Working on getting that Venetian Tan


Advertisement
Italy's flag
Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice
July 6th 2007
Published: August 6th 2007
Edit Blog Post

A view from a roomA view from a roomA view from a room

View into the secret garden near the B&B
We've been here four days. I'm not really a tourist; i don't do holidays very well; i really prefer to stay at home and potter around. I don't feel like that in Venice!
The first three days we took the vaporetto all over the place, getting on and off as we pleased. We realised that it was better to take it early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the hordes.

We're not doing museums, although in San Barnaba, there is an exhibition of Leonardo's machines, which we will see before we leave.

Breakfast at the B&B is interesting. The first morning we came down to....Nescaffe! What!? We're in Italy! I wasn't going to be drinking Nescaffe here. And the croissants are filled with jam. Never seen that before. We went in search of takeaway coffee, Simon needed his quadruple espresso pronto; after a bit of walking we found an open cafe which sold us mediocre coffee.
The problem with the B&B is that there is no jug. I can't make tea; i like a cup of tea late at night. The boiling water they leave in a thermos flask taste like coffee...and we're not allowed
A view from a room in the early morningA view from a room in the early morningA view from a room in the early morning

View of church in the early morning light
to use the stove. Besides, i couldn't get it to work; the gas was turned off, and i couldn't find how to switch it back on! I imagine they didn't want guests burning down their house....
So i left a note asking for espresso, as i had spied a machine in the kitchen, and from then on breakfast during the rest of our stay was good.

Anyway, back to Venice....I had made an effort to learn italian before i left. I think it helps to know some of the language; it makes people feel as though you're making an effort; you're not just expecting things.
Everywhere we went the italian people were friendly (except one girl in the supermarket who scared the life out of me). Some spoke quite good English, some broken English to match my broken italian. Communication happened.
Simon and I were there to be romantic, so we didn't care so much whether we communicated with others because we had each other.
Venice really is a city of romance; i don't know what it is: the water? the way one can meander down canals? We never even got on a gondola, or even a traghetto (which
Church interiorChurch interiorChurch interior

The only church we visited
are the larger gondolas that go across the canal for around 50 cents).

We wandered around, breathing in the air, which was not sweet, but not as stinky as I thought it might be; we looked and listened. And ate.
We were determined to go where the locals went.
The jet lag had us both down a bit; so out of the three opportunities to dance tango we only made it to one: an outdoor milonga on the steps of the Madonna della Salute, right on the Grand Canal.
There weren't very many people; we had been warned that the local dancers left for the summer. But Simon and I hadn't danced together for nine months, so dancing to traditional and electronic tango music, overlooking the lights on the Grand Canal wasn't too bad a reconnection.
More next time on the good places to eat!



Additional photos below
Photos: 4, Displayed: 4


Advertisement

Venice TangoVenice Tango
Venice Tango

Dancers on the steps of the MAdonna della Salute


Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0463s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb