A day in Venice

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Monday, June 1, 2009 ~
The next morning Jeff and I wanted to visit the Rialto Farmer’s Market near the Rialto Bridge. We found the Farmer’s market which was bustling with many stands selling all kinds of fruit and vegetables, all of which looked amazingly delicious. I just wanted to go crazy and buy everything there, it all looked so good. We bought some cherries, strawberries, a couple of melons, zucchini, a huge bag of fresh fava beans and a large bunch of fresh basil. From there we started to walk back towards our apartment but kept our eyes open for a bakery. Within minutes we found one and went crazy all over again. We got some foccacia bread stuffed with olives, a couple of sweet buns and a half dozen organic eggs from a very petite older woman who obviously did not speak a lick of English. We managed with gestures to make our purchases. It was hard to stop there as everything looked so enticing not to mention we were starved. We carried our goodies back to the apartment and I made some eggs with the zukes and basil for breakfast and Jeff cut up one of the melons and washed the cherries and strawberries and then we sat down and pigged out. I said, let’s just stay here and eat all day, it all tasted so good. Alas, bellies became very full and we put a stop to the madness, cleaned up and ventured out for the day. The plan was to all meet at St. Mark’s Square at 10:00. Now, if any of you have ever been to St. Mark’s Square on a beautiful sunny morning, you know that the crowds are immense and the area one could be in is the size of a city block. Jeff and I got off of our vaporetto and walked over to Piazza San Marco. Just as Jeff and I began to verbalize to each other about how in the heck we would ever find them, I said, there they are! Amazingly, there they stood within feet right in front of us. They too were wondering how we’d find each other and yet we managed to be in the same place at the same time. Anna and John wanted to visit St. Mark’s Basillica and the Doge’s Palace and so they went off to do their own thing. We said we’d meet up later and keep in touch via text messages. The rest of us decided to walk and shop and just mess around in general. The day was just too beautiful in my mind to stand in long lines and then be inside buildings. The crowds were thick and we were trying to walk out of the busy ness but it was nigh impossible. Carla and I made a few purchases, she bought some wine, and we both bought a couple of paintings but it was exhausting dealing with the throngs of people. We worked our way back to the apartment with the intention of each of us doing our own thing however we pleased. Carla and Don went back to their hotel. Jeff decided to go and visit the buildings in Piazza San Marco. I opted to stay at the apartment and take a nap. I felt very tired and was feeling like I was coming down with John’s cold. I lazed about for a bit but couldn’t sleep and also I felt a special day was being wasted inside an apartment. After a bit, I went out and wandered the streets and checked out the shopping options near our apartment.

The group had planned to meet at Carla and Don’s hotel room at 6:30 that evening. They had told me that it only took them about 5 minutes to walk from their hotel room to our apartment and so I left with plenty of time to get to their hotel. My goal was to walk there without using a map and just use my intuition as I am usually pretty good finding my way in all places. Nice goal, bad idea. Halfway to their hotel that all fell apart and I was not where I thought I should be. In looking at the map you can see that the river loops around to the left quite a ways and then loops back to the right. Their hotel is at the second loop on the right of the Grand Canal. I had followed directions and went very far out of my way, all the way to the left and back to the Grand Canal. I was not lost - Jeff - I was just misplaced. Temporarily. Your own words state that you are not “lost” until two full days have passed. I was enjoying finding my own way as I had not done that the entire trip so far. I also knew that Jeff and John would be worried about my whereabouts as they are just those kind of guys. I have no cell phone and no way to contact anyone and so I continue on my walkabout through Venice. I come to a large Piazza and pull out my map to see where I now am. I am at Piazza Margherita which is another very large Piazza. It is surrounded with outside restaurants and carts of souvenirs scattered throughout. As I’m standing there perusing my map a man approaches me and he’s wearing an apron and has walked all the way across from the other side of the Piazza to come and help me find my way. He has a huge smile and is very friendly indeed. He asks me where I am which I find quite amusing because if I knew where I was, why in the heck would I be looking at a map? Too funny. I guess he means do I know where I am and we talk for a bit. I am just enjoying having a conversation with an Italian man standing within a huge Piazza in Venice on a beautiful late afternoon with all kinds of people and noise and just being amongst all of humanity. I ask him the question that I already know the answer to - where is Fondamenta Tolleta where Carla and Don's hotel is located? He points in the general direction I need to go - go across the canal and work my way left. He tells me I should come and eat at his restaurant and I tell him I am going to meet my friends. He says to bring my friends back and gives me his business card. Nice exchange and nice to just stop and interact with a friendly Italian man. As I cross the canal there is a Fire Boat which is the Venice version of a Fire Truck which passes below me. I wonder what they are up to and if they might be going to fight a fire nearby. I am tempted to follow but figure I’d better put John and Jeff out of their misery and continue on to the hotel. I find the right road “fondamenta” and walk on it’s very narrow passage which appears to be even smaller than the usual roads in Venice. It’s more like a back alley and the walls are covered in graffiti making me think I am so glad it’s still daylight and I am not walking here at dark. It doesn’t appear to be a good location for a single woman to be wandering around being lost. I find an address and figure out I am going in the wrong direction and turn around. I am so very close to the hotel. As I come around a corner I see Jeff standing next to a wall so he can see both up and down all three streets. Hooray, I’ve made it! He is all harried and says something fast and quick about John and him trading off on “point” and running “reconnaissance” and he hustles me off to the hotel entrance. It is all quite amusing and funny (sorry Jeff) but I am also disappointed that I didn’t get to really find my way there, completely. You have to ring a doorbell and the front desk person has to come down the stairs to open the door to let people in (glad I’m not staying there). The fellow lets me in and Jeff turns to go and find John. The man asks me if “my husband” is coming back which takes me aback for a second and then I reply, yes he is. Just more funny to add to my already funny afternoon. Soon, we are all once again together and we are sitting in the breakfast area of the hotel lobby enjoying wine and cheese, as usual.

Jeff consults his guidebook for good restaurants in this area and we depart the hotel in search of a couple located nearby. Of course, they are closed. Restaurants in Venice rotate their closed days which helps to always have a restaurant to eat in but it seemed that all of the ones we desired to eat in were always closed. Figures. None of our options are panning out so I tell them about my experience in Piazza Margherita and we head there. As we approach the restaurant my friend recognizes me and greets us all with a huge smile and gestures for us to come and eat there. He is very friendly and asks us if we like Prosecco, a dry Italian champagne like drink. He disappears and brings back flutes of Prosecco for each of us. We’re feeling pretty good and happy with how things have worked out. We have to wait for tables to clear before being seated. We discover we are seated at a Pizzeria alongside a fancy type restaurant. Our menu is limited but that’s okay as Pizzeria’s are less expensive, in general. Dinner is light and lively but the food is not as good as we’d experienced at most places. One dud is good considering how many great dinners we’ve had. Towards the end of dinner I go inside to use the facilities. I find a co-ed bathroom and the “toilet” is the kind where you stand over a hole. Fun. My mom LOVES these types of toilets, don'tcha Mom! The door does not lock and I hope and pray I am not discovered in flagrante. Whew, no embarrassing situations.

We part ways after dinner and Jeff and I head back to our apartment. We follow the signs to Ferrovia knowing it's the right direction but we go far and beyond our apartment. Damn! We always get lost going back home. Since we had planned to walk there the next day anyway to purchase our train tickets back to Rome we decide to take care of it now instead. After purchasing our tickets we walk back to our apartment easily and get to bed.

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Comments

[Andrew]

Market
Nice market to see.. can buy any thing we want.. Thanks for sharing... ___________________ Andrew The Best PRICE for the BEST ENTERTAINMENT

[Carla]

more great memories!
You forgot to mention what a great lunch we had at your apt., the left over olive bread, cheese, fruit ... and what else? Oh yeah, BEER! : ) Loved your answer about the guy asking if your husband was coming back! HA! And, just as an fyi, the guests at our hotel were given a key to the front door so you didn't have to ring the doorbell to be let in...only when you first arrive. Thanks for sharing more memories Byrd. I am truly enjoying your blog!

[robinlnu]

Lunch
Yes, thanks Carla. There was a missing aspect in my memory regarding lunch. That's why I need you to read and remind me all that I forgot.