Cold in Venice

Friday morning we left at 9:30am to catch the two-hour train to Venice. I continue to sleep well in Florence, which is surprising, and slow-moving my cold is not hindering me. The weather forecast for Venice was cold and foggy, with a high of about 40 degrees and a low of freezing. Fortunately, with the new scarf from Dee and my new thermal underwear from Amazon, plus a thick sweater and coat, I actually did very well, feeling pretty warm despite being outside most of the afternoon.

The train ride to Venice was uneventful. We grabbed a sandwich in the station there and then headed out on the vaporetto 1, a water shuttle down the grand canal that goes the length of the town, making every stop along the way. There was a big moment of uncertainty for me just after getting onto the shuttle, when it was rocking, as boats do. It somehow hadn't dawned on me that I would need sea legs -- I am known to get seasick at the mere sight of boats! Fortunately Chiara had some Dramamine that she gave me, and I managed to make it without incident, though it was touch and go for a while -- not good right after lunch!

All along the 45-minute ride we enjoyed the commentary from the Rick Steves app on our phones, learning lots of interesting facts about the various stops and sights, finally arriving at St. Mark's square. From there we saw the Bridge of Sighs, the main square and cathedral, all gorgeous. 

Bridge of Sighs (note the jacket on Chiara!)

St Mark's Square and Cathedral

Dee had done the planning for our tour, which is unusual because that is normally my job. However, she is quite capable and gave us a nice afternoon. We took a gondola ride for about 45 minutes, which she had arranged online. It was supposed to be a guided tour, but the gondolier didn't say anything except when I asked him questions, usually in Italian. He said that there is a year-long class to become a gondolier, followed by several months of one-the-job apprenticeship. The gondolas are very wobbly, but fortunately he did a good keeping us from turning over. I asked about it, and he said that it had never happened to him and that there was a fine for going in the water. Not surprisingly, gondolas are only used by tourists, not locals, who find it much easier and faster to walk around town, with over 800 bridges -- they know all the shortcuts. I was mildly queasy through the ride, but it was worth it, not having been to Venice since 1977. I went in a separate gondola from the girls, along with a family of four from India who lives in northern California. I volunteered to be split up so that they wouldn't have to be, and the mom was extremely grateful to me.

Our gondolier

Loading up the ships

We did a lot of shopping for Chiara, looking for her trademark magnets and teddy bear. She couldn't find the latter, settling for a small wooden Pinocchio with Venice written on it. All afternoon we looked for a pastry shop but never found one! I might think that Venetians are healthy, except there was gelato everywhere, despite the cold 😉🍦. We walked around some back streets and shopping areas for a good while, finally finding a public restroom after a few hours. Here we are actually grateful to pay for the privilege, because that generally means that the bathrooms are clean and warm.

We had dinner at the train station after a ride back in the shuttle in the dark. The big cafe was warm, which felt very nice after being out in the cold all afternoon. Our train back to Florence was more or less on time, and we each dozed a bit along the way, happy not to have frozen. Chiara actually wore her jacket and gloves and was quite cold much of the afternoon, to give you an idea how frigid it was. It was late by the time we got to bed, after planning a bit for our final morning in Florence on Saturday.

Chiara likes to get a bear from each town she visits, but she selected a little wooden Pinocchio from Venice instead. She had fun selecting some Venetian glass earrings and some hand-marbled paper, which Venice is famous for. After the stationery store, I told her it was rare to get that kind of good customer service here. Last year I saw a butcher in Rome actually remonstrate a customer for leaving hand prints on the glass case. She said if it were a child, she would understand, but a grownup should know better. The customer apologized. 

Anyway, we hunted for cameos, since Wendy suggested we three get matching ones. Napoli is the best place to go, since they're made nearby in Torre del Greco, but we won't have much time there, so we tried. We saw a few, but not what we were looking for.

The Rick Steves canal ride narration was very good. The exteriors of the buildings were a feast for the eyes. Later, we took a gondola ride. It was supposed to include a guide, but he only spoke when I spoke to him. Doug went separately since the boats were full. Chiara and I rode with a little family of four from Brazil. The Dad's grandmother was Italian, but he hasn't spoken it in years. He was very complimentary about my Italian, as was the lady in the marbled paper shop. Doug quizzed his gondolier, too. It's a family business, and it takes a year of training. If they fall in the canal, there is a big fine.

Fun sign in Florence

We also passed Sikuliana, a store that sells Sicilian ceramics including the heads I like so much. https://www.sikuliana.com/


A few days ago, Chiara  said she wants to do another trip to Europe with me. We're talking about Switzerland and/or Spain, though we might change our minds on the destination. It would be so fun to do this together.