First Day in Venice

Sunday, June 8, 2008
Slept last night as only those who have crossed too many time zones in too few hours can, but awakened feeling rested and ready to go. Then realized the reason we felt so rested was that it was well into the afternoon before we started moving. Susan deciphered the inner workings of a strange little coffee maker and came up with some drinkable brew, although we had forgotten to pick up any creamer at the neighborhood COOP yesterday evening. I guess we’ll drink our espresso neat.
We didn’t have a real plan for our first day in Venice, but thought the best idea was to do a little on-the-ground scouting. We wandered out into a beautiful day, and headed in the direction of the Rialto bridge and then Piazza San Marco. The closer to our goal, the larger the crowds became. At the Rialto Bridge, we climbed to the top and watched the traffic on the Grand Canal. As we looked down at the crowds in the market, even Susan agreed she didn’t want to shop that badly. With Rialto behind us, we headed off on a tangent, away from the main corridor between Rialto and San Marco. Meandering through the back streets, we took a circuitous route which eventually led us unexpectedly into the main piazza.
It seemed as though there were as many tourists as pigeons, scattered in large clumps about the square. The gabble of different languages assaulting us from every side made me think of the Tower of Babel, with so many peoples drawn together for a single purpose, yet unable to understand each other. The one thing which was universally understood was by the little ones who realized the importance of chasing as many pigeons as possible, while simultaneously making as much noise as possible. We circled the square, orienting ourselves to the layout, and picking out spots to return to later. All was beautiful, and jam-packed with tourists intent on getting into and out of each of the sites on the piazza. Nothing was allowed to interfere with this mission, certainly not a couple of old folks from Texas who happened to get in the way. We realized that mid-afternoon was not the time to try to do anything there.
We headed to our apartment, and took the tourist path back toward Rialto since we knew it was in that general direction. All was well until I got distracted by a shop on a side street. After all, I couldn’t really be expected to pass up “The Vivaldi Store”, could I? We moseyed along in the general direction of our apartment, when what to our wondering eyes should appear? A gaggle of girls, wearing Maroon Out tees. They revealed they were Aggies in Europe ostensibly taking classes and somehow landed in Venice. One confided they were actually supposed to be in Florence, so I’m pretty sure they slept through Map-Reading 101.
Even though I stayed awake in my bull text classes, I still managed to become disoriented and thoroughly turned around. We kept finding places we had been, but couldn’t get from there to our apt. Finally, the Beta Sig in the family took charge and said, “You need a drink”. I’ve learned over the years to listen to my demonstrably better half when she feels it is necessary to take charge, so we grabbed a shady table in a pizzeria/café in the Campo dei SS Apostoli. Breezy and cool, it was the perfect spot for me to regroup mentally. After a salad, pizza with everything including anchovies, and a carafe of wine each, we were both feeling more relaxed and frankly didn’t really care if we found our apt. So naturally, the way was revealed and we were soon back home.
We sat up plotting out the rest of our week, since we don’t want to miss anything, right? Tomorrow, we are heading out to one of the many churches, S. Maria dei Frari, to see Venetian art as it was originally intended to be seen…in church as a worshipful adjunct. I’ll report what we find and I’ll try not to get lost too many times.
Ciao!