Venice & her smaller siblings - Day 3

On our 2nd full day in Venice, we were awoken at 5:30 am by a knock on the door. A couple of our fellow travelers had a wild hair to get up early... and then they ended up going back to sleep! We took advantage of the unordered wake up call, and were well rewarded. We snuck out into the weak morning light and padded over the Rialto, through the winding streets and walked out onto Piazza San Marco around 6:30am.

It was magical. The streets and piazzas were nearly empty {most people out were street cleaners or other tourists like us}, and it allowed us a glimpse of the serenity and grandeur that is woven into the history of Venezia. If you go, you must see Venice in the early morning hours before she is thronging with tourists and peddlars. This is the Venice people write stories about.

As we wandered back to the Rialto, things were starting to pick up a bit. We grabbed another breakfast at Goppian then headed to the market again and bought {too much} food for dinner, including delicious seafoods and amazing white asparagus.

And if that wasn't enough... then we went to the Islands. Yes, we hit up Burano and Murano after already spending several hours wandering through the back alleys of history and deliciousness.

We bought transport passes from the Rialto vaporetto stop from the automatic machines, though they have people selling tickets too (24 hours for 16Euro, instead of 6.50 per trip-a good deal and kept us from having a buy tickets before each ride) and took the vaporetto from Fondamente Nuvo (line LN- you may have to walk down aways from the 'normal Fondamente Nuvo stop- there are actually 2 docks within about 200 feet of each other and different lines stop at each one) out to Burano, where I quickly developed an obsession with photographing drying laundry. Weird.

Burano is known for its brightly colored homes {and lace}, and they certainly didn't disappoint! We wandered the island, bought some small pieces of lace {and the first of many scarves}, and then headed to lunch at Trattoria Da Romano. Reservations weren't required for us at noon when we went {yay shoulder season!}, but for dinner I think they would be a must (or for lunch during high season). The food was amazing!! Very simple, but the fresh ingredients and excellent cooking techniques made the flavors dance together, and we were all enchanted. We had the goh rissotto and numerous pasta dishes, as well as a frito misto, which was really just a mix of fried things. Honestly, I would skip the frito misto next time and stick with the amazingly prepared cuttlefish pasta, or the gnochetti with lobster. *drool* The house wine was amazing, and the service was superb. One of the table runners, an adorable older gentleman, pointed to a picture of President Carter's wife at the restaurant, then to the young many behind her- 'Thats me!'. It was pretty amazing to see that he was still there, which shows a marked difference between restaurant staff in the US versus Europe- there they are paid well enough and treated well enough that working as a waiter/etc can earn one a respectable living. Not so much in America{except in the rare case}.

After lunch we rolled onto the vaporetto headed towards Murano, all excited to see a glass-blowing demonstration. But... they only do those in the morning. So be warned, if that is what you are looking for, make sure you hit Murano up first and then head to Burano. For us, without the glass-blowing demos Murano was just kinda meh- there were dozens of stores selling amazing glass, but as much as we wanted good quality souvenirs, we just weren't willing to pay 100 Euro for a vase, so for the most part we didn't even find anything to buy. We did end up walking into a back area where people actually live, and that was pretty. Murano seems to be a ritzier place to live- everyone had gated courtyards and much more space than you'll find in most of Venice.

We finally got on the vaporetto back to Venice, wandered our way 'home' and those who were so inclined started cooking up a seafood feast that the poor rental kitchen could barely support {don't ask me how they managed- I just stayed out of the way and drank my fragolino }.


Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. - Truman Capote

La Serenissima- Days 1&2

In the mad rush of tourists, it can be hard to understand why Venetians call this city "The Most Serene", but on our visit, on the shoulder of high tourist season, there were still chances to glimpse the beauty and peace that earned Venice her nickname.


We arrived at the Marco Polo airport and made the easy and relatively cheap transfer from the mainland to Venice herself. We took the ATVO bus to Piazzale Roma, and then contemplated taking a vaporetto (water bus) to our apartment, but we ended up just picking up our bags and hiking it. The only unpleasant part was that with our rolling bags we had to pick them up and carry them over every.single.bridge. But with a really great map, it only took 20 minutes {and a couple dead-end turnarounds} to get to our apartment.

the view from my seat on the bus- I don't know what M. Polo's rear had to do with the parking spot:)

We ended up renting the San Silvestro apartment from a British company called Italian Breaks, and it went really well. Since there were 6 adults in there, we didn't have much extra space, but that was to be expected. The beds were pretty comfortable, the kitchen had enough things for basic cooking {which of course we exceeded, but that's just how we roll}. The company had reasonable prices and was easy to work with- I highly recommend them. I didn't take any pictures of the actual apartment, but the pictures on the website were a good representation of what you get.

Once we were slightly recovered, we wandered the Rialto area (including the leftovers of the market) and headed towards Piazza San Marco using as many small back streets as possible {to avoid all those tourists;)} and enjoyed the beauty of the city. For a late lunch we had some cichetti at the Osteria dei Zemei (Rughetta del Ravano)- the servers were very friendly and patient, and the food was delicious! They also recommended affordable and fabulous wines to go with. For dinner we weren't so lucky, ending up at a place back near the Rialto (don't know the name) that served 'special toast'- it wasn't horrid, but it was incredibly unimaginative, and overpriced. But we were starved. And jet-lagged. And we just made do. Of course, that stupid 'special toast' {kinda like a pizza, but not?} plagued us for the rest of the week- we would turn a corner, and there it would be. Run away!!!

Our second day was a bit more exciting. We started out by grabbing breakfast Goppian Cafe (along Ruga Vecchia San Giovvani- open at 6:30am)- that became a regular morning stop because they were open early, the pastries were pretty good and the coffee was decent {and all was well priced}. From there we headed to the Rialto market, and this was a mind blowing experience!

Mr. P and I headed away from the market early to get to the Doge's Palace (and got there WAY early- Venice is tiny and it only took 10 minutes to get there, not the 30 we'd planned for!). So rather than sit around bored, we wandered along the edge of Venice down towards the Naval Museum, and then headed to the Giardinetti Reali, a small garden right off of Piazza San Marco- this is {according to Rick Steve's} the only legal place in Venice to have a picnic. It was really peaceful at 9am, and we had a nice time wandering in the sunshine.

who knew pigeons could be so pretty? There was a whole flock of these beauties in the garden

We had purchased tickets ahead of time for the Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries tour, and it was pretty darn cool. You go behind the scenes to the 'secret' rooms of the Doge's Palace where treason and evil deeds were judged, plus you see the jails and torture chambers that are closed off to the public (including Casanova's cells). I thought it was pretty cool, and if you are interested in history I highly recommend it. You need to book ahead of time online though because the tours sell out quickly during high season, and we wouldn't have gotten tickets if we had waited to buy them in Venice.

The weather was a bit stormy, but I was afraid to put away the camera- so much beauty within steps is hard to resist! After the tour we ran back to the Rialto area to meet our travel companions for cichetti at Do Spade and Cantina Do Mori. We were unimpressed at Do Spade, but Do Mori deserves its reputation as one of the best spots in Venice- the guys at the bar were friendly enough, the cichetti were good and the vino rosso was amazing {and sparkling!!!}, so I highly recommend it!

After lunch we went on a hike all around the western edge of the city. We wandered past the Frari church and through Drosduro, stopping at a place called Grom off the Campo San Barnaba for gelato- this was one of the 2 best places in Venice, and I highly recommend the pompelmo {grapefruit}. From there we wandered over the Accademia Bridge, past La Fenice (the opera house) and back into the San Marco area.

We didn't enter a single church or museum on the wander, but I felt like around each turn I saw a crumbling testament to the history and grandeur of Venice- who needs a museum when you can spend free hours walking through an open air exhibition?

After all that walking so far, I was ready to turn in and sleep for ages, so after dinner (which I don't remember?!) we headed to bed.

A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.  - Arthur Symons

 
*all photos by me

Photo fun

I've been very slow about getting pictures put online for your enjoyment- much sorry. If you head over to my Project 365, I have posted some of my favorite pictures from our vacation on there. Just look at the calender and flip back to May for the Europe pictures:). Have no fear, I am working on multiple lengthy review posts of our fabulous vacation!

Until then, here is one of the famous lions of Piazza San Marco to tide you over.

In with the new

I haven't posted about the trip yet- very sorry:(. Its hard to write about without grabbing the credit card, clicking to priceline and buying tickets to go all over again! However, in the meantime I shall entertain you with pictures of our newest purchase!

Not the dog- the rug, silly! Lowe's had them on clearance, and we decided that the echoing hole that is our bedroom could use some softening up. Yay! Now we just need to get some furniture... and some artwork... and we are set!

Updates

Since my last post, 2 major events have occured.

1) Mr. P and I wandered Europe for 2.5 weeks! Yes, it was amazing, yes I have a bajillion pictures, yes, there will be SEVERAL posts for each location we visited:).

2) Mr. P and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary! It is hard to believe we've already been married a year, but I guess time flies!

Ok, I promise to put up more pictures soon, but I just had to give a quick taste!!

Happy Birthday?

I recently celebrated my annual aging event, and boy did the year pass with a BANG! 2 nights before the big day, I got a call from someone at the horse barn. 'You need to get out here and get your vet out here too. Your pony is stuck in the fence and bleeding!'  Enter PANICMODE! Fortunately Mr. Pony and I had been preparing to head out for dinner, so we were ready to go ASAP. Mr. P elected to drive, possibly because I was vibrating with repressed terror, and while he insists that he was speeding, I'm 100% certain that he was doing at least 10 under the speed limit. Grrr.

Fortunately, Copper extracted himself from the fence on his own, and by the time we got there, the lovely people at the barn had him tied up and were hosing off his leg.

{WARNING: EXPLICIT PONY INJURY PICTURES TO FOLLOW}

This is what we found when we arrived.

Pardon the blur- this was from my cell phone, and I was a bit shaken. Yes folks, that white bit in the middle is his BONE. The vet got there about 20 minutes later, and she looked him over and said 'Well, lets sew him up'.

Watching your pony get knocked out {drugs, not with a bat}, flopped on the ground, and stitched up is pretty traumatic. She put in 12-15 stitches total (I think- counting wasn't my strong point right then), and then we wrapped the leg up VERY well. 3.5 days later he is still rocking the same wrap- she wanted us to just wrap it up and leave it alone so it could heal.

Copper is now confined to the stall. He does not like this.

But that is what the little shit gets for ripping his leg open. I'm told it was self defense- he was getting picked on by another horse out in the pasture and misfired into the fence. So we had a long chat about running, not fighting, and if one must fight, one must first aim. He was uninterested in my views.

We'll be doing the big reveal tomorrow evening to see how he has healed thus far. Hopefully he is healing well- he so far hasn't shown any major lameness, which is amazing. Injuries on the legs can really mess with so many important walking things, and I'll be honest, I'd be devastated if this little guy was really broken!

We were very fortunate- you don't want something like this to happen to your baby, but if it must happen, then our situation is what you want. The people at the barn SAW the injury happen, and we had the vet out to him and he was stitched up within 2 hours. My barn elves had him tied up and were hosing his leg before I even got there, which kept down swelling {meaning the vet had something to stitch} and kept the wound clean {keeping down infection possibilities}. We have a nice clean stall to put him in so he'll stay safe, and there are lots of people who have offered to help out. Oh yeah, and my vet rocks!

Please keep your fingers crossed for us tomorrow- Copper and I are BOTH hoping for a speedy recovery! I told Copper that healing quickly would be a great late birthday present!!