We board the train and arrive in Venice at around 1ish. The train ride is pretty uneventful.
Arriving in Venice at Santa Lucia station, we decide to save the euros and walk to our hotel which is in the San Marco part of the island. It's quite hot and sticky out and the walk takes longer than expected.
We finally arrive at Hotel Serrenisima, with our backs covered in sweat from our packs . I spare a thought for those porters we saw along the way pushing trolley loads of luggage around and up and over multiple bridges. Venice is so far an up and down town, so many bridges.
We head up to our room to shower and freshen up. Sim decides to try the hair dyer on my power adapter, which is the only one we have left now as hers blew up from her hairdryer in Rome.
It blows it up again.
Great, I head down to reception and they lend us there's but it's no good, so I head out into the streets of San Marco in search of an adapter. It's now raining. The weather has a sub-tropical feel to it at the moment, hot and humid then thunderstorms. Traipsing through dirty and soggy Venetian streets wasn't what I had pictured my time in Venice would be like. I find an adapter and head back. It's still raining but I make it back safe enough. Sim resumes her hair with a new adapter and after a few hours we head out for lunch.
It's now even more heavier rain outside. Frustrated and just wanting to get out and about, we run through the narrow streets in search of a pizza place I saw when I went to find an adapter. Along the way we are chased and chastised be s hawker trying to flog €10 umbrellas. No thanks mate. He then lowers it to €5. We fend him off and take refuge in a nearby pizzeria trattoria. It's ok, not great food but not bad either, main thing is its dry!
After lunch we head out into the streets which are now full of puddles from the rain, Thankfully the rain has stopped. We wind our way through San Marco and over to Dorsoduro to visit the Peggy Guggenheim collection. The sun is now breaking through again and Venice is looking very pretty. We cross the grand canal, bypassing the selfie stick guys and everyone get photos on the bridge and make our way to the gallery. It's an old palace that she bought in the 1940s and made her home.
She filled it with art and when she died it was made a gallery. The collection is amazing. More of the same from that which we saw in Florence. The sculpture garden is very pleasant with Giacometti and Henry Moore sculptures. Here we also see her grave where she was buried. The highlight for me is the setting. We step out onto the terrace which is on the banks of the grand canal. The famous Alexander Calder red sculpture is sitting here and it's as pretty as a picture.
I know the feeling!
t's now 6 and we are advised that the gallery is closing. We head further along Dorsoduro and arrive in front of the Basilica Santa Maria di Salute. Another great view. We wander back, ducking through small narrow streets and into open squares and plazas. There's an abundance of churches. Like most of what we've seen in Italy, the church towers dot the skyline and rise up above the city.
We cross back over the grand canal and into the piazza Campo S Vidal where there is an amazing garden as well an exhibition on Zaha Hadid at the Pallazzo Cavalli, unfortunately it's now closed. Don't know why all these museums shut at 6pm when the sun sets at 9.
We meander the streets following the crowds towards San Marco Square. We go past all the big boutique fashion stores before finally entering into the square. It's quite impressive, I love the colonnades that ring it's surrounds. It's a buzz with people, many who are dining and drinking in the open seating outside. The sound of violins and piano ring out out from the bands playing at the various restaurants. And the pigeons and gulls are circling above. There so many here. It's quite atmospheric.
The evening sun is shining through and dappling the buildings with light. Walking through you can't help but be harrassed by all the hawkers. There's the usual suspects; the selfie stick guy, the guy with the roses and then a new culprit, the pigeon handler. This guy wants a euro for offering you the privilege of feeding a pigeon. Crazy.
The actual church Saint Marks is beautiful from the outside. Decorated differently from others we've seen. We walk around to the Palazzo Ducale and over the bridge of Sighs before wandering back into San Marco for dinner.
After reading a few different menus we decide on a place. We've arrived at a conclusion that places with pictures of the food on the menu are a "no go".
Dinner is very nice. To start they offer us a complimentary small glass of prosecco each. I start with a pot of sautéed mussels and clams followed by oven baked sea bass, potatoes and salad. A tiramisu for dessert with a macchiato and I'm a happy man. We are offered more complimentary drinks, this time a limoncello. It's not as strong as the one from Positano which is a good thing. The service here was great, one of the best we've had on our trip.
We stroll back to the hotel stopping for gelato and a look at the Rialto bridge. It's really disappointing as it's covered in scaffolding and hoarding as well as a huge billboard. Rather offensive really. We get a small glimpse of the view from a restaurant but overall it's a disappointment. We head back through the theatre area to our hotel and watch some Euro football before bed.
Another busy day of wandering!
mat + sim
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