A Dash of Smith: "Ahhhh, Venice!"

Following our perfect day in Florence we got up and took a train to Venice-about a 2 hr ride. Here we met our friends the Viegas-Haws, (VH's). They had driven down from Zurich. We rented an apartment to share, minus the Swendsen's. They didn't want to participate in the group fun.:-) I thought the apartment was great but not everyone agreed. After our hotel in Rome, it was a palace. Venice is a maze-there is no direct or straight walkway to save your life. Cars are not allowed so it is quiet. The mode of transport is either boat/gondola or feet. After dropping our luggage off at the apartment we decided to walk to the Rialto bridge which was very close. It is the oldes/largest foot bridge over the grand canal. We ate some great pizza (see the picture below) and then made our way to the other side of Venice so we could take a boat to the island of Murano. It is a small outer isle know for its glass blowing. The ride was about 15 mintues. We watched a demonstration-which was a little lacking in my opinion and then got to walk around the island to window shop all the glass wears. Some were beautiful-others not so much. I just wasn't into the huge chandelier made of black glass or the one made of roses. But I'm sure the handiwork was worth the price tag. There was an abundance of glass jewelry that was both unique and well priced. So I got 2 pendants, 2 sets of earrings and a braclet all for about $40. Ben was on the lookout for a glass Christmas ornament. It took some work but he found a really nice one to add to our international Christmas tree decor.

We then took the boat back to Venice to see St. Mark's church and square. It was under rennovations but the inside was entirely mosaics. Which at first surprised me. But on second thought Venice was a major port and point of comtrol for the Adriatic and hence the east. The eastern influence could be seen all over in the more eastern shaped arches and domes more typical of Arab countries. No pictures were allowed inside St. Mark's but the outside gives you a taste.

We took another boat to a church to look around. I forget the name...there are a lot of churches in Venice. Venice in general was a bit run down and old. I've heard that since it's sinking and the cost is so great to restore the buildings to their grandure they aren't. Its really too bad. In its heyday it would have been a sight to behold. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the city and canals. For a place that relies sole upon water transportation there was no trash floating in the water and I saw no oil slicks. The quiet canals were lovely and every once in a while you'd come around a corner and the buildings, flowers and stillness of the water would be enchanting. I don't think my pictures did the justice I was hoping for. At this point we had been walking all day and decided to take a quick break to rest, let the Swendsen's check into their hotel and get ready for dinner. Back at the apartment, Lindsey realized she was missing a bag. It had been left on the train from Florence that morning. It was the bag containinger her boots, a gift for her sister-in-law watching her kids and an original picture Ben bought in Florence. She and Andy made their way back to the train station to try to find it in the lost and found. The rest of us took a gondola ride because you can't go to Venice without a gondola ride. The six of us fit into one boat and we played musical chairs getting to sit in the king and queen seat. We did a great job of balancing the weight as we moved round. It was shorter than I would have liked but very pretty. We went at dusk. Then it was time for dinner.

We tried another recommendation and after a little roaming to find the place we made it inside. This was not a repeat of the experience we'd had the night before. Our waitress was cold and when we asked questions she got really mad and said things like, "I just told you that." We tried to give her the benefit of the doubt and stopped asking questions. Ben really wanted to try baby octopus which he thought was calamari-he'd missed the conversation I'd just had with Tony who had looked at a few other items on the menu and noticed that octopus in Italian was the same as octopus in French so it really was baby octopus. I knew this and thinking he heard our conversation said ok. He ordered something for himself and left me to order the baby octopus for an antipasta. It really was 2 baby octopus' cut in half lengthwise. I wished I'd taken a picture. I was a little frustrated at this point that this is what I had to eat because I was really hungry. It was ok. The tentacles were a bit chewy like squid and the head, brains and all, were soft and salty. The head seemed to be the consistency of a well cooked noodle with butter and garlic added. Between all of us we managed to eat 3 of the 4 halves. It was about at this point during dinner that Ben started having a reaction to something he'd eaten. (This was the 3rd day in a row and the worst reaction. Everything else had been very mild.) We think it was the octupus since he ordered beef for dinner and there weren't really nuts to speak of.) He took Benadryl and waited not eating anything else at dinner. I was still really hungry but couldn't quite take anymore, I was also getting nervous. I'd gone out on an limb and ordered a very Venetian main-course--squid in its ink with polenta. At this point I was thinking to myself I'm either going to go home very hungry and queasy or very happy. I went home somewhere in between. Squid in its ink is good and I can see how it could be a delicacy. I don't think I had the best preparation but it had a deep, rich, almost musky flavor and the squid was some of the most tender I've ever eaten. The polenta was grilled and added to the depth of the dish. I was glad I'd tried the squid in its ink and would try it again if I could have some recommendations on really good preparations.

After dinner, all eight of us went back to our apartment for a little conversation with our feet up. Ben carried around his epi-pen for an hour or so but never used it. I was starting to get a little nervous but he wasn't turning bright red and we had plenty of worthy priesthood holders if necessary. We all stayed up way too late enjoying the freedom from domestic and parental duties. Swendsen's bid us all ciao since they were fluying home in the morning and we retired for the evening.

The following morning Julienna went to a museum while the five of us saw some sights went to the open air fish market, got lost and continued our search for the best gelato in Italy. Julienna found a great pizza place for lunch and we actually sat down and shared several pies. I really like Italian pizza-better toppings, thin crust, less sauce and cheese. I wanted to take a boat to the island of Lido which is outside the estuary and the far side is toward the Adriatic. Everyone else agreed since the weather was nice and no one had pressing desires. We figured we walk across Lido to the Adriatic and see what we could when on the way Ben spotted a bike rental shop. That was the end of our walking. It was dirt cheap- 6 euro for 1.5 hrs. 10 minutes later we were outfitted and on our way. I think we ended up biking about 4-5 miles down the coast. There were beach huts and rentals all over the place. I bet in the summer that place is hopping. Lindsey and I waded in the Adriatic. I have to wade in any large body of water I find. The beach was filled with awesome sea shells. I gathered up about 20 to take home for the sandbox. We ate more gelato- still searching for the best, and headed back to the dock to catch the boat to Venice. We wandered around some more, ended up back at St. Mark's square then decided to all do our own thing for dinner. We met up back at the apartment and got ready to leave in the morning.

My overall impression of Venice: I'm glad we saw it, two days is plenty of time, don't think I will make an effort to go back. It didn't win my heart the way Florence did.