Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Today was one of those days when nothing we had planned came to fruition, but it was still one of the nicest days of the trip. First, we managed to ignore the alarm and snooze until after 9:30. Scrounged breakfast from the fridge, and headed out quite a bit later than planned. We headed to San Marco by a different route, going by way of C. Santa Maria Formosa and San Zaccaria Church. All was well until we left C. Formosa and went astray, once again. Somehow we missed San Zaccaria completely and arrived at the Arsenale, or military headquarters for Venice. We managed to convince them we really weren’t looking at their Amphibious Assault Ship, and went on our way. If they didn’t want people to take pictures, you’d think they wouldn’t park it in the main channel!
After walking the back streets for a couple of hours, we found ourselves on the waterfront where all the hotel shuttles, water taxis and vaporetti come and go. The lovely bride was beginning to grump a bit since she hadn’t been fed since our makeshift breakfast, so we found a dockside café and had a beer each and split a plate of antipasto. She mellowed out considerably after absorbing some of the Birra Morretti, nibbling on prosciutto and salami, sitting in the sea breeze and people watching. A word of caution; check the menu before ordering anyplace close to the center of touristic activities…the beers ended up costing 11 euros each, or a little more than $18. By the time we got to Piazza San Marco, all was closed, so we headed home by way of the Ferrari store. Lots of interesting stuff there…just bring money.
After a short naptime, we headed out to find some dinner. One place we had seen in our comings and goings was a small corner ristorante in Campo S. Maria Nova named the Antico Gatoleto. http://www.ristoranteanticogatoleto.com/ We showed up and ducked inside just as a small thunderstorm blew in. Parking at a corner table, we were able to watch the other patrons as they interacted with the staff. This was the kind of friendly, neighborhood place we are always looking for, but rarely find. Even though about half of the diners were tourists, the waiter was friendly and attentive. There was none of the coldness or even rudeness we have too frequently seen among wait staff who primarily serve tourists. We were made to feel this was our neighborhood diner, and the staff was really glad to see us, not just tolerant of our presence. When our food began arriving, we realized there was more than just the staff to bring us back again. We had a variety of seafood as well as two different veal dishes and salad, finishing up with espressos when we couldn’t find room for dessert. For once we were in agreement that this was the best meal we’ve shared since arriving in Venice.

Same day, just later.

I had forgotten how restorative naps can be. After our little snack, Susan worked on her blog for a bit, and I stretched out to rest my eyes…just for fifteen minutes or so. Several hours later, I roused up enough to realize I needed to feed my lovely bride before she started getting cranky again. We headed for a bar we had heard about which advertised live jazz, as well as decent food. On arrival, we found it had been taken over by a gaggle of foreigners, and ‘twas a jumping joint. After a brief consultation we elected to search for a quieter venue.
We wandered toward San Marco and ended up in the piazza. Amazing the difference between mid-day and 6:00pm. There were still people around the square, but most of them were trying to leave and get back to hotels or cruise ships. The museums and Basilica were closed, so the only thing to do was stroll about and people watch. We found an Italian seafood restaurant a block or so off the square, and settled in for a five course meal. Baby octopi, sweet & sour sardines, spaghetti with mussels, sautéed prawns, fried squid, shrimps, and minnows were just some of the interesting things crawling across our plates. While eating, two large groups of American school kids came into the restaurant: one extremely noisy, loud and northeastern in dialect; the second was quieter, more tastefully attired, and sat at three tables close to us. Susan & I kept trying to guess where they were from by their dress and behavior. Ruled out anywhere northern, especially after half of them ordered coca-colas, and they weren’t tanned enough to be from the west coast. Susan settled on Atlanta, based simply on the fact that the teacher leading the group and several of the guys were wearing deck shoes with no socks (a la Lewis Grizzard). As we were leaving, I had to ask where they were from, and they were from Beaufort, South Carolina. One girl was excited to hear we were from Texas since she is going to SMU in the fall. It’s a small world, indeed.
We arrived back at Piazza S. Marco in time for the evening passeggiata, or stroll. The personality of the square was completely changed from mid-day. Orchestras were set up in front of cafes around the edges of the piazza, and took turns playing sets of different music. This ranged from Broadway show tunes to Vivaldi. If you feel like sitting, the café will charge you for the privilege of doing so with a 10 Euro coberto or cover charge. We opted to just stroll the square with the crowd of mostly locals, listening to first one and then another orchestra in the gathering darkness. After this mostly perfect evening, I did manage to get lost again on the way back to the apt. Some things never change.
Ciao for now.

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!