Returning to Venice is literally a dream come true for us. I have no words to describe the magnificence, romance and deep history of this place. As our ferry approached and entered the lagoon, we were treated with an elevated view of the island of Lido then the east end of the main islands, St. Marks Square, The Duke’s Palace, The Bell-tower, St. Mark’s Basilica, and most of the south-facing areas on our way to the ferry/cruise ship terminal on the west end of the city.
After we take the Vaporetto (Water Bus) to Arsenale (Next to St. Mark’s) where our hotel is located, we check-in and make our way out to Harry’s Bar on the other side of St. Mark’s. This is an old-school, old-world kind of place where Ernest Hemingway (and many other mid-20th century luminaries) used to hang out. Our drinks are overpriced (duh, its an extremely well-known world famous bar in an extremely well-known world famous city) but the atmosphere, history and service are great (they initially turned us away because I was wearing shorts!) Rather than being offended I was delighted to find a place that still has some standards in this scruffy, scroungy world.
We do a brisk bit of shopping and enjoyable strolling and dinging and snacking and cappuccino-ing, through the city arriving home late. Another great day in Venice :)
~S
Sleeping on a ferry boat in a room that has little air circulation, on choppy seas after eating a big meaty dinner makes for a long night of sweaty, restless, heartburn. Yuck. Top that off with a 4:00am wake-up alarm which was incorrect because of the time change, so change that to a second 5:00am wake-up alarm, at which point I’m wide awake because of the heartburn and the inability to get comfortable. I shower, get ready and read for two hours while our ferry makes its way into Venice for a 7:30am dock. We disembark, make our way across the ferry terminal and wait for a free shuttle that will take us to the bus/taxi terminal into Venice. The first shuttle comes and hoards of people quickly push their way onto the shuttle leaving us to wait for the next shuttle. 15 minutes later shuttle two comes and another hoard of people greedily push us aside again leaving us to wait for shuttle number three. By this time I am no less than irritated at the audacity of some peoples disregard for “first come first serve” common courtesy. Ah - shuttle three arrives and by this time only a few of us weaker folk, who were apparently too passive to join the group of greedy shuttle hoarders, we’re finally able to board.
Arrive at Piazza de Roma - the bus/taxi terminal for Venice Proper, which has buses coming and going from the nearby suburb Mestre, as well as water taxi’s and busses that navigate the canals throughout Venice. Our goal, find a water taxi that will take us directly to our hotel which is on the far end of the Grand Canal. The quote from the taxi is $70 euro... NO WAY!!! So we instead opt for the public water transit bus, only $6 euro a piece... much better deal. Our bus stops at every stop along the canal affording us a much missed view of Venice and easing the mood from our earlier shuttle battle.
Arrival at our hotel, it’s early, only 10:00am, and we’re pleasantly surprised by the allowance of an early check in. The hotel is amazing... very nice... marble floors and walls (up to about 2.5 feet above the floor), a nice bathroom and an actual queen bed that we both can sleep in. After several nights of twin beds, Stanley and I don’t know what to do with ourselves! :)
We freshen up and make our way out into the streets of Venice. Our hotel is right on the end of the Grand Canal just a short distance from the main square of San Marco, so we walk along the boardwalk in pursuit of Harry’s Bar, a famous hangout for celebrities and commonfolk alike. Stanley’s particular interest with this bar has to do with his favorite writer and idol/influence Ernest Hemmingway. Hemmingway notably spent a great deal of time at Harry’s Bar, and despite the countless negative user reviews regarding service, price and atmosphere, we decided to make this our first stop of the day. Our first greeting is one of rejection... they’ve turned us away because Stanley is wearing shorts and this establishment has a dress code which does not include bear legged men. Damn! We’ll have to return later when we’ve had a chance to change. No harm done, we change direction and make our way through the square to our favorite restaurant of delicious Gnocchi from our first trip through Venice.
We find it with ease, using McDonalds as our landmark (we knew McDonalds was good for something). Round two of Gnocchi and Lasagna are just as great as round one and we’re both feeling satisfied and happy. Through the streets we go, looking at shops and kiosks, the afternoon is proving to be quite pleasant and refreshing. Back to the hotel for a wardrobe change and short nap. Zzzz....
Wake and make our way back to Harry’s, this time donning clothed legs, and they happily let us in. The bar is small and there are only a dozen or so people inside. They seat us next to another couple who we would later converse with and Stanley orders a Vodka Martini while I order the famous Harry’s Bar Bellini (white peach puree with champagne). Mmm... both drinks are delicious and the experience is pleasant... nothing like all the negative remarks posted online about this place. Perhaps people are just grouchy naysayers, or perhaps we’re just an easy crowd to please.
Leaving the bar we make our way back into the streets for more shopping and a nice stroll. Venice is a complex maze of streets and canals, lined with shops and stores and restaurants. No matter where you go, where you look, what you do, there is always something great in every direction. Mask shops, glass galleries, bridges that cross the various canals, cappuccino’s and tiramisu, this evening was a delight for both of us.
Along our travels we found a very cool mask shop. Venice is full of these mask shops - from actual shops on the street that sell the real deal (extremely gorgeous, gold inlaid, leather, paper mache, ceramic, etc) to street side kiosks that sell lesser versions (plastic, etc). I’m in search of one that jumps out and grabs me so that I can grab it and bring it home with me. While perusing through this mask shop we both notice a grand piano tucked into the corner with masks lined all around, above and atop this old piano. Stanley sees me eyeing this piano (I have been missing playing almost as much as I’ve missed my friends and family) and he asks the shop manager if it is playable. She says yes, he secures me a moment of playtime in this very cool old shop on the streets of Venice. This piano was extremely out of tune, but I played it anyway and smiled as I was connected with an old friend several thousand miles away from home.
Oops! I had a little too much caffeine & sugar tonight... with the cappuccino, the tiramisu, the gelati, the marshmallow puffy thing that was a special of the cafe we stopped at, etc. By the time we were going to head back to our hotel, I was a little revved up. Apparently I walked at an unusually speedy pace than I usually walk and for the first time EVER, Stanley was having a hard time keeping up with me. Up and down bridges, weaving in and out of people as I zoomed by them at 4 mph, we made it back to our hotel in a very non-romantic, expedient record setting time. Sorry Stanley - I’ll be more careful to limit my caffeine and sugar intake during the rest of this trip :)
Stanley is sleeping while I write to you all... I’m not in the least bit tired, so I’ll be reading after this. Tomorrow - explore San Marco Basilica, the Palace of the Doge, and make our way over to some of the nearby islands, perhaps the famous Murano glass factory. They make super beautiful glass which I am a complete and slobbery sucker for :) ~M
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