Italy 2006-2.2

We never made it to the Cannaregio, but no worries. We instead explored four of the the other Sestiere, San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo and Santa Croce. We spent the morning wandering through, gawking at everything, enjoying the small spaces, winding streets, lovely canals and the Venetian people, who are by and large very friendly. We generally were heading for the train station, where we purchased a Trenitalia pass for our travels to Florence and Rome, and on the way passed over the Ponte Rialto, through the Campo San Giocomo dell’Orio and about a dozen smaller Campo, bridges etc.

After getting our passes, we wandered back past the Giardini Papadopoli and ended up in the Campo Santa Margherita, which seems like more of the university district of Venice. We stopped for lunch (good calzone) and had a Gelato break. Jene has declared coffee gelato the caffeine of choice for the trip. I heartily agree, although the cappuccino that the hotel makes in the morning is quite good.

We made it back to San Marco across the Ponte del Academia and were able to see the temporary pontoon bridge that the Venetians erect every year for the procession from Piazza San Marco to the Chiesa di Santa Maria della Salute to commemorate the deliverance of Venice from the Plague. Unfortunately, the procession has already taken place. Fortunately, no plague in site.

We then did the ultimate in touristy things to do in Venice, hired ourselves a Gondola ride from the Campo di San Moise. We wound through the canals of San Marco, listening to the various singers on the other gondolas, and had a great time. All of the gondoliers talk to each other throughout the trip, laughing and joking. It seems they have quite a club going. Our gondolier didn’t really sing, although he and his colleagues took the opportunity to make fun of one of the other singers. They all seemed to be in on whatever the joke was, and it was fun to watch. We did wonder if the gondolier featured in the Discovery Channel’s Discovery Italy passed his tests, no one seemed to know. We ended up on the Grand Canal for a bit, under the Ponte Rialto and back down the Rio San Luca, and the Rio dei Barcoroli to our starting point. Definitely fun and worth it, although we did not get to hear O Sole Mio. Later on, we saw the 2007 Venice Caldo Gondolieri calendar, sort of the Venetian version of one hot fireman per month.
After that we went back to the hotel, had a jetlag nap until dinner, and then had a great meal at Antico Martini. Probably way too expensive, but very, very good.

Someone got engaged there that evening.

Not us, but the Americans at the table next to us. Sweet to watch, but we would never do anything so trite as to get engaged at a romantic restaraunt in the most romantic city in the world. Puhleeeease...

The evening was capped off with a drink at Harry’s Bar, where we got to watch one of the new guys get harassed and trained by the older bartender. We think Italy is where the New York attitude originated, and had a lot of fun watching it. Oh, and it was so wet out that one of the bartenders actually felt the need to towel off my coat with me still in it. Definitely would have gotten along fine in New York.