I hope you're all having a good weekend so far. We're on our usual mid-afternoon hotel room break to give our feet a chance to recover before this evening, so I thought I would take the opportunity to write about what we have done today. We walked to Rialto and saw the Rialto Market and then we walked to Piazzale Roma, which is at the end of the Grand Canal. We then took the Vaporetto (water-bus) all the way down the Grand Canal, back to San Marco. It was a great opportunity to see Venice from the water and of course, take plenty of photos.
It was absolutely stunning- the sky was completely clear and the sun shining. The water sparkled in the light. I wanted to go down every narrow water way that led off from the Grand Canal; explore all of them. Venice is a little bit like a maze, paths leading in all directions, taking you to yet another picturesque bridge. But the beauty of Venice is that you can't really get lost. Even with so many paths and routes, you can pretty much take any route in roughly the right direction and you'll eventually see a sign for where you're headed. Although, be warned- the signs do frequently disappear, but if you just walk around a bit and soon enough another one appears. Even I managed to guide us back to our hotel today- and I'm awful at map directions!
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| View of the Grand Canal |
The Rialto Market was impressive, Mum wanted to see the fish market as it's known for having a weird selection of fish. Even though I hate fish I thought it might be interesting. There were loads of types of fish and sea creatures that apparently other humans enjoy eating... Personally I don't enjoy fish- a battered cod from the chippie is my limit, and occasionally the odd tuna salad with sweetcorn, tomato and houmous. The market was quite stinky- as I'm sure you can imagine. The most impressive fish there was a sword fish, even though there was only the head and a little bit of body, it was still huge. I had no idea they were so big! There were plenty of octopi, inky squid and things with shells and funny looking whiskers- lobster-y looking creatures. Although I felt slighty nauseous from the smell, it was quite cool, especially with the man playing his violin and singing. It all felt very 'classic' and cultural.
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| Swordfish at the Rialto Market |
On the way to Piazzale Roma we walked past many gelato shops and counters- there's certainly no shortage over here, but one in particular caught my attention. The rows of tubs looked amazing- there were pieces of fruit in the different flavours and there were sauces drizzled all over them. If I had thought about it I would have taken a picture, but I was too engrossed in choosing a flavour. Peach! OMG- Oh My Gelato, it was so good! (I feel this is a common trend when I describe the ice cream of the day). And while we're on the topic of gelato, last night after I posted 'Going, Going Gon-dola', we went out for dinner and afterwards we walked to a gelato place just along from our hotel. I had a scoop of mango and one of raspberry. Once again, they were amazing, the mango in particular. I was hoping not to repeat flavours and therefore try as many different ones as possible, but I think I might have to double up on the mango. I've noticed they do a lot of fruity flavours here, along with the classic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I've also seen coconut, but don't fancy that. My mum has enjoyed coffee a couple of times... I've tried it but I'm not convinced, probably because I don't drink coffee!
Just as we were coming up to the Vaporetto stop we needed, we walked over a bridge and underneath was a boat parked along the side of a canal. There was a funeral car parked next to it (there were a few cars around this area as it's where a lot of tourists come from, there's a train station nearby I think). We realised the boat was a special funeral transport boat as there was a box on the back- presumably where the coffin is placed. Much like the TNT delivery boat- I hadn't thought about how things like coffins were moved around. I suppose it would be weirder to say I HAD thought about that. I didn't take any pictures as the coffin was in the funeral car and I didn't want to be disrespectful.
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| Photo taken from Vaporetto on the Grand Canal |
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| Traffic jam: Venice-style! |
After riding the Vaporetto down the Grand Canal we decided it was lunch time. We both really fancied some more bruschetta, so we went on a hunt for a small restaurant with it on the menu. We've learnt that you have to take a very quick glance at the menus outisde because if you stand there for more than a minute the waiters swoop over and try to sit you down. Do they not understand that the outside menu they put up is so we can see if we want to eat there?! We have however cracked the quick 'menu sweep' to check the dishes.
We found a quaint little place that did bruschetta, so we found a table and sat down. We ordered some bruschetta pomodoro and a margarita pizza with artichokes. Just as we had taken our seats, we noticed a rather ominous black cloud overhead. Nothing prepared us for the storm that followed.... All rather suddenly the heavens opened and there was an incredible downpour coupled with very load thunder and the odd flash of lightning. Luckily our table was under an umbrella, we did feel very sorry for the people caught in the downpour though. Even under the restaurant cover there was rain coming down and the elderly man on the table next to us narrowly missed having a bucket load of water come down on his head as the water suddenly became too heavy for the umbrella above his table. By the end of it I found I was sitting in a puddle of water. Although it was so sudden and very heavy rain, it was quite nice to be sitting undercover (that was actually keeping us dry!) and feeling snuggly whilst the world seemed to be storming around us. And although I shouldn't say it, it was quite funny to see everyone's reactions, some putting on their coloured ponchos that make them look like walking bin bags.. (I admit I do partake in the wearing of rain bin bags- but only for rides at theme parks where I know I'll be soaked down to my pants for the rest of the day!).
After lunch we walked back to the hotel, luckily just as we finished eating the rain abruptly stopped and the sun came back out. We wandered slowly in and out among the canals, stopping every so often to look in shops selling beautiful Murano glass and other potential souvenirs.
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| View from one of the many Venice bridges |
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| View from under one of the many Venice bridges |
As for our last full day, I'd say it was a success- certainly from the point of view of my camera lens. I wish it wasn't our last full day, but I think that we've had just the right amount of time as we've convered the sights we wanted to see and still had plenty of lazy wandering, which is just the way I think Venice should be done. And of course- it gives me the perfect opportunity to say I need to come back sometime!
Today, the Big Wide World has taught me: Not to be afraid of getting lost every now and again. Sometimes straying from the planned path means you see so much more than you would have had you followed the 'beaten track'. More often than not you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you find. (And it's hard to get 'properly lost' in this day and age anyway!).
I'm not sure when I'll write again as tomorrow is a travelling day, but if anything eventful happens- although let's hope not(!)- I'll see if I can find some WiFi and write about it.
Until then, enjoy your Saturday evenings,
L
xxx
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