Venice!

You don't even need to say it's in Italy, although there is the California version. We drove from Bled to Venice in about three hours. We had planned ahead for what to do with the car and all of our stuff, saving just what we needed for two days in Venice. It worked very well to use the locked ("VIP") places at the big Tronchetto parking garage. It was only 9 euros more a day than the regular price, and saved the effort of dragging suitcases to the left luggage room. This way we could leave what we didn't need in the trunk and have it be secure.

After we got the car situated, we headed for the Vaporetto. We took the People Mover to Piazzola Roma and got on the the #1 and headed for our hotel. It was quite an experience to enter into that watery world. For those of you who have been there, you know you really cannot imagine it until you are there. We got off at the right stop, seeing many wonderful things along the way, noting those things we wanted to make sure and see during our two-day stay. We made our way to our hotel without too much problem, and settled into our room. Here's a view of the canal flowing by our room:
We went out exploring, finding our way as best we could through the unnamed intricacies of Venice streets and canals. We took in the immensity of St. Mark's Square, and decided not to pay $20 a piece for a gin and tonic at one of the orchestra cafes on the square. Instead we found a lovely little bar on a convenient corner a few streets off the square and celebrated our arrival with drinks and great people-watching! We wandered some more, found a lovely, quiet dinner spot where the food was excellent, and then made our way through the dark streets and bridges back to our hotel.

The next morning we set off to see St. Mark's. We'd heard so much about it, but we were not prepared for the awesome beauty of the mosaics that fill that space. It really is a "you have to see it to believe it" place. We spent a good long time enjoying the interior and the excellent museum, finishing up with the breath-taking views from the upstairs gallery. Here's a picture from that viewpoint:
We wandered around some more, including going to the Rialto Market and finding some tramezzini for lunch. We found good ones! After a little break at our hotel, we met Toni Sepeda who would be our tour guide for the end of the afternoon. Her specialty is the sites related to the novels by Donna Leon about Commisario Guido Brunetti. Nancy loves these books, and this was too great an opportunity to pass up. Toni Sepeda and Donna Leon have taught English literature together at the University of Maryland Venice 25+ years. Toni has written a book about Brunetti's Venice, and we could have done those walks. But it was worth the price to have the in-person tour. It was especially interesting to hear her views on living in Venice and how it has changed in the brief years they have lived there. Donna Leon is very specific about Venice locations in her novels, and it was really fun to see the places where she puts Brunetti. Here is a picture of Nancy and Toni at the location (way up at the top of the building on the left) where Brunetti and his family live in the novels:
After the walking tour, we had wine and a beautiful platter of cicchetti (Venetian "tapas") at Brunetti's favorite wine bar! We found another good place for dinner, and then headed off for a concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and a couple other things by the group Interpreti Veneziani who play regularly at the un-churched Church of San Vidal. They were very good and it was a very enjoyable way to wrap up our Venice visit.

The next morning we did a little shopping and looked at a few other things before checking out of our hotel and making our way back to our car. We found it in good order, and left the Tronchetto for the mainland happy to have made the acquaintance of this fascinating city. Our friend Paul Hinderlie calls Venice "the only fully preserved former Empire doing business for the past three hundred years as the world's premier historical theme park." It certainly is that, and much, much more. And, just for good measure, and to enjoy Venice from your armchair, click here for more information about Donna Leon's terrific mystery novels.