Canals, bridges, classic music and alleys

Water bus stop in Venice
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5/8/09

Good bye Rome - hello Venice.   This morning we got up early and took a taxi to the train station.  The train station is right in the middle of town and much easier to get to then the airport.  The station itself is extremely clean, safe and well organized.  More akin to an airport in the states than a train station.  We had purchased our tickets online before hand so all we had to do was find our train and board it.  After orientating ourselves in the station and double checking that we did not have to validate our ticket prior to boarding we found the appropriate gate for our train and waited.  The train arrived  on schedule.  Our tickets indicated the coach and seat numbers.  We simply walked down to the appropriate coach and boarded.  The seats are very nice with a  shared table in the middle - a very nice way to travel.

It's easy and fun to get lost in Venice

Train from Rome to Venice
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Arrived on train and stepped out into Venice.  Station right on grand canal - very cool

Got a 36 hour pass and headed over to the Rialto Bridge which is close to our hotel .  Walked through winding streets over several bridges till we got to the square close to the hotel - then asked shop keeper where the hotel was.  Very nice boutique hotel close to everything but not swamped with tourists

After we got settled in we went for lunch at a little ally side café just outside of the hotel.  I had a great squid lunch that was definitely one of the better meals of the trip.  The owner was there and was extremely helpful in providing directions.  He even helped me figure out where a picture I had seen of a pretty canal was taken from using his computer.

Saint Marks Square
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Having done lots of sites in Rome, Daph and I were not too interested in visiting museums or gallaries in Venice.  We did want to spend some time on the river and also wanted to see San Marco square.  We had contemplated a gondola ride but they seemed a little expensive and having taken the river bus from the train station it seemed like a much better way to see more of the canal in a shorter period of time.  Killing two birds with one stone we decided to take the river bus to San Marco square.

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The ride to the square was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect.  It was nice but not too hot (short sleave and pant weather)  We had heard that in the summer when it is really hot the canal tends to smell a little.  We didn’t notice any smell at all and, in fact, Daphne even commented on the fact that there was no garbage floating in the canal.  I suspect they clean it to keep liter out of the water.  That being said the water is definitely not clear and I would not want to go for a swim in the canal.

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Arriving at San Marco was interesting.  You get off the boat and walk along the Canal - which at this point is opening out into much more of a river mouth than a canal.  As you turn the corner into the entrance to the square you see the bell tower / light house on your left and the church on your right.  Walking along the front of the church past the tower the square opens before you.   Beautiful buildings form a square with the church and bell tower at one end.  Statues look down onto the square full of  tourists sipping expensive drinks at open air tables while classical quartets play to complete the experience.  Daph and I picked a nice sunny table at one of the more popular sections and were soon sipping our 12 euro beer and soda and nibbling on little sandwidches looking at the sun gleam off of the gold gilded church.   I know it all sounds very touristy but it really was very enjoyable - so much so that we didn’t even mind the additional 12 euro music fee that they tacked onto our bill.  Overall I think that drinks in San Marco was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

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We were both very tired from a day of traveling and whirl wind site seeing in Venice so later that night we opted to buy a pizza and eat in.   The pizza was good and the price helped make up for our extravagant drinks at San Marco’s

5/9/09

Well rested we made our way down to the breakfast garden.  Breakfast was included with our room and there was lots of good food to choose from at the buffet.  Since we had to fly out early the next morning we thought it would be wise to get all of our airport transportation figured out the day before.  A boat ride back up the grand canal and a couple of minutes of searching around for the right ticket booth and we were all “sorted” as people from England wound say.

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From the bus station we headed to one of the Venitian houses (called ?????)  that we had read provided a good understanding of how rich Venitians used to live.  Like a lot of our destinations in Venice it took us some time to actually get to the house.  We got off the water bus a stop early and ended up winding up and down narrow streets, crossing bridges, hitting dead ends, back tracking and the whole time admiring the beautiful buildings, alley ways and small canals that meandered through the buildings.  Once we did arrive we were somewhat disappointed since it was more like a muesum than a house that gave you a true sense for  how they lived.  No pictures were allowed so we couldn’t take pictures of the one or two interesting things that we did see.

Expensive drinks in St Marks Square
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After that we decided to walk through the streets to the San Marco square area since we had heard that there was good shopping in the area.  Daph had seen an Italian leather purse that she was interested in and wanted to see what other options there were before she pulled the trigger.   Streets in Venice are anything but straight and a lot of the little alleys simply dead end - at the same time little hidden alleys are often fascinating and it is very nice to get off the beaten path.  You have probably already guessed that it took us quiet a while to make our way over to San Marco square and that we got lost several times on the way.  We did, eventually, get there and Daphne did find a good deal on a pursue that she liked.

Aniversary diner in Venice
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After that we took a boat back to the area that our hotel was in to find a place for a nice dinner.  This turned out to be a little harder than we expected since many of the cooler looking places were full (it was a weekend and many of the locals were out in addition to the tourists)  Daph was very patient with me as I dragged us up and down the same streets several times trying to find the perfect place for our anniversary dinner .  Fortunately we did find a great spot that had some amazing food and very good service - fantastic diner.

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