Wednesday, April 8,1998
We arrive in Venice around 4:30 in the afternoon and spend a while
figuring out the vaporetti, or water buses. We take one to the
hotel and thankfully we were only a 300 yard walk to the hotel
from the stop. We got a decent view of Venice although our water
bus didn’t go down the Grand Canal.
After checking in, we set out to explore a little and find dinner.
2 of the Frommer’s picks were close and easy to find but they
were closed. We walked quite a way, turned around several times
and found Trattoria de Fiore(the narrow, winding streets are a
little tricky to figure out at first). We managed to get in without
a reservation. For antipasti, we had mixed seafood, which was
good, but it was an odd assortment of squid, sardines and other
unidentified things. First course, we shared spaghetti carbonara
and for second course, Keith had cod in butter and Jill a mixed
salad. After dinner, we walked through Piazza San Marco and enjoyed
seeing the heart of Venice.
Thursday, April 9, 1998
Now Jill is infected with the cold Keith passed on. Breakfast
at the hotel was good and saved us from having to find a cafe.
First off we explored piazza San Marco with the help of the guidebook.
We took the lift up in the bell tower. Great view of Venice from
up there but cold and windy.
The view from the bell tower with the Grand Canal on this side
of the peninsula.
From the bell tower looking in the direction of our hotel. Its
just before the green awnings on the sea facing shops.
Next we started the merchant trail to Rialto Bridge. Lots of signs
point the way through the maze of shops between San Marco and
Rialto. Rialto Bridge was neat &endash; all white marble, but as crowded with tourists as Ponte Vecchio
in Florence.
The Rialto Bridge.
The view from the Rialto Bridge.
Keith on the other side of the Rialto Bridge.
Explored a bit more and found lunch at a little pizzeria where
Keith had pizza inferno (spicy sausage), Jill had tortellini with
meat sauce and veggie soup. Afternoon was more window-shopping
and a nap. We had walked for nearly 4 hours.
Jill in front of a particularly picturesque canal.
Went out again but it was raining. Found some gelato to tide us
until dinner. We decided to walk the main waterfront strip from
our hotel in the direction away from San Marco. Headed up a main
canal and found ourselves at the arsenal. It was neat &endash; it’s where ship repairs have been done for the navy for many
years. We decided we could connect to a restaurant for dinner
through the small back streets so we started through the maze.
We found a little local wine bar with little decoration but 4-6
different jugs of wine and a case of small sandwiches for snacks.
We had a few glasses of wine, only 1500 Lira, or about $1.40.
The Bay of San Marco (Saint Mark).
The wine bar. Notice the large jugs of wine and the siphon hoses
attached to fill glasses and bottles.
We kept walking and found a neat little restaurant with reasonable
prices and awards/recommendations in the window. It had a half-hour
before it opened, but we popped our head in for reservations.
They were full, but we got reservations for the next night. Headed
on to Trattoria Rivetta for dinner, and got there about 7:10.
People were looking at the menu outside but we went on in and
were glad we did, the place filled up fast. We had house red wine,
antipasti legume (mixed vegetables) and fried calamari, then Keith
had grilled scampi and Jill veal scallop bolognese style. All
were great including the tiramisu dessert!
Wandered home through San Marco and had espresso with Bailey’s
at "our bar" (just a bar we liked but didn’t know the name of).
Pretty tipsy by now, so we take the long way home.
We stop on a bridge on the way home and some other tourists take
our picture. The Bridge of Sighs is behind us, but the flash just
didn’t make it that far.
Friday, April 10, 1998
Jill’s cold is at its worst. Slow start with another breakfast
at the hotel. Morning activities were San Marco Basilica and glass
shopping. The basilica was pretty cool and the interior covered
with mosaics made of tiny tiles. We paid to get into the museum
at the top, which wasn’t a big deal, but it got us to the balcony
of the basilica where we had a great view of the piazza.
Keith on the balcony with the bay behind him.
On the balcony with the square in the background. Notice the thousands
of pigeons.
We went in a couple of glass shops looking for a fish scene in
glass. Instead, Jill fell in love with a vase. We went in more
shops and thought about the vase a fish piece, then had a mediocre
lunch of pizza and calamari then went back to Jill’s favorite
glass shop. We bought the vase and a fish scene there. We carried
the heavy purchases home and Jill stayed in for a rest while Keith
went and toured Palazza Ducale (the palace and prison for Venice
in its heyday) and got to cross the canal inside the bridge of
sighs (a famous bridge used to bring prisoners from the prison
to the courthouse).
Jill wakes up and we decide to go for gelato and a vaporetto ride
up the Grand Canal. It started raining and only got harder. Our
45 minute vaporetto ride was cold but fun &endash; amazing how many buildings face the Grand Canal.
Another vaporetto passing us.
After boat ride we head to our cheap wine bar, then to Trattoria
da Remigio where we had reservations. We have more wine, shared
mixed seafood antipasti and then Jill had baked lasagna and veal
scallops in tomato and herbs. Keith has Spaghetti alla Amatraciane
and mixed fried seafood (included heads and tails on the small
fish). Tiramisu and espresso make the meal &endash; now we wait an hour and a half until 11 p.m. when high tide hits
(it was an unusually high tide, but not as high as it can get).
Keith goes to see the high tide, but Jill decides to stay inside
and warm.
Keith’s dinner has a head and a tail. And he ate them both!
Piazza San Marco under a foot of water. Everyone walks on platforms
above the water. This is the same square as the one with pigeons
in it above.
Saturday, April 11, 1998
Checked out of the hotel late in the morning and headed out for
our last day of our honeymoon. Item number one was a gondola ride.
We paid 120,000 Lira (about $70) but it was worth it. The morning
was actually pretty out, but the wind was a little chilly. The
ride took us by Marco Polo’s house, an old renaissance palace,
someone else famous’s house, some old churches and then out into
the Bay of Saint Mark, under the bridge of Sighs and then back
to where we started. We enjoyed it, but felt silly when other
tourists were taking our picture.
A bunch of gondolas.
Us going under a bridge in a gondola.
Jill was impressed with the gondolier ducking under the bridges.
A busy intersection in Venice.
The gondola in the rough seas of the San Marco Bay.
Going under the Bridge of Sighs. The prison is on the right and
the palace and courthouse is on the left.
We decided to head north and take a look at a famous horse statue.
We also tour another old church. And then, to Jill’s delight,
we catch the vaporetto to Murano &endash; the glass island. We shop a little, but are still happy with
our purchases. We watch 2 furnace shows where both glass blowers
make vases and horses. Pretty neat.
We catch the vaporetto all the way back to San Marco. We wander
down some alleys and stop in a hole-in-the-wall trattoria. Jill
orders the tourist special: spaghetti bolognese, salad, calamari
and espresso. Keith had a Pizza Volcano &endash; spicy pepperoni and Gorgonzola. He also helps Jill with some
of her meal and a half a liter of red wine.
We then take care of our last touristy thing: we buy an oil painting
of Venice. We catch the water bus to the airport where we camp
out for a couple of hours and sample our first Italian beer. Actually,
5 or 6 of them.
The flight is Lufthansa and is comfortable and comes with a couple
of small bottles of wine. In Frankfurt, Jill and I decide to try
a couple of big German beers. Then we go nuts and buy a bunch
of Swiss chocolate. We get on the next and last flight and after
a couple more wines, we finally crash. We arrive in Singapore
tired, disheveled and with a touch of the cold each, but happy. |
