"Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go."---Truman Capote
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Day 12
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Off To Venice |
As newly minted independent travelers we say our final goodbyes at breakfast and leave our wonderful tower and new friends for the Santa Maria Novella train station. We quickly found the Italo lounge and waited for our train to Venice. Before long we're zipping through the lush green countryside enjoying the calm, quiet, high speed travel. Time to relax, recharge, and regroup. After our experiences over the past few days we're confident and eager to take on Venice. Other than our hotel reservations, we made no other plans and decided to just wing it and see how it goes.
Venice & the Grand Canal
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Venice was another "Wow" moment. The entire city with its busy canals, bustling merchants, mega tourists, and friendly residents was almost overwhelming. We didn't know where to look. At every turn, another palace, or bridge, or charming canal, or church, or cafe, or gondola, on and on. We opted to take a water taxi to our hotel rather than being wedged into the much much cheaper vaporetto. An indulgence for sure, but so much fun. We actually shared the ride with another American couple and split the fare. Our hotel, The Hotel Colombina, was one block behind St. Marks and very centrally located. It was like a little jewelry box, with great décor, beautiful rooms, and wonderful service. After checking in we had pizza at an Italian chain restaurant Rosso Pommodoro (very good) then walked over to St. Mark's Square and took a tour of this most unusual and remarkable church.
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Hotel Colombina |
St. Mark's
"To build a city where it is impossible to build is madness in itself, but to build there, one of the most elegant and grandest of cities is the madness of genius."---Alexander Herzen
Along the Way: I ordered the fresh sea bass for dinner one night at a small cafe near our hotel. It was only 11 euros...a great deal. The waiter asked if I wanted it de-boned, which of course I said yes, not knowing that they were going to charge me 35 euro for that service. Live and learn. We can laugh about it now.
Did you know? These four guys, the Tetrarchs, dating from around 300 AD, represent the four co-emperors ruling the vast Roman Empire during that time. They were nabbed from Constantinople in 1207 during the Crusades, brought to Venice, and attached to the exterior corner of St. Mark's, all except for one foot that was left behind. That foot was found 753 years later in 1960 and is now on display in Istanbul.
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Winging it in VeniceThe rest of the day was spent wandering the narrow streets of Venice trying to keep from getting lost by stopping briefly at each twist and turn to memorize the street names and storefront landmarks that would take us back to our hotel. The signs posted along the way giving directions to the various Venetian landmarks turned out to be very helpful. Venice, ironically, is the one place where getting lost is almost guaranteed. How we managed to find our way around is nothing short of amazing, considering our Roman misadventures. We covered the area near St. Mark's Square and walked along the waterfront admiring the artists painting those iconic Venetian landscapes.
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Blast from the past
Venice.....1972 or 2014??? You guess
In Hindsight: I wish we had taken a gondola ride. It is such a Venetian thing to do and for our wedding anniversary it would have been very romantic. We just ran out of time. I guess it's always good to leave something for the next time.
