Day 11

[unforth]

I woke up this morning feeling like doing very little, and as the day has worked out, that's pretty much what's happened. Headed out a little (by my standards) on the late side to go the grocery store. Got a little (mostly intentionally) lost on the way there. Made my way past the Basilica San Marco and the Campanile as well as a bunch of side streets, managed to go an island past the grocery, but found it again pretty easily. Picked up the groceries, managed to not get lost going the direct route back to the room.

From there, mom and I went on a long walk rather at random, and made our way back to the room when she got tired. For this one, we once again went by the Basilica, but then headed down to the water, meandering past the over priced stores and restaurants and the Palazzo Ducale to take in the view towards the Lido and the other outer island (whose name I'm blocking and don't feel like looking up). We meandered through a garden and a number of side streets in the area west of our hotel, before making our way back once more.

A bit after this, I made my way out for a third time, this time to walk to the train station so I could buy our return tickets for the trip back to Rome on October 3rd. I took this trip with the intention of not worrying too much about my route as long as I got there, with the result that it was time consuming, random, but I didn't get particularly lost until the return trip, when I let myself meander so much that I finally started to have a little trouble figuring out which way I was facing, which is always the first point at which I become in danger of actually get lost. I managed, though, and furthermore I just beat a major rain storm, which is good.

Among the interesting things encountered on the way, I got to see some fine graffiti, and also to appreciate how quite Venice is when one isn't on the main drags. I got to truly and really appreciate how nice a city is when there aren't cars in it, as all traffic in Venice is either on foot or by water. This is very nice for a tourist, but I can see already how inconvenient it can be for locales, as when I was out this morning I got to watch as the restaurants got their daily delivery of wine by men pulling hand trucks, which looked like zero fun whatsoever. I got to understand that no matter how much I wander, I'll have to make some concessions because there are only a few bridges over the Grand Canal, and I was shocked to find how many of the narrowest damn alleys you ever saw actually go places - and how many look like they are going someplace, only to dead end after a couple hundred feet.

I think this is a city I could come to love. It's not very big, and the areas that are heavily trafficked by tourists are obnoxiously crowded - made worse by the general narrowness of the streets - but it's very old and lovely (and slowly crumbling in to the Adriatic), and the quiet areas seem very nicely quiet, while the noisy areas are always filled with a pleasing bustle sound, often with a background of live music. Even from our hotel room, we can occasionally hear music wafting up from a gondola or a nearby restaurant. Normally, I think this would be annoying, but for some reason here, it's okay.

I feel like the walk left me with a lot of other things I wanted to say, but now I can't think of them. I made it back just before it started to pour, but not before I picked up my second batch of absolutely delicious pastries from Marchini (yesterdays were a cream puff and a strawberry tartlett; today's were a double layer flower cookie with apricot filling and a mini chocolate layer cake - one for and one for mom from each trip) and now I've eaten a strangely timed meal (I ate a tiny breakfast, than a sandwich at 10 and another sandwich at 2:15...) and am sitting around, being on call for dcsproductions, who is finishing up an APR that we have to submit today. So, a slow day, but it feels...right. There'll be plenty of time tomorrow.

In other news, I've finally added pics to the first entry! Take a peak, if you're interested (they're linked to, not posted in the entry).