A very pleasant breakfast (the usual coffee, yogurt, rolls and stuff) and we gather our wherewithal for Venice. The walk down the crazy steep hill, with our luggage, is a little scary but easier than the walk up empty handed.

The reviews we’ve gotten from people we actually know or from people who actually know people we actually know who have been to Venice, have been split pretty much 50/50 like/dislike. It’s a 330 kilometer drive from Urbino (205 miles) so we have a little time to prepare.

Now, we have a 13 year old road map of Italy that has been our sole navigational aid for 10 trips and probably six or seven thousand miles of driving around Italy. You know what happens when they re-number one highway and build another highway and give it the same number as the old one? You zip right past a city the size of Venice and find yourself headed straight for Trieste.  Meh.

A minor inconvenience.

We turn ourselves around and in no time are crossing the causeway and looking for the tronchetto parking area. The biggest parking ramp I have ever seen. We end up parking on the roof (of course) and wander off in search of a ‘vaporetto’ or water bus.

Unafraid as I am of looking ignorant or simple, I ask the first person who looks at least possibly local which way to the the vaporetto? The gentleman in business clothes with a shopping bag and a nice leather satchel informs us that  he is going there and we can follow him. He then proceeds to demonstrate his Olympic speed walking technique.

We find the ticket office, we buy 2 tickets for 14euro and we know we need to get on the #2 waterbus to the Piazzale Roma stop where we are supposed to change to the #1 waterbus to the Ca d’Oro stop. We promptly get on the #2 waterbus which is going the wrong direction. Waterbuses go both directions on any give route and stop at the same stops no matter which way they are going. You have to make sure that you get on a clockwise #2 waterbus at the Tronchetto station going to the Piazzale Roma station because if you get on a counterclockwise #2 waterbus to the Piazzale Roma station  it is a very long trip.  We jump off the counterclockwise bus and jump on the clockwise bus and soon we have changed to a clockwise #1 waterbus at the Piazzale Roma station and shortly thereafter we are where we are supposed to be… ish.

Approximately 300 meters and one hard left turn from the bus stop, we arrive at the front door of  Hotel Bernardi Semenzato. It is a front door on a “street” that I can touch the walls on both side of without fully extending my arms.

Old and out of date, the tiny front desk is covered with paperwork and brochures, there are rows of little boxes behind the clerk with a single key with a great brass fob hanging from a hook in each one. The pictures on the walls are all askew and there is a bar directly across the “street”. The whole place looks like it could have been the setting for a 60s Italian movie.  It does have WiFi, it is considerably cleaner than first impressions would lead one to expect and, there is plenty of quick hot water. What more could you ask for? (Earplugs actually but we never travel without.)

 Our first walk in Venice we don’t stray too far from the neighborhood or the larger streets to get our bearings. Diner canal side was good but the atmosphere was more memorable than the food.  We make an early night of it in preparation for a big day of exploring tomorrow.

 Day 13… earplugs out, breakfast in and here we go.  First target is the Rialto Bridge.  Wow. That’s quite a bridge. It has shops on it a la the ponte vecchio in Florence (only smaller) but since we got a fairly early start to  big day of exploring, the shops still have their steel shutters closed. So the impression of the Rialto is covered with graffiti and tourists taking pictures of each other with the grand canal in the background. (Like this)

Next on the agenda? St Marks Square. Winding streets and lots of little shops later we pop out of the shadows into the blindingg sunlight and there it is. It is an impressive place, I must say. But even more impressive is the line to get in. So we don’t.  With only one day to see Venice most of our seeing will be of the outside of places. We look for a place to get a coffee and look at our map. There are cafes set up all around the square. Half of them half little orchestras playing (at 11am !) We take a seat at the one closest to us at the moment. The menu arrives. The first thing on the menu is a a 6 euro charge per person on the first order for the orchestra. Coffee is 5 euro so for a mere 22 euros ($27.50) we can have a cup of coffee. We thank the man in the little white jacket and be on our way.

 Standing in the shade opposite said cafe, we remark on how it seems like there aren’t as many pigeons as we expected… at which moment a seagul drops out of the sky and pins a pigeon to the paving stones, grabs it by the neck and shakes it then flies off with it! That explains that then.

 Around the corner in the square along the side of the ducal palace we find a patch of steps to sit on and review our map and our handy xeroxed pages from the guide book. After about a minute two young blond women wearing red shirts that say “St. Marks Square Guardian” on the back inform us that sitting on the steps in the square is not allowed… alrighty then.

 Campo San Stephano. Quiet, Pretty, nobody selling ‘original’ watercolors or handbags or ‘I heart Venice’ hats… or telling us we can’t sit. The head waiter guy at the cafe (no orchestra) seemed like he was glad to see us. A couple of pannini, a beer and no orchestra. We sit for a while just enjoying the calm of the piazza.

We scope out the Chiesa di Santo Stefano, built in 1200s it was the scene of a fair amount of drama and bloodshed and had to be reconsecrated 6 times over the centuries. Oddly, there’s nothing in the literature available in the church tells us why or that even mentions this. For some people, there’s just never enough drama I guess.

On we wander. We would like to see the Peggy Guggenheim Collection but $30 is just a tad past reaonable for entry. Venice is pricey, no doubt about it. It is the first city I have felt like is preying on tourists not just living off them.  So Chiesa Santa Maria Salute is next.  A beautiful building with an amazing dome in the center. I think this is one of my favorite churches.  We sit on the steps and enjoy the view of the grand canal. I guess Santa Maria is less fussy about her steps than St. Mark.

A different route back to the hotel, the winding narrow streets, the gelato, the Ferrari store (!) and after 6-1/2 hours of walking we are back to rest and clean up for dinner.

 Pause…. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz …

 A little reading, a little map studying and it’s time to go find dinner.. I’m kinda over the big cafe on the big street by the big canal thing so we find a little cafe on a little street by a little canal.  Greeted by the chef and the head waiter we tak our seets at a little table. It was a delicious meal… definitely more effort into it than the big street cafes we’ve done so far.

Fresh peas, fresh pasta, cod and grilled polenta, stuffed pumpkin flowers on a bed of diced succini and tomatoes (wow) and a charcoal grilled steak with balsamic reduction… and french fries (?)   

MMMmm, fed, full and happy, an arm in arm stroll through Venice back to the room.

We done did Venice and enjoyed it.

 Day 14,

Morning is a splash and go and were off to find our car. (After a quick stop for a couple of gift purchases.) Waterbus ticket? check. Get on the right waterbus? check. Crazy grumpy old Venition guy gets all up in my face because he doesn’t like where I’m standing on the waterbus. (yes it was kinda in the door but the thing was packed… where was I supposed to stand?)  He gets a bit red in the face, pokes his finger at me and calls me crazy, calls all Americans crazy. I was tempted to caution him about the dangers of anger stress and strokes… I wished I knew how to say “let’s talk about it next time Italy gets invaded” in Italian. Instead I just nodded and appologized and pretended I didn’t understand him and let him grumble and rant his grumpy self off the boat at the next stop.

Switch to #1 counterclockwise waterbus at Piazzale Roma, next stop Tronchetto and the biggest parking ramp ever. The car was right where we left it. The parking ramp ticket? well it turned out to be in the bottom of my back pack. (Whew!)

 Back on the road again… la la la… Milan (Malpensa) bound. We have booked a room in the Hotel Visconti, a small hotel about 10 minutes from the airport. They have suggested that we return the car when we arrive and they will take us to the airport in the morning. So, we check in and leave the bags. Donna stays while I go return the car. 2192 kilometers (1359 miles) and one front bumper scuff older than when we picked it up in Rome. (the scuff happened while it was parked, it had nothing to do with my driving.)

 A nice dinner with a couple from New Jersey and early to bed. That pretty much wraps it.

Note… I think the airlines are all run by honey badgers… I’m just sayin’.