Dear world,
I am pretty lazy about writing blog entries. So I present to you, straight from my journal in list form, my first (and part of my second) day in Venice last April. I am aware that it is now July. sorry about that.
----
ON GETTING HERE FROM THE AIRPORT
- Boarding the Alilaguna boats to get from the airport to the city-- just barely didn't make it onto the Orange line boat (which would have taken me directly to my hotel) and instead of waiting another hour decided to take a different line that dropped me off in the touristy but scenic San Marco Square.
- Live orchestra?? What?!
- Venice is breathtaking. Like Frederica (my seatmate on the plane) said, the whole city is a museum, a throwback. It's like it just... stopped. Somewhere in the fifteenth century.
- LOST on the way to the Hotel Belle Epoque
- rain. gross.
THOUGHTS ON MY DINNER
- This meatball is spectacular. Wow. What did they DO to it?
- Heavily seasoned pasta in red sauce with shrimp. Big shrimp. With heads. And claws. Kind of a musky taste, entirely reminiscent of everything that is the sea... the kind of salty heaviness of it, but also a bit enigmatic. Shrimp of Mystery.
- Bread: dry and not good. Disappointing.
- Tablemates: Randy and Maureen Reddington from Jersey City (holy Jersey accent, Batman). Visiting daughter studying abroad in Rome. Very nice and talkative dinner companions, from basketball to contract law.
THE SIGHTS
- Walked around all day, but thoroughly explored San Polo and San Croce via getting lost a lot. It seemed like mostly locals in these areas.
- You can get un-lost by following tourists! They are all going to the Rialto bridge. Or San Marco square.
- Rialto produce markets! mmmmmm. also gelato.
- Museum Scuola Grande di San Rocca-- breathtaking baroque art. Just another beautiful building in venice, except the walls are almost entirely covered with dramatic Biblical paintings by Tintoretto and his studio. A spiritual experience, for sure.
First view of Venice from the Alilaguna ferry boat
And then there was a live orchestra in San Marco Square. For some reason.
A canal, as viewed from the Vaporetto (water bus)
First view of the Rialto bridge!
The ubiquitous gondolieri
My room at the Hotel Belle Epoque-- just big enough to fit this bed, with a tiny bathroom attached
Dinner!
Continental breakfast at the Hotel Belle Epoque
Lobby of the Hotel Belle Epoque
Picture I snapped at the Scuola Grande before getting yelled at by a docent
The tasty-looking Rialto produce market
Look at that! I guess they have a summer home.
