Venice

August 13-15 Venice

Rome was fascinating, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there but it is an 'in your face' city much like New York. You have to be on your toes due to the crazy drivers, crowds and the general hustle and bustle. In fact, our concierge just about made us (or just me/Celia) paranoid about the Rome train station -- to be on the look out for pick pockets and diversions that lure your attention away from the present and give a thief the opportunity to snag your goods while you're distracted (we did, in fact, run across that where a family was pretending to have a distraught child and was going in and out of taxis). We were looking forward to a change of pace in Venice.

Venice, a picturesque city, is a series of islands connected by bridges and land filled lagoons. The narrow, stone streets, the bridges over the canals, the muted colors and buildings while in disrepair have a historic and romantic feel to them. When we arrived and got outside of the train station, we were immediately struck by the quaint beauty.

The temperature was much cooler than Rome and it was raining lightly which is not unusual for Venice. While the cooler air was a welcome change after the extreme heat of Rome, we weren't prepared with what we had packed if the thermometer dropped too much. We had left our warm clothes back in Zaragoza and each only brought a sweater or sweatshirt. Upon on our arrival, we walked to our hotel, Locanda Herion (no cars in Venice) which was not far from the train station.

Beside the temperature, we were also struck by the tourist-filled streets ('tis the vacation season). Venice felt crowded which was exacerbated by the narrow streets. At times, we felt overwhelmed by the mass of people.



In Venice, we took a reprieve from checking off must-see tourist sites and kept our agenda open; we wandered the streets with the goal of eventually ending up in San Marco square, one of the most famous spots in Venice. We took the water-bus past San Marco to Giardini Park, what seemed to be one of the only parks and semi-open spaces in Venice. The colors in the evening were beautiful, putting a glow on the water and buildings. Stopping for a drink and appetizers at Paradisio Cafe, we had planned to order olives, cheese and a few yummies but to our surprise, we were served a pizza with artichokes instead (our Italian isn't that great either). We then wandered around the narrow streets for several hours and stumbled on a local joint (read dive) comparable to Remi's in Concord where we watched a soccer game. The guys were thrilled to get a sports fix.

Our guide book recommended to 'get lost' while in Venice and we inadvertently followed that advice. To explore the city, we roamed the less touristy streets, escaped the crowds and got lost in the process. It's very easy to not really know where you're located in Venice ---the myriad of closed-in avenues start to look the same and can be confusing. A few family grumbles and moments of panic all turned into another 'traveling adventure' in the end. We had to remember that Venice is an island so how lost could we get?!?



Our second day started out sunny and glorious but by early afternoon, the skies turned ominous and we were caught in intermittent rain throughout the afternoon and evening that caused tourists to scurry for cover. Much of day, we explored the shops and looked at the beautiful and locally created Murano Glass (a big selling point in Venice). Kelsey and Celia bought two lovely pieces, a necklace and bracelet respectively, and, of course, mothers and daughters can share jewelry.




In the afternoon, a gondolier by the name of Luca took us for a ride through the Canals. Parker noted that the gondolas are the limousines of Venice water transportation. The boats are plush, polished and accented with gold.



Luca, our gondolier explained that his trade took either 14 or 40 (he told us both numbers) years to learn to safely navigate the waves and other boats. During the off tourist season, gondoliers change trades and become fisherman.

We all agreed the gelato was much better in Venice than in Rome although gelato is still pretty darn good no matter where it is, and should be added as an important major food group.