2015.05.15 Friday - In Venice

Well, what to do today, and how to do it? There's a 24 hour public transport strike which means no vaporettos, the water bus service that takes everyone from anywhere in Venice to everywhere else. And it is overcast and showery.

St Marks Venice from the water ... without the vaparettos

Bob and Greg called a rest day (or at least a morning) so Anne and I planned to go to Murano and Burano. Anne's hotel offered a free trip to Murano (where they hoped you would buy some expensive glassware), but you had to pay your own way to Burano and back to Venice. Without public transport we decided that was potentially very expensive. Instead we opted for a wandering shopping and exploratory expedition along the main thoroughfares of the city.

A visitor to Venice (not our ship) sailing past out front door

Anne had found the address of a 2nd hand clothing shop on the internet so that was our first stop. It was shut and didn't open till 4pm. We thought it would be obvious to find some St Vinnies shops in an Italian city like Venice but no luck there either. With no vaporettos everyone was on foot so on some streets and bridges it was shoulder to shoulder. Adding to the crush were umbrellas popping open whenever a shower arrived. We wandered off the main streets and enjoyed browsing and visiting the occasional church or public building. Luckily we ended up near the laundry Greg and I had used a few days before and I was able to retrieve a lost sock from the previous wash. The closer we got to St Mark's the more tourists there were. 

By lunchtime we had had enough and decided to see if the boys were ready for lunch. Bob was keen but Greg had already organised a breadroll for himself. Any cafe that had undercover seating was full so we decided to go to the supermarket and pick up some lunch to eat with Greg back at the apt. Bob shouted us a bottle of wine, breadrolls, soup and chocolate for dessert. Enjoyed by all. 

We agreed to meet at the Accademia bridge at 7pm and have a final meal together in Venice. Anne and Bob headed back to their hotel, Greg settled down to blog and I went off to check out the nearby Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Peggy Guggenheim's policy was to buy works by living artists so the modern works were a contrast to the Uffizi of the day before. I actually saw a Picasso that I liked and understood. The temporary exhibition was Jackson Pollock which was interesting. 

On the way back to the apt I checked out cafes that we could eat in that night and was very happy with 3 options including one with checkered tableclothes, something Bob had been looking for. When I returned to the apt I was disappointed to learn dinner was off. There was a notice in the lift at the Hotel Kette where Anne and Bob were staying warning guests that there was a high tide that night and that they shouldn't go out after 8pm without gumboots. Unable to contact us by phone they had walked all the way back to the apartment to give us this information. 

From our living room, looking down the steps with the canal in the background. The water was expected to come over the bottom step

Anne and Bob had an unsatisfactory dinner of pizza before retiring to avoid the rising water. Greg and I bought supplies at the supermaket and prepared a reasonable meal of gnocci, salad with a couple of cans of Peronis beer to wash it down. We moved our doormat up to the 2nd step and watched and waited for the water to come under the door. It didn't! The water from the Canale Della Giudecca splashed over the edge of the canal onto the walkwaynd close to our door. In the morning there were lots to puddles and piles of seaweed along the walkway. Over at the Hotel Kette there was no sign of the water.

A lost dinner opportunity.