Today we took the train to Venice and learned that the city
built in a lagoon cannot handle water when it comes from the sky. By the time
we exited the station a pretty steady rain was coming down and all of the
sidewalks became giant puddles, many ankle deep, which my shoes sadly learned
the hard way. The Vaporetti (water buses) were inundated with people due to the
rain and the enclosed waiting areas became people traps so that you could not
move or wait for the correct Vaporetto line to come along; instead you were
shoved onto whichever boat arrived when you were toward the front of the mob.
This happened to us twice, and twice it was the wrong line. Finally on the
third try we ended up on the line that was going the roundabout (and, therefore,
less crowded) route to our hotel.
After a walk through the back streets of
Venice to our hotel, during which we and our luggage were further soaked, we
finally arrived at our hotel two hours after hour intended arrival time. This,
plus the weather, led us to decide to scrap our plans to head out to the
islands of Murano and Burano this afternoon. Instead, we ate a late lunch at a
nearby restaurant that our hotel recommended, Rosso Pomodoro. The service was
super slow and standoff-ish, but once our pizza arrived it was absolutely
delicious. We washed it down with lemon soda, which has quickly become our
favorite drink. And once I got the waitress to stop by our table for a second and let
me ask her something in Italian, she became much friendlier. Score: 1 for my tiny
bit of Italian language knowledge!
We then enjoyed our first gelato of the trip at Suso, a
place that was highly recommended by a colleague of mine and by our hotel. Russ
got mint chocolate and I got tiramisu. It was delicious!
Feeling much better we decided to visit some of the museums we
had planned to see tomorrow: the Ca’ Rezzonico (museum of 18th century Venice)
and the Galleria dell’Accademia. The weather cleared up for a little bit as well, which was nice.
Thoroughly exhausted by this point, we headed
back to our hotel, grabbed a bit to eat nearby (with more lemon soda, of
course!) and called it a night. Here’s hoping for better weather tomorrow!
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