Sadly we will be leaving the beautiful canal-city of Venice tomorrow morning. I will greatly miss the canals, gondolas, churches, bridges, and amazing canal-side restaurants. I will not miss those god damn annoying weird ass birds though. And the freaking pigeons. Don't get me started on those. Whewwww Everett relax last day buddy, last day.
Alright getting on to the just of things. Visited the Santa Maria della Salute church which is right by our apartment so we kinda had to. Very beautiful except there was this beggar lady blocking the doorway so you would give her money and then let you through…the church was supposed to be free. I mean it's a good plan don't get me wrong, clever but not exactly politically correct. Anyway after that we went to the tip. Cue 13 year-old boys laughing. It was the tip of the island of our district of Venice. It also has a naked boy holding a frog, who looks about 13. Irony or coincidence. Never can tell with these Europeans. Now there's gonna be a picture and the kids genitalia is visible so don't freak out. You've been fore-warned.
We then headed across the canal to Giudecca where we had sliced swordfish and I had spaghetti with prawns. Actual steamed prawns with all of it together. As soon as I saw them I screamed and ran into the bathroom. Took me about 20 minutes to coax me out but I finally came back to the table. I still made Aunt Jane take all of the meat out of them though. They were scary okay!?
After that we headed to a church right down the road from the restaurant. It was good. As we're walking out we see this big ass Titanic-size cruise ship coming down the canal. Literally it was the size of a football stadium. I've always wanted to go on a cruise but my dad has always been scared to.
After that we headed to San Marco Square for the Correr Museum and the Basilica di San Marco. The museum was decent kinda got boring til the end though. The Basilica is one of the down-falls of the trip. It was beautiful don't get me wrong the golden mosaics were wonderful and the inside was magnificent. It was overpriced a boat load though. Free to get in but besides going through the church which was just a sight, everything else cost money. About 5 euros per person for each part of the church for seeing the terrace, treasury and other thing I can't remember. A rip-off to be frank. The treasury didn't seem worth it and the terrace gave us a nice view but the Campanile had a better view and of all of Venice not just San Marco's Square. Overall it was worth it I guess.
Next we went bathing suit shopping cause it's gonna be hot as balls while were in Umbria and the hotel has a swimming pool. I got a speedo. Yup judge me all you want, it was purely comical and since Aunt Jane bought it I got it for free. Plus it'll really tan my upper-thigh area cause that's pretty bad.
Next was a little respite and we snuck into a classy hotel for cocktails before dinner. We went to the Centurion Hotel which is super classy and had drinks canal-side. Check Jane's pic on Facebook. After that headed to the Zattore for our last dinner in Venice. I finished off the stay with pizza and a triple-scoop gelato. Absolutely delish. Tomorrow morning we head to Torgiano with our little rented Fiat. Hopefully the GPS works so I can sleep instead of be the navigator for our 4 hour ride. Ciao!
Aunt Jane's take:
Sigh...the last night in Venice. It went too fast.
Another fun day. We started it with breakfast at Da Gino, an old favorite that my friends Marilyn and Bob introduced me to. If we were only here for one more day, I would be mayor of Da Gino on Four Square...may be worth staying one more day.
We power-shopped after colazione (italian for “breakfast”). Everett was a good sport as I had to do a lot of catching up in the gift department. But I did get a few things for me. Certo.
After dropping our parcels back at our flat, we hit the Salute church, as Ev told you. Have to give the beggar lady props. She had a good scam going. I’ve been surprised at the number of churches that are charging admission now. Used to be free. I would always put a few coins in the “Offerta” box (being a good Unitarian girl), but I guess times are hard everywhere. Anyway, I had a feeling we were being scammed, but she was very into her role as toll collector at the doorway, so I gave her a few coins. Gotta respect the commitment to her art. A few pix of Salute
Our trek continued around the tip of Dorsoduro and onto the Zattere, where we caught the vaporetto (water bus) over to the giudecca for lunch. Everett picked the spot and he did not steer us wrong. That kid has good intuition when it comes to picking out the good spots for food.
We had a wonderful lunch at a little spot right on the water. We had carpaccio of swordfish, and then I had a yummy calamari that was cooked with fresh veggies and ginger. Very unusual and very good. Ev’s already told you about his prawns and pasta (mamma mia). We split some fresh strawberries with mascarpone and then headed off to the Church of the Redentore. And now we break for a few more pix.
Statue at the tip of Dorsoduro.
Boat garage and workshop on the Zattere.
View of the Zattere from Giudecca.
Before: Huge cruise ship in the canal.
After: Same view, after ship passes. Gives you a good sense of how big it was.
In Basilica di San Marco. Spectacular mosiacs.
View from the balcony of San Marco.
Everett’s already regaled you with tales of our evening. The full moon was spectacular. I’m kind of a freak when it comes to the moon -- la luna! La bella luna! So special to see it tonight rising over the canal.
Realized we haven’t posted any pix of our pad. We’ve liked it very much. A few hiccups with the hot water -- but to be honest, it’s so hot here, we don’t really need it. We never really used our little terrace (again, too hot), but one feature we are enjoying -- the clothes dryer. Meraviglioso!! I’ve never seen one of these in Italy before. I haven’t had to do my nonna impression and hang out the wash. However, I’ve had to brush up on my ironing skills this evening. Italian GQ man has to have freshly ironed shirts. Mamma mia. Anyway, here are a few snaps of our pad.
Aunt Jane's take:
Sigh...the last night in Venice. It went too fast.
Another fun day. We started it with breakfast at Da Gino, an old favorite that my friends Marilyn and Bob introduced me to. If we were only here for one more day, I would be mayor of Da Gino on Four Square...may be worth staying one more day.
We power-shopped after colazione (italian for “breakfast”). Everett was a good sport as I had to do a lot of catching up in the gift department. But I did get a few things for me. Certo.
After dropping our parcels back at our flat, we hit the Salute church, as Ev told you. Have to give the beggar lady props. She had a good scam going. I’ve been surprised at the number of churches that are charging admission now. Used to be free. I would always put a few coins in the “Offerta” box (being a good Unitarian girl), but I guess times are hard everywhere. Anyway, I had a feeling we were being scammed, but she was very into her role as toll collector at the doorway, so I gave her a few coins. Gotta respect the commitment to her art. A few pix of Salute
We had a wonderful lunch at a little spot right on the water. We had carpaccio of swordfish, and then I had a yummy calamari that was cooked with fresh veggies and ginger. Very unusual and very good. Ev’s already told you about his prawns and pasta (mamma mia). We split some fresh strawberries with mascarpone and then headed off to the Church of the Redentore. And now we break for a few more pix.
Statue at the tip of Dorsoduro.
Realized we haven’t posted any pix of our pad. We’ve liked it very much. A few hiccups with the hot water -- but to be honest, it’s so hot here, we don’t really need it. We never really used our little terrace (again, too hot), but one feature we are enjoying -- the clothes dryer. Meraviglioso!! I’ve never seen one of these in Italy before. I haven’t had to do my nonna impression and hang out the wash. However, I’ve had to brush up on my ironing skills this evening. Italian GQ man has to have freshly ironed shirts. Mamma mia. Anyway, here are a few snaps of our pad.
So it’s onward tomorrow to Umbria. Hope it’s as fun as Rome and Venice. Ciao and Buona Notte!!
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