BigWeather's Blog

Our second (and final) morning in Venice.  The hotel breakfast croissants weren’t as good so maybe he was right about them being frozen and reheated, haha.  During checkout we talked about Brexit and the hotelier had a more sympathetic view of the Leave folks, basically that EU regulations were hurting small food companies in Italy and he imagined the regulations were hurting in Britain as well.  He also gave us a recommendation on where best to hire a gondola ride as well as stated that St. Mark’s Basilica is a must-see.  Leaving our luggage with the hotel until we were ready to leave Venice we headed out for the morning’s activities.

We took a vaporetto, or water taxi, to the Ca’Rezzonico stop near the church we had visited on our first day, Chiesa di San Barnaba.  At the canal next to the adjacent square (or campo) we hired a gondola.  At 80 euros for thirty minutes it was a bit pricey but a trip to Venice wouldn’t be complete without it.  The area that was recommended to us was ideal as it was in an area of many smaller canals and our trip would only traverse a small section of the Grand Canal where the boat traffic (and waves) were a bit worse.

After being helped into the ride (Michelle and I facing forward with the gondolier behind us and Addison sitting in a side seat in front of us) we set off.  It was very peaceful, the canal water lapping gently against the boat.  We went under many low bridges, the sparkling water reflecting on the underside.

Our gondolier was born and bred in Venice and while he mostly just let us enjoy the ride in silence (though he did bust into a quiet rendition of “Return to Sender” by Elvis from time-to-time) he did carry on a conversation when prompted.  He enjoyed the fall the most — less tourists and a bit less hot.  He said that the tourism picks up a bit more in the dead of winter when the wind pushes the Adriatic waters towards the city, often flooding it — called acqua alta.

We passed two gondola factories and saw people going about their business.  I asked how people got to the boats that were parked in locations clearly not reachable by the walkways.  Apparently they climb down from a bridge or other structure or hitch a ride from neighbors.  We also saw a banner saying “NO Grandi Navi” — “NO Big Boats” — a Venice movement protesting the large cruise ships that come in and dominate the skyline and flood the city with day tourists.

After a good stretch in the smaller side canals and a final quick bit on the Grand Canal we returned to the docks, settled with the gondolier, and went on our way.  In a tiny nearby store at Campo San Barnaba we bought some pastries — chocolate muffins and a cinnamon raison roll — and some water.  Addison bought a Homer Simpson t-shirt depicting him as Vitruvian Man from the church (as the church was hosting an exhibition of modern day constructions of da Vinci machines, which we passed on as we had a full morning planned).

Hopping back on the vaporetto we motored down to Piazza San Marco and stood in line for the Basilica di San Marco.  Luckily the line moved quickly as it was early.  Not so quickly that we couldn’t enjoy some of the sculpture adorning the church, though.  What an amazing interior!  Practically shimmering with gold everywhere and amazing Byzantine style art.  I definitely enjoyed it more than the St. Peter’s at the Vatican.  On the way out we bought a book and a magnet.  Back in the plaza we saw a guy with pigeons on his arm and shoulder, lured there by bread crumbs.

We took the water taxi back to our hotel’s stop, Rialto Mercato.  We decided that we enjoyed the Chinese restaurant so much that we had to go back for one last meal.  We had spring rolls and dumplings again.  Michelle had sweet and sour chicken, Addison beef and onions, and myself beef and celery.  Excellent again!

Did a little bit of shopping (a few magnets and a glass Christmas tree) and headed back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage.  Took one last ride on the water taxi to Santa Lucia station and got the 3:25 Frecciarossa to Firenze SMN (Florence’s main train station, standing for Santa Maria Novella).  The train hit 299km/h (about 200mph)!  The trip was largely uneventful and I took the time to choose some photos for the blog.

Upon arrival in Florence I was delighted to see no line for a taxi.  Turns out they were on strike for better working conditions.  We’d learn from our hotel shortly after that it was pure coincidence that the next day (Friday) was a holiday and striking on Thursday made it a four day weekend.  Pure coincidence.  As it was very hot and we had our luggage Michelle wasn’t very happy about the situation (well, none of us really were!).  The walk to the hotel was less than a mile but due to the heat and traffic it wasn’t the greatest fun.  We got to the Piazza della Signoria next to the 13th century Palazzo Vecchio (still the mayoral office of Florence) so I knew we were close.  I left Michelle and Addison and set off down an alley where a group of hotel workers pointed me to the next alley for our hotel, the Relais Uffizi.

The hotel was very old, the building dating from the 1400s.  The halls were very narrow and took unexpected turns and even had occasional step ups and downs.   Our room consisted of a large bed downstairs and steep stairs to a loft with another bed and the only bathroom.  The roof consisted of large wooden beams.  Most importantly (particularly to Addison), the WiFi was actually decent-ish!

We texted Genetta and she was nearby at a restaurant and came on over to our room after I went out to the plaza to meet her.  We visited awhile then walked a short distance to El Chico, a Mexican grill.  It was not the most authentic Mexican ever but was quite tasty.  We then walked to Gelateria Dei Neri and had gelato.  Yummy!

Heading back to the plaza we listened to a concert band play.  In honor of Orlando an American flag and a Gay Pride flag hung beneath the EU, Italian, and Florence flags.  The Palazzo Vecchio was really neat — tons of heraldry shields, a copy of Michelangelo’s David in front where the original stood for centuries (the original having been moved to a nearby museum), and a large group of 1500s sculpture in a covered area.

Addison and Michelle headed back to the hotel and we gave Genetta a new pair of shoes we had brought from home for her as she’d worn the ones she brought with her out.  I walked Genetta back to her room, passing by the very impressive Duomo, as the main cathedral of Florence is known.  The bright white marble practically shone despite the late hour.  After dropping her off I filled up a water bottle at the public water fountain next to the Palazzo Vecchio, headed back to the room, and slept.