Ahhh Venice

This is my favorite place in the world.   We took the Alilaguna (fancy word for boat bus) to a dock near the hotel and tried to follow the directions on the map. Tried. We were lost for a while. A man with a wheelbarrow working on a building saw us pass for about the fifth time and took pity on us. In only Italian he directed us to the hotel. (A door we passed several times.)

They were working on this building as well. The white door leads to the original house, the round thing is a stone well.  The poles are scaffolding while they work on the floors above.

Settled in and then meandered down to the Grand Canal….

Following our host Tatiana’s advise we headed out to an outdoor restaurant on the plaza.  The waiter was so abrupt and guessed/told G exactly what he was going to have.  After looking at the menu, well, he was right.  We quickly caught on to his sense of humor and the bantering began.  Soon the local construction worker, waiter, shop keepers all recognize us with a warm smile and hello.Below we are sitting at a table on one of the squares watching the people, enjoying beer and wine for me, and relaxing.

Each shop is artistic and beautiful.  I asked the shopkeeper putting together a wooden Medusa if I could take his picture.  In a loud gruff voice he said “ONE PICTURE ONLY!”

There are many specialty shops that are as amazing to explore as museums.  There are open air fish markets, vegetable stands, homemade toys, masks, and of course closer to St Marks Square lots of designer stores.  Getting lost isn’t so bad now as we can eventually make it back.  Every turn there is something to explore. Chao for now…