24 hours in Venice
Woke up this morning promptly at 8am for breakfast. I love going to breakfast in my pajamas, especially when it is about 10 feet from my door. Andrea was waiting for us and he ran to put something in the oven when we arrived in the kitchen. There was fruit, juices, and yogurt. Andrea made us due cappucini while we waited for whatever was in the oven. Turned out it was just bread, which was fine for me, but I knew Adam would be hungry still when we left. We waited a little while but grabbed a snack about an hour later (croissant with salami and aroncini).
We walked first to Librera Acqua Alta which Adam had seen in pictures and so we both want to see it. It is defintely picturesque in a weird way but was a little bit of a let down over all. It is a cool little book shop down and alleyway and right on the water. The books are stacked high and mismatched and messy, and some of them are in bathtubs and an old gondola. There is a book staircase in the back of the store whcih had a nice view of the canal. At this point, we started using the nicer digital camera to take pictures, and also Adam's phone. But to keep my readers updated on where we are (aka my Mom and Bella) I will use what I have. LOL.
Post book store, we headed for the main attractions: Piazza de San Marco featuring St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace.
It was very "Wooooooooow" but also very crowded as you can see. It took about 30 minutes of waiting on line just to get into the basilica. This is one of the churches where you cannot enter with a tank top or short skirts or shorts. There is a girl at the entrace making women buy these plain white paper shall/skirt things for .50, good money for the church. Also the funniest job ever to basically stop women who did not dress appropriately for the occasion. I would be judging. :)
No pictures were allowed inside but I can assure you it was beautiful. Almost the entire church is made up of mosaics and it took nearly 400 years to finish. The majority of the mosaics are made up of gold glass pieces which makes the entire church sparkle and shine. The detail is incredibly impressive. We had a free english tour guide who pointed out some of the stories depicted on the walls and ceilings. We also got to see the famous horses up close which could date back to 400 BC and have been stolen and moved all over the world.
While we were in the church, Venice started to drown, which I heard it does sometimes. People were literally wading in the water that was coming up in the square. The line for the church had to stand up on these little scaffolds so people werent in water. Side note: Italians have no sense of personal space. Side note 2: I hate people who cut in line.
We took a Rick Steves suggestion on lunch and went to Ristorante Antica Sacrestia. It was a little higher priced than we wanted but a desperate need for the bathroom and a rest made it more appealing.
Vacation in Italy means a bottle of wine with lunch is not only good, but necessary. Especially since the wine here doesnt give me any hangover and a bottle gives just the perfect afternoon buzz. This bottle was the house cabernet but was lighter than most cabernets. Adam says its thin, like a Pinot Noir, but not as acidic. This bottle was $25 which was not as good of a deal as our $7 half liter last night. (A bottle is .75L)
For food, Adam ordered the "Menu del Giorno" (lasagna, pork chop, dessert) and I ordered another Ciccheti plate but I asked for no fish. Somehow, I accidentally ordered a plate of vegetables.... I expected that there would be something else besides plain veggies but the bread was really good so I wasn't too upset about it. Adam was appalled for me and kept offeing me some of his food. I gladly accepted as the lasagna was pretty darn good.
The vegetables were pretty plain. I ate two baskets of bread and tried to improve the veggies with salt and pepper and olive oil. I managed to eat half of the plate which I think is pretty dark good.
The pork chop was also good but nothing too special in my opinion. Just grilled and plain. Although, it was pretty juicy which is hard to find with pork chops. The dessert was chocolate panna cotta we think. It was good, very chocolately, I could have done without it.
Post lunch we walked towards the Rialto Bridge with our afternoon buzz feeling silly and happy to be on vacation. The bridge was so damn crowded that we turned around and headed back to Piazza San Marco to visit the Doges Palace. Of course, we stopped for some coffee/espresso before we reached our next destination. (Sad side note: I realized today that I always sent post cards to Babci and I started crying over espresso knowing this phase is over. I just knew she would enjoy getting the postcards as now everyone communicates through emails and texts and my Babci was still on the old school snail mail style. 😔 )
We arrived at the Doge's Palace and had to pay 20 euro each for the tickets. I tried to pretend that I was a student and showed my ID from Columbia. The lady said "You have to be 25, how old are you?" I said "Um, I'm 25". Then she said I had to show her another form of ID so I gave her my passport. For some reason I thought that didnt havea birthdate on it. Anyway, she noticed the age and I laughed a little bit. I mean, it was 5 euro for students, I had to at least try to get the discounts. :)
The palace was cool, we walked through lots of grandiose halls with meeting spaces that were covered in art. Frescoes and oil paintings on the walls and ceiling, marble colummns and floors, intricate wood designs painted gold--a lot to see. The second half of the building showed the prison cells. I started getting a bit claustrophobic plus there were so many people and really I had enough of the crowds. The Doge's apartments were closed which was a bit disappointing.
After this we were ready for a break. Its almost 7pm and we need a rest before heading out for our "Venetian Pub Crawl" dinner. We went to so many places, I can't possibly write everything in this post. Until tomorrow...!
