Getting Lost In Venice

Ciao from Ponte de Rialto! (Rialto Bridge)

Day 2 in Venice did not disappoint. I slept in a little again in preparation for the feats of sightseeing awaiting me in Florence and Rome next week. I ended up not visiting Murano/Burano/Torcello, and opted to simply wander the streets in the City of Bridges. What a great choice the turned out to be. Instead of turning left from my apartment, I went right and got busy on getting myself lost in Venice (everyone's suggestion). It was such a nice feeling to just turn on random streets with no destination. Venice is pretty small, so it's not like I'd veer too far from where I needed to be. I found a lot of small piazzas, canals, churches, and gelaterias (one of which I stopped at for chocolate hazlenut gelato - with little hazlenuts in it!). I ended up at Ponte de Rialto, crossed it, and continued my expedition on the south side of the Grand Canal. I finally sat down for a late lunch at a small pizzeria offering free wifi, where I published my post from yesterday. Observe the deliciousness below:

I don't have a lot of commentary on my day, as much of it was spent wandering and taking in the city. It is truly another world entirely, right down to its mode of transportation. Venice is exactly what you see in tthe movies and pictures - every single inch of it.

I found a small piazza with a big church and a museum, as well as a street musician. However, this guy was rocking Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, and John Lennon in his thick Italian accent. And he was tearing up the guitar. I spent a good 15 minutes filming and listening to him.

Then I went inside a museum I'd heard about called Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where the walls and ceilings were covered in paintings. Here is a staircase before you get to the room where they yell at you for taking pictures:

I eventually found myself at Piazzale Roma, at the "mouth of the Fish", where I hopped aboard a vaporetto. I quickly realized it was one going in the opposite direction of the Grand Canal, but I stayed on anyway. Why? This direction would take me around the southern edge of Venice and back around to my San Marco stop anyway. This was a wknderful experience. I basically took a little cruise around the city. The horizon was constantly stunning and i soaked in the sea air (which isn't that ocean-y smelling, surprisingly).

By the way, I'd like to point out that I have yet to get sick on this trip, including in the busy Venetian waters. Anybody who has ever traveled with me knows that this is an extremely exciting piece of news. Also, I just knocked on the table in front of me so as not to jinx my good luck. (For those that are unfamiliar, traveling is always a gamble for me as I can get terrible cases of motion sickness at the drop of a hat if I don't play things right.)

I decided to continue splurging (as I expected to do in Venice) and ate dinner inin Piazza del San Marco next to one of the little orchestra groups. I had the richest, thickest hot chocolate in my life, and a small "toast quadri" which had prosciutto ham and mozzarella on toast. Observe:

Yep, right up in the music. It was an exquisite setting, where everything came on a silver platter and more waiters in white coats and bow ties catered to you. The music was just wonderful, and the three or four music groups in the square would trade off every ten minutes or so. Just perfect.

Now I'm back at the little bistro by my apartment using their wifi and sipping a Coke. Venice was wonderful to me, I found some wonderful gifts for people and a few for myself!), and I am ready to hit the sack. Early train tomorrow...next stop: Florence!