Ah, Venice. We took a fast train Friday night from Milan and I was so ready to get out of the city. We got in pretty late but managed to have a good (if not extremely overpriced) dinner on some piazza and met a really sweet couple from Florida that had never set foot outside of the States. The restaurant, however, finally put a stop to our bonding and we headed to bed. The next morning, we wandered over to the Rialto Bridge for breakfast on the water and, I'm afraid, at that moment my love affair with Venice officially ended. My memories of Venice from 10 years ago were of this creaky, damp, beautiful town that C, D, and I just explored; granted, it was November and the weather was chilly at best. The reality of Venice is that 12,000,000 tourists visit this sweet town of 60,000 and it feels just like Disney World. I applaud the residents for all the money they make off the industry but I, for one, will not be coming back. That said, we managed to find some pockets of "real life" and truly enjoyed our weekend away from the city and away from work.
We wandered through a market and found ourselves at a little bar where we had some Prosecco and took in all the Saturday morning activity. I love, love, love my new camera and had fun capturing the street without looking too obvious.
I also got a little obsessed with all the laundry. I just love the color, the movement, and the transparency of it. We spent the afternoon in Murano -- went to a glass blowing exhibition, had a fabulous lunch, and shopped a bit. David permitted me to buy one thing and so I walked away with only a pair of cufflinks but I could have left with boxes and boxes of anything and everything glass.
That night, we went to a "local" place that we read about in Rick Steve's. And, while it was off the beaten path, it was filled with other tourists that must have been just as sick of the chaos as we were. It was great food, fantastic service, and some of the best conversation we've had in weeks.
The next morning, I had to meet with the team from 10-1 so DC wandered around with the camera and (from the looks of our memory card) captured the entire city. It was a beautiful blue sky day and my meeting was fairly enjoyable as we were on the patio and in the sunshine right off the canal.
DC and I met back up and decided to get lost for the next few hours before catching our train. We had a great pizza, some gelatto, and took the requisite pics of ourselves at St. Mark's Square and on a canal before hopping back on a train to reality. Well, to quasi-reality.
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