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Published: June 24th 2010
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We had an easy flight from Barcelona to Venice. Gigi was a bit nervous about not knowing any Italian. We had done really well at speaking Spanish in Spain. Chris is really able to pick up the language very fast and Gigi knows plenty of Spanish vocabulary.
Once at the Venice airport, the only way anywhere is to take a boat ride called the Alalingua. We bought our tickets and made our way to the pier. Once at the pier we experienced some European culture and by that I mean that smelly people pushed and cut in line, separating us. We captured a picture of a rude European! I believe the picture says it all.
We found the Al Teatro Bed and Breakfast behind the Fenice Theater and checked in. Our room was very charming. We had a corner room with windows overlooking rivers which are the streets in Venice. We could open up our windows for some fresh air and to hear the sounds of gondoliers and musicians serenading the people riding gondolas. After all the traveling, we were both ready for some Italian food. We made our way around town searching for some pizza and
finally bought a slice and a Panini sandwich from an establishment where all the workers were Asian. I don’t think I’ve ever had a worse piece of pizza.
We bummed around the town realizing that the town is full of tourists and almost everything is in English. We got lost. We visited San Marco Square which was flooded. We got lost. We saw a man pick up a wallet off a monument and put it in his pocket. We got lost. We saw the Rialto Bridge and we were scared off by a mad homeless man. We got lost. Then we saw Sara’s Doppleganger and had to snap some pictures.
Chris was able to use a map to find our way back to our hotel. Gigi found another way to get back to our hotel - you pass Prado, then Salvatore Ferragamo, if you see Fendi you have gone the wrong way, then if you find Gucci you are home free, pass Burberry and turn right after the next bridge.
We ended our day by having dinner at a cute restaurant on the Grand Canal. We ate a “fish special” starter, homemade hollow spaghetti with lamb
sauce, and some tuna. As we were eating and enjoying our food and wine, it started raining and all the people at the restaurant moved from outside seating into a small room on the second floor.
We started each morning in Venice eating breakfast prepared by the lady of the house, Elenoara, at our Bed and Breakfast. She was really helpful in giving us advice about restaurants and seeing the sights in Venice.
On Saturday we went to the Rialto Market which had a lot of interesting seafood. Wanting to make a smarter choice for lunch, we went to find a restaurant recommended by Elenoara. Finally, when we found the restaurant, it was closed for a wedding, but they directed us to another restaurant that ended up being delicious. We ate spaghetti al la carbonara and pizza with ham, mushrooms, artichokes, olives, and salami, and of course more wine. We then went to the Accademia Museum where we saw many paintings of Mary con Bambino. Being overstuffed from a heavy lunch, tired from getting lost and unlost in Venice, and perhaps a little drunk from all the wine, Chris fell asleep on Gigi’s back as we
were listening to a dull audioguide of a series of paintings about some king and queen that were killed by Moors. We headed back to our room and took a siesta (or maybe in Italian, siesti?).
We woke up in time for our dinner reservation at La Zucca, a cute and popular restaurant that specializes in vegetables. On our way to dinner, we stopped at Gucci… we didn’t buy anything but perhaps we will have another opportunity in Florence or Rome. At La Zucca we had the most delicious “flan di zucca” which tasted like a savory hot pumpkin pie topped with cheese. We also shared a yummy lasagna and osso bucco. What is osso bucco? Is is veal, lamb, or something else?
We headed over to San Marco Square to listen to the dueling orchestras that play at the different cafes at the square. We danced a bit in the square until the rain started to pour down harder. Having plenty of energy, we were not ready to call it a night, so we went on yet another quest, this time to find the best gelato shop in Venice, or at least according to Rick
Steves. We were cold, wet, and lost, but in the end it was all worth it to eat creamy gelato. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten gelato or even ice cream in the rain.
On Sunday we went to San Marco Basilica in the rain. Before landing in Venice, we read in Rick Steves’ Guidebook that if you check a bag, you get a pass to skip the huge line waiting to get into the Basilica. We of course put together a bag and checked it, and sure enough, we were in the church in seconds as if we were VIP. Hundreds of people waited in line for hours, some of them with bags! Mass was in session, which was kind of neat to hear, even though it meant that we could only look on from above. This church was absolutely beautiful as every piece of wall space was decorated by mosaic tiles creating pictures representing biblical stories. Many of the tiles were gold making this enormous space sparkle and shine.
We then made our way in the rain to a Vaporetti (sort of a boat bus) station and bought a 24 hour pass to ride
on the Vaporetti between stations that go up and down the Grand Canal. We took the Vaporetti to the train station to buy tickets to go to Monterosso the next day. We took the Vaporetti back in the other direction, hoping to take a few pictures and do some sightseeing but the rain made it difficult. We got off at Ca d’ Oro and searched through the tiny streets to find a restaurant we found in our Fodor’s Guidebook. When we finally found the place, it was 2:30pm and they were anxious for us to place our order. The server actually stood at the table and said, we need you to order now because the chef is going to leave soon. So we had to quickly look at the menu and order as he stood there. We ordered risotto, but the server talked us out of it since it took 25 minutes to make, so we ordered vegetable lasagna, gnocci, pecorino cheese with pepper jam, and more wine. Everything was delicious. We visited the Ca d’ Oro Museum, which housed an interesting collection of art that seemed to have ended up there because it had nowhere else to go. We saw many really old paintings including many more Madonnas con Bambino.
Later that evening, we took a gondola ride during high tide causing us to have to lean to the right to allow the boat to slant enough to get under some of the bridges. We then ate a dinner of beef carppacio, cuttlefish in black risotto at Rossa Rossa. We decided to try a spritz, a drink in Venice that consists of wine, sparkling water, and a liquor of either Amarone or Campari. Gigi asked for the more sweet Amarone, while Chris tried the more bitter Campari version, both were bitter. Gigi compared them to eating orange peels.
The next day we made our way to Monterosso by train with the Italian countryside of vineyards, crop fields, small towns, and snowcapped mountains passing by our train window.
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Ken Boehne
non-member comment
Good pictures too
Enjoy hearing about your adventures and seeing your pictures. KPB