick it up the next morning. The name of the place is Lavanderia Gabriella. It is not difficult to find, and a good google mapping should do the trip.After dropping off the laundry we were off for the day of activities. First stop the ticket office of the Doge’s Palace to pick up our secret itineraries tickets for later that morning. There was no line as the sites hadn’t really opened yet. San Marco before 9 am is a totally different place than after 10:30. We picked up the tickets then headed to a place to get a bit of breakfast. Jerry and I both had a classic prosciutto and cheese on a roll. I really don’t remember what Christina had.

We sat on a bench by the canal and watched the people and the pigeons. At the end of our breakfast, Jerry had a small bit of bread left so he gave it to the pigeons, one was being very greedy and not into sharing, until a small finch came by swooped in stole the bread and flew off. Greed never pays.

From here we went to see the Basilica S. Marco. St. Mark is the Patron Saint of Venice, and allegedly he is buried under the church. Maybe he is maybe he isn’t, but nonetheless the church is beautiful. Done more in the byzantine style than the gothic or Romanesque of most churches in Europe. We spent a good amount of time in the church and the terrace on the second level, step count going up.

After the church we had time to go back to our room, use the facilities then head back for our tour of the Doge’s Palace. This is the huge advantage of staying in a hotel close to San Marco, might be a bit more expensive but you can go back and forth to your hotel so much easier, so the convenience factor outweighs the cost.

After our quick freshening up, we were off to the Doge’s Palace. A doge is technically the ruler of the city, but doesn’t have any real power, it is not an inherited position like a queen and they only elected people at the end of their lives. It was a position for life, but they didn’t want anyone to be in power for to long so no one was ever under 70.

Our tour was a total behind the walls of the palace. We were taken to the rooms behind the halls of justice, the prison cells, the inquisition room, even where they tortured prisoners. We saw the council of 10’s private offices and the room where they rendered their decisions. The guide explained the council as a combination of the CIA and FBI, but in reality, it was a star chamber. 10 men with the power to investigate you with their spies and then try you, without your presence, then sentence you. Because you were guilty before you ever go there. Yes, they did provide attorneys for those that couldn’t afford them, and you could always bribe the guards for extra luxuries, but still it wasn’t really a fair judicial system.

The tour was well worth the 20 euros and lasted a good 2 hours. I felt bad because I didn’t top the guide (no one did) but I was far away from her and she closed the door from whenst we came so I could not easily give her a tip.

At the end of the tour Christina left to go on her tour of Murano and Burano and Jerry and I continued with the rest of the palace. We spent another 45 minutes going through the palace then headed off for the Ca portion of our tour.

It looked as if it might rain so we first went back to the hotel to get the umbrella’s (in fact it had been raining the entire time we were on the doge palace tour) from their we got a quick panni wrap and headed to the vaporetto stop. We took the number 1 all the way up the grand canal to our first stop Ca Pesaro. On the way we passed many Ca’s two of note were Ca Barbaro (Cole Porter stayed, if you have seen Delovely you know what I am talking about) and Ca da Mosto, dating back to the time of Marco Polo.

On the way to Ca Pesaro we also passed under the Rialto Bridge and by the Rialto Market (empty at that time of day). We came to our first stop. We did about a 40-minute visit to Ca Pesaro. It is a beautiful palace, but it is basically now an art gallery and none of the rooms are restored to what they were back in the day. The next stop was Ca D’Oro. When this house was first built the entire outside was done in 20,000 sheets of gold leaf, all gone now but back in the day, I guess he was, ok I am going to say it, the Donald Trump of his time. Every decade has to have an asshole I guess. Again, beautiful palace but mainly an art gallery and not done in the period.

The last Ca stop was Ca’ Rezzonico. This is the only one we visted on our last trip, we still haven’t developed those pictures. This one is done in period style over the first two floors, the remainder is an art gallery. It was very beautiful, and Newport really has nothing on these palaces.

The Ca tour complete we got back on the vaporetto one last time and got off the Academia stop. The bridge itself was under renovation so we couldn’t really see anything of it, but we did walk over it and back to the hotel. We were expecting to get lost, but we walked right to where we needed to be. Since our last trip, they have added some directional signs that really assist in getting around. There are yellow signs that point you in the direction of the major areas such as San Marco, Rialto Bridge, etc. This is helpful, but you miss the experience of getting lost in Venice.

We arrive back at the hotel and did a bit of gift shopping in the piazza in front. Christina had texted earlier that should would not be joining us for dinner. So, we just relaxed, blogged and had some more Prosecco. Christina did stop by the room to show us some of her treasurers from Murano and Burano.

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner was in the San Palo section of Venice, most noted for the Rialto Bridge and the market. I managed to make this reservation online but it was a bit confusing on just where it was, but we did find it without trouble. We were going to take the vaporetto, but discovered it was really just a short 20-minute walk from the hotel, so we walked there and back after dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was at Al Paradiso, at first glance it did not look like much and was not very crowded so reservations were likely not needed It did turn out to be the third best overall meal of the trip to that point. The meal of course started with what else but prosecco. We were a bit concerned at first, because the waiter seemed to want to rush us, but after Jerry made it very clear we were in no hurry, the pace slowed considerably.

We began with a carpaccio al toon (thinly sliced raw tuna in an excellent olive oil and herb sauce) and Cuori di carciafo comicia di lardo croccante con gamberetti. This dish got totally lost in translation, the English version of the dish on the menu read “artichoke stuffed with shrimp and wrapped in bacon, what could be better. What it turned out to be was artichoke stuffed with shrimp, bacon and spider crab. It was still very good, but not what we expected.

The primi course consisted of Linguine con gamberani al profurno de pesto. This was linguine with bay shrimp in a pesto sauce. Now, you need to clear your mind of what you think pesto is Pesto, originated in Genoa and it is not this thick green sauce (which is of course great) but it is a thin sauce based in olive oil with diced basil and a touch of garlic. It was the one of the best pastas we have had, in fact it was the dish of the day.

We then moved on to the entrée’s. Orato al forno con patate e olive (Dorado cooked in olive oil and fresh herbs, served with sliced roasted potatoes), It was very good and fish again cooked perfectly. I chose Seppia alla veneziane con polenta, both are an absolute veneziane typical dish. The dish was a cuttlefish (a type of squid) in black ink sauce (the ink they used to escape predators) over a very creamy polenta,

Every course was very good and on point, this is why it jumped to number three of best meals of the trip. With dinner we had another very nice Sauvignon (half the price of last night and just as good) We finished with Tiramisu and semifreddo. Both were in different styles then previously the Tiramisu still fell short of what I can make and the semifreddo was not even close to what we had at Pizza with Pino.

The meal finally ended with the limoncello and lemon biscotti. It was a really pleasant evening and we enjoyed the walk back to the hotel.

This being the last night, there was of course the packing to do for the next part of the journey. Christina came to the room for a bit of Valpolicella as a night cap.

The trip to Venice was just to short, you simply cannot do it justice in two nights and 2 ½ days. We needed a least another day and night to truly appreciate the city. We were pretty lucky with weather, it tired to rain, but only really did so on our Doge tour. Venice remains one of my favorite cities in the world, but of course Paris is still on top.

Tomorrow we are off for two nights in Bologna and another cooking class. We are at the official half way mark. It seems like we just got started, but it also feels as if we have been here for two weeks. So many cities and food and so little time.

Step count for the day 622 (Duomo in Florence here I come)

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Photos

Basilica di S Marco
Before the crowds

Linquine Pesto
Dish of the Day

Seppia
Not the prettiest dish but delicious nonetheless

Insalata
They are just so good

Harpsichord Room
Ca D'Oro

Comments

[Connie Craddock]

Thanks for including photos on the canal. You must walk many miles every day!