Lost in transition

Bon Giorno! Today was our only full day in Venice and we had a couple of things on our agenda, but beyond that we were indeed determined to “lose” ourselves, so to speak, in this beautiful city. A few things we have learned about Venice. First of all, Venetians, possibly Italians in general, seem to take a leisurely and relaxed approach at their day. If you, a tourist, are in a rush to get somewhere, you could be in for some annoying moments. If you, a tourist, are done with your meal and expect a check so that you can continue doing tourist things, ask for your check or else you could be waiting a while. If you, a tourist, want to get the full “tourist” experience, you will pay a lot of money. Fortunately Kris and I were ok making our own way and got by in this city relatively inexpensively.
Our day began a little earlier then we had hoped. In a room for five people, we were at capacity and the two girls traveling together wanted to get an early start on the day. What followed was about an hour and a half of noise-making that completely baffled us. They weren’t packing to leave so what in the world was the hold-up? And furthermore, did everything they bring on the trip come packed in plastic bags? There was a good 45 constant minutes of “crinkle crinkle crinkle” the likes of which made you believe you had woken up in a Ziploc factory. My rant, I know, and I will now move on. I feel better.
Making our way out into Venice after a simply delectable breakfast of pre-packaged croissants and yellow apples, we decided today would be our day to save our feet a little bit and make good use of the waterways and purchased a 12 hour Valporetto ticket that allowed you unlimited access of the water bus system for those 12 hours. After making our way to the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore that houses a beautiful church with a bell tower offering the best views of Venice around and grabbing quick and dirty sandwiches from “Sandwich Row” (Thanks Rick Steves!!!) it was time for our next order of touristy business: laundry…Right. Well maybe not on everyone’s to do list when visiting Venice, but absolutely necessary since my clean underwear supply was non-existent. So Tina took a nap and I took our clothes to the nearest Laundromat, typed on the computer for an hour, and presto! Clean clothes. Realizing the time, we hurriedly made our way to our dinner spot. (Remember things to learn about Venice? Right. Tricky walk) Our dinner spot? Well the same spot as the night before of course! We shamelessly ordered our drinks again before piling on the “Cincchetti” buffet food. Yet again, it was delicious and, yet again, it was pretty cheap. We had already decided our big pasta meal would come the next day so we had no issues whatsoever doubling up at this place. We consider it one of the best parts about our time in Venice. Our little “discovery”, off the beaten path and certainly not advertised in the Rick Steves book of Venice.  After a romantic-laced walk about San Marco Piazza we snagged the trinkets (Venetian mask and magnet, of course) and took a night boat ride back to our hostel.
What does a good full day in Venice bring? Satisfied tummies, slightly aching feet, fancy bridges, pretty buildings and clean clothes of course! Till next blog, Ciao!