Advertisement
Published: July 20th 2009
Edit Blog Post
John, Andrew Lauren at Grand Canal
This is one of the two major bridges across the Grand Canal at Pointe Academia. Basilica di Santa Maria in center of background We slept in a bit, which was probably a very good idea. We headed out with a polite notice from Sonia that finding coffee was a high priority and shouldn’t really be superseded by any sightseeing. Attempt one at “ice coffee” afforded an espresso with an ice cube. Caffeinated, but not really what was sought. We found our way back to Piazza San Marco where we found a lovely little coffee shop and started to learn local customs. We had in mind an American “to go” mentality which would have worked fine for the kids’ pastries but was inconsistent with the way that they served the caffe lattes (in glasses, much as if they were bar drinks). To be fair, the coffee was excellent, but we were still unadapted to the environment. We headed off on a walking tour of Venice, roughly following a suggested route out of Piazza San Marco and west. We resolved to deal with food for the day by snacking repeatedly during the day and we started with fruit salad and chunks of coconut meat from a cart at the Grand Canal. We crossed to the other side and made our way to the phenomenal Church of
Sonia, by Grand Canal
Photo taken at the mouth of the grand canal, right in front of the Basilica di Santa Maria Santa Maria for some photos and a rest. We meandered around Dorsoduro and found our way to the other side of the peninsula where there was a wide boulevard, a beautiful fountain of fresh water and a nice view of the sea. The kids refreshed themselves in the fountain and in his excitement, Andrew skidded on the edge of the sidewalk and nearly slid right into the water. His parents jumped to his aide, but as his stood up, he slipped again, falling even closer to the water’s edge. A kind German tourist got to him before we did and helped him up. His was muddy and slightly bruised, but not too much worse for the wear. We made our way home to get Andrew cleaned up and enjoyed some down-time before heading back out. We shopped for souvenirs - dozens of stores selling various jewelry and housewares made from beautiful Murano glass - all similar but not actually the same. Lauren and Sonia bought earrings for themselves and as gifts. We then went to look for a gondolier and shockingly, they are not hard to find. We had a lovely gondola ride through many small canals and got to
Lauren, Andrew, John
By Grand Canal in front of Basilica di Santa Maria see the houses of Vivaldi and Casanova. We tried to arrange some sort of kiss under each bridge, and were about 50% successful. After the gondola, we made our way to Rialto for dinner and ate and drank well after making it through the day without any real meals. Food was good, but the view of the Grand Canal was fantastic. Leisurely walk home with a gelato stop plus a second visit to Piazza San Marco for photographs, souvenir acquisition and more pigeon-feeding. The square is full of the sound of live musicians. John (very) briefly showed off his Italian, holding up a sweatshirt that Lauren wanted and authoritatively asking “Quanto?”. He was however completely befuddled with the vendor’s response of “quindici” and after a moment was asked the follow-up question “you speak?” and had to answer with embarrassment “no, not so much”. Transaction completed thanks to the vendor’s English skills. Sonia suggested Lauren learn the Italian phrase for “My father cannot speak Italian.” Good day. LOTS of photos. Very picturesque city. Off to Rome tomorrow. Thankfully, not too early.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0435s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
ulyssesj4
John Jacobsen
New blog entries
No internet connection in Rome. We're working on catching up on the entries since Venice