Venice, Italy 11/26 – 11/29

After our detour we arrived in Venice around 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening.  Our bus from Bologna dropped us off at Marco Polo airport.  According to the directions given to me by the person I was renting the apartment from we would need to take a bus to Piazzale Roma then get a water bus to the San Silvestro stop.  It cost 6 euros a person for the bus and 7 euros per person for the water bus.  So add another 38 euros to the cost of our trip to Venice.  This was cheaper than getting a water taxi which would have been at least double the cost of a water bus.

I wish we would have gotten in at our scheduled time of 2:00 because by the times we got to Piazzale Roma it was dark.  This square is one of the main hubs for the water buses.  There are a many lines you could take.  We took line 1 which had a few stops before ours.

 I usually take pictures before I head onto a bus or train so I know how many stops before I have to get off.  Gotta love the iPhone 🙂

As we got close to our stop I called Sebastiano to meet us there.  He is the agent for our rental.  He says he lives about 5 minutes away from our rental if we needed him for anything.  We followed Sebastiano to the apartment.  I’m glad he was there to show us the way because I would have gotten lost!  I knew that there were no cars in Venice but lots of little roads.  No they are more like alleyways but smaller than alleys from home.  They don’t need to fit cars in them.  Some were even small enough that I could stretch my arms out and touch the buildings on both sides.  It very much seemed like I was a mouse in a maze looking for the cheese – our apartment.  We made lots of turns and since the buildings were so old they all looked the same to me.  I had no idea where we were headed or how to get back.  I was lost and overwhelmed.  By the time we got to the rental (less than a 5 minute walk) I felt that I would spend the next 3 days in the apartment not venturing out because I would never find my way back.

This is the description of the rental.  “We offer a lovely apartment (attic) on the fourth and fifth floor (no elevator or lift) of a historical Venetian building located close to San Polo square (historical centre of Venice)”  Yes it is lovely and yes there is no elevator.  I am so glad we only brought 1 carry on piece of luggage for the 3 of us – it was packed full!  By the time I got to the apartment I was beat.  The apartment has one bedroom on the main level with the bathroom, living room and kitchen.  In the living room were stairs leading up to a loft and a terrace.  The girls slept up here since it had two twin beds.  There were wood beams all throughout the apartment and quite a few were lower than the tops of our heads.  While staying here it was not uncommon to stoop when walking through the apartment or suffer the consequences.

After getting settled I walked to the grocery store to get us dinner and supplies for the next few days.  I made it there and back without getting lost.  We had spaghetti and salad for dinner – ya know cause we were it Italy.

Wednesday was Katie’s birthday and when we first started planning this trip she really wanted to go to Venice and ride on a gondola.  That was our plan for the day.  It meant I would have to leave the apartment and hope we could find it again.  Luckily there was a great map in the apartment.  It was the MapEasy guide to Venice.  It was made of a material that would not tear and it was great for finding our way around.  Navigating Venice was much easier than I thought it would be.  There were signs on the walls of buildings pointing directions for most places we wanted to go.  Yeah I made some wrong turns and found a dead end but mostly we found our way.  Thinking back about it now I would say it was like a huge maze with dead ends but eventually I found my way to the prize.

The night before Sebastiano pointed out a restaurant at Campo San Polo that was good.  We decided to eat lunch here.  Holly got lasagna.  Katie got a cheeseburger and fries – yep 🙂 And I got pumpkin ravioli with nuts and poppy seed.

 O my goodness.  This was like heaven on a plate.  It was so good!  I know Holly would have enjoyed a bite of it but she couldn’t because of the walnuts.  And Katie didn’t want any so I got to enjoy the whole thing.  This was my best meal of the trip so far.

After our bellies were full we continued on to the Rialto Bridge.  This really is a touristy area.  Lots of shops and stalls selling their fares.  And we helped the economy of Venice buying our share of goods.  How am I getting all of this home!  We also found a place to take a gondola ride.  I’ve read that it is expensive doing this.  I was expecting about 40 euros a piece.  We were given a quote of 80 euros for all three of us and while that is expensive for a short boat ride it was less than I was expecting.  And it was Katie’s birthday.  Now she can say on her 12th birthday she was in Venice and got to ride on a Gondola.  Ha future husband top that!

   View of the Rialto Bridge from the gondola

   It is so neat how the buildings are right on the water.  These were taken while we were on the grand canal.  It is larger than others.

     Don’t you love the laundry hanging up to dry.  I have been hanging my clothes up – just not outside!

   This is our gondola driver / gondola steerer / gondoleer / what are they called?

After our gondola ride we walked around a bit then headed back to the apartment.  Thank goodness Sebastiano lives close because Wednesday evening the power went off in the apartment.  I was using the oven and I figured I must have blown a fuse.  There was a flashlight on the bookshelf and I looked around the apartment for the fuse box.  I couldn’t find one so I gave Sebastiano a call.  He came over and flipped it back on.  The fuse box is located at the ground floor next to the entrance.  I never would have found that.

Thursday – Thanksgiving for those back home – we walked in another direction and found St. Mark’s Square.  In Italian it is Piazza San Marco.  It took us about 45 minutes to find it.  On the way back we went in the direction of Rialto bridge and found that it only took 15 minutes.  For Thanksgiving dinner we had pizza!

Here are a few more pictures of our time in Venice.

 Those yellow signs were what I used to find my way – very helpful.  And look at that cute balcony!

 This man was at a small courtyard signing to everyone around in Italian.  Loved it!

 View from the Rialto Bridge

 We didn’t have a toaster so I didn’t buy these but I’m not sure how it would work.  Wouldn’t the cheese melt off into the toaster?

 This is a HUGE chunk of Parmesan cheese.  For only 12.19 euros that would equal $16.70.  I wish I could have brought some back with me.

 And look at these wheels of cheese!

 Not the same as Heinz ketchup.  Venice is the only place that did not sell Heinz.

Thursday and Friday we had blue skies.

            

Here are a few pictures of the apartment.

 The main bedroom where I slept

   The kitchen.  Because this was the “attic” space of the building there is a lot of space that just can’t be used with the angles of the ceilings.

 The living room and table

 Stairs leading up to the loft. “Hi Holly”

 The loft where the girls slept

 The terrace at the top of the stairs to the loft

  And our only bidet of our trip.  None of tried to use it.  We did our business the American way 🙂

  This is the metal front door to get into the apartment building.

 These are the steps leading up to our attic apartment.  The stone steps are worn down from the centuries of people walking up them.  I’m not sure of the age of this building but it is old!

The view from the terrace

    

And the view from our living room window