To the Town of Water

In the canals and from the heavens

This is exactly like our canal

September 15

We loaded Clio, hugged Manuela goodbye and hit the road. We really enjoying the back roads but today it was going to be autostrada all the way. The difference in travel time was the driver of that decision. Autostrada three and a half hours. Backroads closer to six. The return on the time was not worth the difference.The autostrada was like any fast fourlane that you have to pay for the privilege of sitting in stopped traffic going 5 mph. Actually that was just around Florence otherwise traffic moved at the 130 kmh, if you wanted to drive that fast. Surprisingly most traffic was moving at 120 and I was one of those. The ride was heavy with trucks. The right was almost a steady line of 18 to 20 wheelers.

A couple of hours in I decided we needed to have some variety and got off the autostrada. That did not work so well as the area I chose to get off the road just ran right next to the autostrada. It did vear off into a town or two and that drove me back to the autostrada. Stop and go in the cities drove me back to the autostrada as my clutch foot got tired of the stop and go traffic.

We were returning the car to the parking garage next to the train station in Venice. It was impossible to find any reliable information of where to park in the three or four parking garages. But first, gas. Sounds easy. It was not. The superhighway runs right through Mestri, are large industrial city on the landside from Venice. Trying to follow the google maps to a gas station to fill the car before returning, was a challenge. Several missed turns and dashing across four lanes finally got us to a fuel pump. Of course it was self service time of day and the older machine would not take my card. The station has 4 pumps but a central pay kiosk. (Who knew what a kiosk was when I first mentioned one 10 years ago.) You have to choose which pump and how much you want all in a language you don't understand. Fortunately most of the newer stations you stick your card in and the machine even knows what language you speak and it is easy. Walt even uses his Apple watch to pay at some stations.

Gassed up we headed for the last part of the challenge across the causeway to Venice. We stayed very alert looking for signs like "rental car return" but there were none. I had punched the destination as the little "Europcar" dot on the google map and we were using that as a backup. In the end it was a non-event. At the entrance of the parking garage we saw the rental car office and there was an attendant to the garage. We asked where we should park the car and he pointed to the one open space right in front of the Europcar office. We shoehorned into the space and that was it. We were done with Clio. We left covered in dust from the dirt roads to wait for her bath.

Now to find 1530 Calle Oche. It was a twenty minute walk with twist and turns and three bridges to haul luggage over and we were there without getting lost. The landlord was waiting and waved from the balcony and buzzed us in. We lugged the luggage (lug..luggage, now it makes sense) up the stairs taking a few trips to accomplish this task.

Maria was a very pleasant woman and showed us everything in the apartment. It a very comfortable size and the bed is great for sleeping. As she told us goodbye she told us for the 5th time, "do not leave without your keys. You cannot get back in and I live a long way away from Venice!"

We settled in the apartment to make it our own. Vicki trying to move furniture and me blocking each move with a bodycheck. We shared a shot of grappa as a arrival toast.

About that luggage thing. A thousand times we say we are going to bring less. I usually do. However, this time mine is carrying some of her stuff. Plus, my new wardrobe I bought when my luggage took a separate vacation. Some it I have already disposed of, some stuff never worn. Like those way to tight underwear. Some of it like the two t-shirt's and a pair of pants I really like or Vicki really likes and so they are in the luggage. Then we have to pack for two climates. Hot and cold. This time I am tracking what I wear and how many times I wear. As you all can be a witness to, I am not a clothes whore. I can wear the same thing day after day and with the new murano wooly clothing I can extend those days as they stay pretty odor free.

I listened to a podcast of couple who have been on the road for three years, each with a carry on suitcase with a limited wardrobe. The key they say us telling each other "boy, you look great in that" each morning. Hell, I literally lived out of a Samsonite two-suiter suitcase for over 5 years. You don't need much.

Settled in we were off for shopping and a negroni. First the negroni. All of Venice is a tourist area, but there don't seem to be many here and if they are they are just passing through. In the square it was all children and mothers and grandmothers doing the passa strada. The kids were noisey but they were kids having fun.

We went into the Coop but the checkout line was so long we left. Europeans shop almost daily after work for the evening meals and items and this is the only store in our area.

We settled on a restaurant for dinner. More red wine than we needed but we did split the meal. A perfect spaghetti and clams for primo and fried seafood for secondo and no desert. It was great. My usual foray into the kitchen found a cooking area the size of the one on our 50' boat with three people working. Two Filipino chefs and a Bangladeshi dishwasher. They had all escaped from cruise ships.

The trash collector comes every day.
He rings all the doorbells and then collects all
the trash left in the forur.

September 16

Today it rained. Not heavy rain but rain all day. That did not stop us. Our first order of business was to go visit our favorite restaurant in Venice, Ai Tres Arche. Navigating around Venice can be a challenge. There are wandering ally's and bridges to find and no ,google maps is not the savior here. The big obstacle is crossing the Grand Canal. It cuts Venice in half and there are only four bridges to cross it. Click for map Then you have to find all the little bridges but of those there are many. If you are not willing to get lost you will need to restrict yourself the main tourist areas as there are signs on the buildings with arrows to the main points. On the map, things look straight forward but they are not.

Back to the subject at hand. The restaurant. Well, we went to were we knew it was, but it was nowhere to be found. We walked back and forth several times in the area and finally abandoned the project and went for a negroni. An internet search turned up nothing right away on the restaurant which mystified us. It was a great restaurant. Later, when I dove a little deeper in the internet I finally found a page that said it was permanently closed. Not only was their food good they knew my name when I came in. So, now off to find another restaurant.

In all we walked close to eight miles in the rain. The was no official meal today. A little broscita for lunch on the street and some cheese and meats for dinner at the apartment.

September 17

There was heavy rain overnight but when I got up it was back to light rain. I went for my first early walk around town and stopped at the bakery for a coffee and my first corsaint. I was surprised at the total price of two and half euros. I thought cheap in this town.

Interesting thing in this town. Several places have been hastent to take a credit card with all the excuses, "not under 10 euro" or "I am having a problem with the machine". Nowhere else in Europe have I encountered this. I never back off and just say "no cash" as I hold my money clip with cash in it front of me and stare them down with the credit card. I only paid cash at the bakery as they were very nice and I needed some change and it was only 2.50 but they were ready to take the card.

We have been asked if it is very crowded. On some the narrow well traveled alleys it seems so. But today we went to St. Marks Square and it held the real answer. No there are not a lot of tourists in town. There are tourists, but not the masses that are usually here. And....there was no one feeding the damn pigeons.

We went to a little known as Fondazione Querini Stampalia. Advertised as an old palace with art, we thought the house might be intact. It was not. Modern staircases and elevators, but some interesting "OS".

We have found in the small towns people were very compliant with the mask rules. Here not so much. While waiting in lobby of the museum for Vicki, seven coat and tied men came out of the office, not a one with a mask. Restaurants are pretty much mask free. The may have one on but they are down around their waists.

Some fine pasta and wine for lunch and we made our way through the maze and were back in the apartment by 4. Oh yea, and by late morning the sun was out the beautiful blues skies.

High noon at St. Marks Square is missing about one thousand tourist or more

Andria our waiter

Chef today is from Bangladesh. We ask Andria where we can find a Italian chef and he give us
a restaurant on the Lido Island. We will visit it.

They had volleyball tournament in the square today

September 18

I went for another walk this morning. No crowds, beautiful weather. I followed our track to the train station surveying it for the bag drag to the train station when we leave. Two small bridges and one big one, the Scalzi bridge. Vicki was concerned when I carried both our bags over the bridges. The Scalzi bridge would be work. So, I walked over to the train station and engaged a porter for next Wednesday to come collect our bags. In his mind he counted the bridges and said "three bridges, 25 euro" and gladly accepted. There were three porters there and they all where from Bangladesh. The seem to be the new working class. It used to be North Africans but I have only seen a couple of those and unlike in the past, when they were selling trinkets on the streets, now I have only seen two or three and they were begging.

I went back across the bridge and stopped at the Hotel Arntcihe for coffee. A great spot to watch the canal traffic as all the boat "trucks" were delivering everything from beer to ice cream. After about twenty five minutes my coffee still had not come so I left.

Headed home I walked by the volleyball court that had been set up in our square and found a poster that says the it is an international event.

During the walk we got a message that our friend Alan had arrived and settled into his apartment and was ready get out. But, first he had to go to the glasses shop where he bought glasses three or four years ago and have clear lens put in. He had cataract surgery and did not need the prescription lens anymore, but he is very much about image and some actress from the Young and the Restless that is a good friend of his says he looks great in them. Vicki has a different opinion.

We met in Campo St. Stefano. A survey of the area saw all the tables in the shade at most restaurants were full. However, there was one that looked elegant but only had one table occupied. We felt as though there must be a reason but what the heck, we can just a spritz and move on if we don't like. We ended up spending a few hours and having some wonderful food. And, of course, I met everyone in the joint. Dali the owner, Antonio the chef, and the rest of the staff. Antonio says he is not Italian as he is from Naples. The other chefs, who were not there are from Sicily.

We left Alan in the square as his apartment was just a block away our way through the masses to our calmer parts of town. There are really less tourist, but anytime those few are moving down the same narrow streets it seems as though they all are here.

We had made plans to meet up for dinner but by the time we finished our walk home, completing a eight mile loop, we were done for the day. So, we cancelled dinner and Vicki cooked a great simple spaghetti and we both crashed early

there is grass in venice

some not very well taken care of

found the police cars

Anntonio in his office

Dali the owner

September 19

A great Sunday. Started slow and got slower. Alan came over about 11 and we spent some time in the apartment with him admiring our view. Then we walked over to the train station to make a train reservation for him to Lucca. I had bought our tickets on the Trenitalia app on my phone (ain't I cool). But Alan has one of those things from the '60's, a Eurorail pass. They can be a good deal. Swiftly we moved to the front of the line and fortunately a lady told us to get a ticket from the little despenser as a bunch of people came in behind us and did get a number.

The train lady was extremely helpful and after paying an additional 12 euro's for the privilege of setting next to us, we were done. Actually I forget what the 12 euro's were for but it was something about asking for a particular seat and the reservation.

We left past the long line of people waiting to get a free PCR test from the Red Cross and headed to the Jewish quarter to find lunch thus leaving a good portion of the tourist behind. I quickly got us to the canal Misericorda. I was headed to a restaurant that we had talked to the waiter one day when we were walking by. I was not sure of the exact spot and shortly my tour group got impatient from hunger and I told them to pick. Well, nothing was "just right" for them. Alan had to be seen, Vicki had to see, it had to be on a canal, it had to be under an umbrella. This was not right "because", that one is a bar, that one is a bar, none had seats under an umbrella. I finally took them on a side street to the next canal but there was nothing on that canal. Back on the main canal, we crossed a small bridge and walla, there was Leventa, the restaurant I was seeking and it had tables under the umbrella. There was reason there was no one there as it was slightly expensive but to me it did not matter as I had already determined this would be the big meal of Venice.

Lunch lasted over three hours. It was great. We shared all the dishes. A fantastic meat tagliatelle, ravioli stuffed with cheese and fish, and a grilled seabass. These were all gourmet grade dishes with wonderful sauces and side bits.

By the end of the meal we new the chef, the waiter, and the owner. The chef was Ukrainian, the waiter we don't know and the owner was Albanian. He had lived in Orlando for two years but did not like it and came back to Italy were he had been a lifeguard in his youth and had his American wife. He had bought the restaurant just before covid started.

The owner shared some of his fathers grappa with us and that but us over the edge. It was time to go home. We walked together to the Rialto bridge and said our goodbyes for today.

we all had a teary moment remembering Alan's
partner Scott who passed away earlier this year.
It is still hard on him and at times hard on us.
Scott was a wonderful person.

the chef

the gappa

the owner

a lovely couple from Miami

2 dear friends or a couple of drunks

September 22

The last two days were spent being tourist. Monday we all roamed the city together. I met Alan near his apartment on St. Stefano for coffee. Vicki found her way across town, almost. She and Alan both are directionally challenged. I watched Vicki make her way on google maps and she was within a block when she made a wrong turn. She called Alan who went out to rescue her around the corner. From Alan's very large and inexpensive apartment we roamed the San Marco area of Venice. Lunch was on the lagoon with a waiter with a sense of humor.

That evening we had Guida give us a wine, food and history tour of a part of Venice. She a great and knowledgeable guide. I did not get into bed until midnight.

Tuesday I again met Alan for coffee where he was setting with two people we had set next to yesterday. One is a former French pastry chef living in and working in the US for the last 20 years. The other was from Mexico city. They now live in Palm Springs, CA. They had just come off a cruise ship as passengers and hated it because there were so many covid protocols on and off the ship.

I left Alan and he shopped for new Armani jackets, shoes, tailored pants, etc. He is a clothes whore though he will deny it to his last breath. All the time we all have been complaining about to much in the suitcase and he has the smallest of the three of us. None of us have large suitcases. They all fit in the overhead bin on the planes. He solved that problem by telling the owner of store he knew, that if he bought new stuff they would have to ship some of his used clothes and new clothes home for him. They gladly agreed, for a price.

Vicki and I caught the 5.1 vaberatto to Mazzorbo and then walked the small bridge to Burano. There is not much on Mazzorbo but a few house and gardens and Venissa, a Michelin starred restaurant, small hotel, and vinord.

Burano is a very small island of brightly painted houses and canals. It was very lovely but I was having a terrible sinking spell. We had a fine lunch and I guided Vicki back to a street she wanted to shop on and I went to the park and had a sit.

We caught the three o'clock ferry from Mazzorbo so we did not have to cue up like cows on Burano. These ferries are full and though everyone is wearing a mask there is no social distancing. Back in Venice we caught the #2 boat home. We did not want to walk over the Rialto bridge again and it knocked 30 minutes off the transit time.

Alan came over for dinner and we finished of the little bits of leftovers we had and polished of the open wines.

It was a great time but I am ready to leave tourist town.