So glad to be back in Venice. Just spent the afternoon wandering around, up and down the little alleys, over the bridges. Saint Mark’s Square, the Rialto Bridge, seeing certain corners that I remember from last time.
Getting to the hotel was fun. Public transport in Venice – a water bus along the Grad Canal from the train station to the Rialto Bridge. Then down a few little streets, around a few corners, through a low archway – and I’m there. A courtyard opens up. A yellow building with purple flowers. An old well in the centre of the courtyard, an old gated chapel off to one side. Up the stairs and into the most beautiful hotel of the trip (oh dear, how much did I agree to pay for this one? Sure beats the little closet I had in Venice last year). Fifth floor room, beautiful view over the square and the tiled rooftops beyond. Really rather luxurious.
After checking in and cooling off – it was about 40 degrees out there today – setting off to reacquaint myself with the streets of Venice. Eventually finding myself a little restaurant with a nice view of Saint Mark’s, a good pizza with pancetta and buffalo mozzarella, a nice cool beer. Then watching the sun go down from the waterfront, and back to the hotel.
Big day tomorrow – a tour day. Morning is the Doge’s Palace – I saw it solo last time, but after doing a fair bit of reading on the history of Venice in the interceding year, I’m very much looking forward to seeing it again with the added perspective of the guide. There are some sections included that I believe are not open to the general public – including the cell in which Casanova was imprisoned, and escaped from. A break for lunch, and then a walking tour of the city, including Saint Mark’s Cathedral – skipping the line – especially looking forward to this, as that was the line that caused me to skip this church last time around – and you simply can’t see Venice without seeing Saint Marks.
And then it’ll be dinner time. Tonight was a budget dinner – planning for a feast tomorrow.
Oh! Almost forgot. They must have had a high tide and flooding here recently – there are still some raised wooden platforms in some of the streets, and some pools of water in shady spots. Don’t seem to be in any danger of flooding now though – water is well below the pavement.
Italian Summer 