Oh Brenda - so good to have you back on line. I, too, have been wondering where you were and how you were. Hope you have shaken off your cold - travelling while ill is never fun.
Hope you found dinner! Enjoy your stay in Venice, and keep sharing your experiences with us! (Missed your post about the lost grandson-was out of town for the weekend) That is such a scary thing to have happen.
Judy
Posts: 1880 | Location: Berkeley, CA | Registered: 22 March 2005
As long as you're in Venice, move for a day form there and visit the Mantegna's Exhibition goin'on in Padua-Verona-Mantua, really nice and interesting.
I love writing this, and always hope that someone is reading it!
Brenda, I think there are a lot of us reading your thread, even if we don't post here! I have very much enjoyed "tagging along" on your trip and I am very excited every time there is a new post!
Grazie, mille grazie, for your encouragement! I'm happy to the nth degree that you are enjoying my ramblings...a good friend tells me that reading my trip report and reading through this thread is just like listening to me talk. Is that a good thing? Ummmm, well... maybe...depending on whether this proves interesting to you or not! Still, listening to me talk can be a little like a stream-of consciousness conversation, I think, because I talk a LOT!
Yesterday was a fan-freakin'-tastic day in Venezia...I find I'm sleeping til around 10:30 A.M., and by the time I shake off the cobwebs from a deep sleep, shower and feed my little tum-tum, it's about noon or a little later. SO, by the time I'm ready to leave my apartment for the day, the shops are ready to close for their afternoon break! That leaves my internet spot as one of the places that is open, so I sit here, writing, while the rest of the city has a nap!
So, back to yesterday, fantastic yesterday... I left my internet spot, caught a few shops before they closed and found one small clothing shop about 10 paces from the internet spot...cute stuff in the window, so I went inside. The owner is a darling woman, likely in her 70's, and her lack of English combined with my lack of Italian proved to be a winning combination!
Together, we went through several racks of clothing, and between us, chose some glad rags for me to try on.
The hot jeans fit!
Well, let me clarify...the hot jeans fit, after trying several sizes on to determine what size I am, in Italy! I didn't know that jeams come in sizes like 50/52/54...crikey, y'all! That sounds huge to me! This is a kid who's used to hearing numbers like 10/12/14/16 for clothing size.
Several tops & a couple of sweaters later and I'm out the door, wearing my new jeans and one of the new sweaters tied around my waist...my old Canuck clothing in the bag with the rest of my new stuff! Cool!
So, then I decided to try some newly-learned navigating-in-Venice skills...and set off down a street that was totally new to me. I wandered for the next few hours, found the COIN department store, the Rialto bridge, a gorgeous shoe shop and...arguably the best gelato I've ever lapped up!
Back to the shoe shop...see, the thing is, I have promised Deborah, the realtor who is running my office while I'm lollygagging here, a stunning pair of boots, made in Italia, of course. Having shopped at the Sergio Rossi outlet and a few other lovely places, and am so far batting zero, I was beginning to think she was going to be disappointed with the boots that I wasn't bringing for her.
Also, having been told that Venice is sooo expensive, I was dreading the cost, should I find a pair here that would be perfect for her. WELL, I found more than one pair and they actually were a better price than any that I'd seen previously! So, I have a luscious new pair of leather boots languishing in a red shoe box in my apartment, in the very-hard-to-find size 41...9 1/2 in Canada! She better love them, 'cause if not...I'm gonna keep them!
Finally, I arrived at my favorite restaurant, so far. It is located about a block from my apartment, and makes the best food! I asked for, and received my favorite table, along the canal, and discovered that a newly-married couple from England who had been seated beside me the night before, were coming back and were also seated in the same spot they were in the night before...right beside me, again!
After ordering the baked and ever-so-delectable sea bass with a 1/2 bottle of vino bianchi del casa, I sat back, looking at the scenery around me, and for the first time since I arrived in Venice, I truly realized where I am!
I AM IN VENICE!
Who'd have thought that I'd actually be blessed like this? I am in Venice! Holy kamoly, I sat in total shock for a few minutes, just absorbing this experience.
Then, the waiter brought my meal, deboning and preparing my fish at tableside, and served me the plate of yummy fish and baked potatoes, both dredged in the baking juices...white wine, aromatic herbs and a small smidge of pureed vegetables, he told me. As I was about to start eating, the very nice newly-wed couple arrived, came right over to their table next to mine and we all said how happy we were to see each other again!
As we were talking, another couple were seated at the table across from us, and we began a conversation with them as well. They were celebrating her 50th birthday, a surprise trip from her husband, and they told us they live in Belgium! Was this an international conference, or what?
The evening was simply wonderful. Between bites, we visited back and forth between the 5 of us, as the birthday girl and her husband shared a bottle of prosecco to celebrate her big day. The waiter was so good to us, very entertaining and also very carefully seeing that we were not in need of anything, as we visited.
I asked him to bring a dessert for each table, to represent a wedding cake for the newly-weds and a birthday cake for the woman from Belgium. He disappeared, returning in a moment with another server, each of them bearing a tiramisu with a small candle in the center, lit and glowing in the darkening evening! It was magical! Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday girl and then wished the newly-weds sincere felicitations. How fun that was! They had no idea that it was coming and were sooo surprised and so touched...I loved that a lot!
We've arranged to meet there again on Sunday evening for dinner, before they leave to go back to England. I've given both couples all of the information they'll need to look up this marvellous website, and I've encouraged them to check it out.
Maybe this kind of day is a somewhat-normal day for people who travel a lot more than I do, or for people who have been in Venice before, maybe it becomes ordinary. But, for me, it has been the best of the best!
Today, I'm busy looking up the venues for the Venice Music Festival that is on this weekend. I'm trying to figure out how I can get to some of the performances that I'm salivating over!
So, that's all of the news that is fit to print, for now. Can you tell I'm having the best time? I may not be seeing all of the places that I've read about, I've only taken the vaporetto once...to get here... and I've still not made it to the top of the Rialto bridge. But, the places I've been discovering and the people I've been priviledged to meet have been more than memorable, so I think that this works, for me!
I'll check in later this weekend, and let you know what else has been happening! Ciao, ciao...
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust Brenda
Thanks for keeping us updated on your adventures Brenda. I am always so happy to see a new post and travel along with you. Sounds like you're having as much luck in Venice as you did in Florence in the shopping arena. Wonder if Venice will be the next Italian city to offer a "friends of Brenda" discount! So happy to hear you're having a lovely time.
Funny about the clothing sizes, Brenda. Know just how you feel. And, a very cool thing to do for the couples seated near you!
Deborah Horn In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there. ----------------------------------- www.petsburg.com My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip
Posts: 5026 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: 04 September 2001
I am here, reading and lurking and enjoying! What I am amazed at is how much time you must be spending at the Internet cafe to write reports that would take me a LONG time, and your grammar, syntax, spelling, etc., etc., are perfect. My instinct is to tell you to forget about us and don't waste time at a computer while you are there!! But, you seem to really enjoy doing it - AND there is something very exciting about reading your report AS YOU ARE THERE!!! That gives our reading such an immediacy and a special thrill. (I'm really not sure how to use this emoticon, but it looks like a cow in the midst of a thrill.....)
Originally posted by jgk: Brenda-- This is such great stuff--I'm so happy for you, I'm not even jealous.
jan
Well, honestly, we are ... but in a good way ... we'd love to be sharing the special moments with you ... after all, while travel alone is exciting, it's the connections one makes that make it so special ... and in Italy, because it seems that just about everyone (except the "rubbing guy" at Roma Termini! YUCK!) is so helpful, it's so very easy to meet some very special people ... va benne!
Brenda - how long will you be in Venice for? We had one of the best meals of our trip in a restaurant called Osteria al Vecio Pozzo on S. Croce 656 Phone--041-524-2760. It isn't far from the bridge by the train station. Paul and I both had sesame crusted tuna with a baslamic reduction and tempura vegatables. Their risotto was great (pear and pecorino)! Mom had grilled scampi and an amazing soup. Dinner for 4 with wine and dolce was about 150 euros.
I'm pleased to hear that you enjoyed La Naumachie in Rome. We had two great meals there and when I look at the pictures of what we ate (I could do a photo album of meals!) I drool.
I think eating in Italy has spolied me, our Italian food in Canada just doesn't compare!
Keep well,
Jerry
Jerry
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ~G.K. Chesterton
Brenda:I don't think there is a one of us (I don't think that's very good grammar somehow!!!) that isn't waiting for your next post; and by the way: "Happy Birthday" whenever it is!!! I know this trip to Venice is part of your - -th birthday treat to yourself!!!!! Hope you will get the ferries out to Murano and Burano, and to Lido; which we really enjoyed while we were there. I'm glad you're having a lovely time!!!! Ciao for now!!
It's Sunday, with cathedral bells chiming to wake me up this morning...just a glorious reminder that I'm in Venice!
OK, all of you boot freaks reading this, I just scored a gorgeous pair of leather pant boots at the same shop where I found the knee-highs for Deb!
The darling woman who works there was so helpful...I was trying on all of the pointy-toed, skinny-lookin' boots, and of course, they ALL hurt my toes...but I just kept on asking for another pair and another...she tactfully suggest I "try these ones, Signora..." and handed me a lower heeled, rounder-toed and infinitely more comfortable boot to try.
Guess what??? Yeah, I knew you'd get it before I did...she was tactfully telling me that the boots she gave me were much more suitable for my feet, at my age! A tender way to tell me that the skinny ones are not for me, and I finally realized that they would be better suited for my 22 year old granddaughter!
Whatever her reasoning, she was bang-on and I bought them on the spot! AND, I also had enough money this time, didn't have to leave a deposit as per my GEOX in Florence... AND I got to take them with me when I left her shop, rather than wasting precious time scouring the area looking for the shop again! I'm not a slow study, am I?
Now before you congratulate me on my vastly-improving travel skills, I must be honest here and tell you that I left her shoe shop with her directions for a good little cafe only a block away, then got totally turned around and ended up walking about an hour's worth of cobblestone, before finally ending up at her shop again, 'cause I'd walked in a huge circle, TWICE! Isn't this the definition of Slowtrav? Seems to me I read something about travelling in concentric circles?
Later, on my way to my apartment, I stopped at the restaurant around the corner from my home, again. I'd love to try some place different, but this place is so darned convenient! AND, there's the thing about walking such a short way home, after some wine and limoncello...and maybe a grappa...
Oven-baked bream this time, with roasted tomatoes and potatoes, a side of Pinot Grigio and lemon cake for dessert, followed by my ever-present cappuccino, and the usual complimentary limoncello from Alvise, the maitre d', who has taken care of me every time I've been there.
After arriving safely at home, I tried my new boots on again, and they are really comfortable and look just as stunning as they did in the shoe shop! After all, that's the point in buying a good pant boot isn't it??? Comfort first, and then the ever-present drop-dead gorgeous factor?
I love my apartment...the location is perfect for me, as it is not in the center of the craziness that surrounds San Marco, yet it isn't so far out that it is a struggle for me to get anywhere. I really don't think there is any location in Venice that would be a long distance from any other place...Venice is really as small as I've heard y'all say, a thousand times here on the board. I think that I've been reading that from everyone, but had not assimilated it into my brain cells! Now that I've been out walking every day, I actually can experience it for myself, and now I'm going to join you when telling a never-before-been-to-Venice newbie, "No worries! It's a s-m-a-l-l city!"
My internet spot is clean, quiet, well-run and has lots of computers for everyone...no waiting, no line-ups, comfortable office chairs at each computer...this is a treat! After the grotty little place in Rome with the even-grottier little guy who owned it, leching over every female who came thru' the door, I appreciate this neat little spot totally. This place is located on Calle Caffettier, just a little to the right of the intersection with Calle Muazzo.
Shannon, the restaurant is located along Fondamente d. San Lorenzo, where Calle di Preti intersects with San Lorenzo. I will post the name for you, later. The bridge that I cross to get from the restaurant on San Lorenzo to Calle de Lion where I'm staying is shown on my map as leading directly into Calle Maruzzi. Hope that helps! The food is pretty stellar, and the service from Alvise and all of the other servers is really impeccable. (Hopefully, I've spelled all of the street names correctly!)
So, today, Karen and Vincenzo are coming to Venice and we are going to hang out together and go to Murano, Burano, some churches, some window shopping while Vincenzo sees some clients...just a week of good stuff, I think!
By the way, I'm gonna share this typo with you, 'cause it made me laugh out loud while proofing this! When I was writing the last paragraph, I misspelled the word 'hang', so the sentence originally read...'and we are going to hag out together'... (Wonder if Karen'll find this funny? )
Marco/Mark, thanks for your kind comments! The 'creepy 'rubbing guy' at Termini was the exception, for sure. Everyone has truly been incredibly kind to me and no matter how I mangle their beautiful language, I've yet to see anyone wince in horror, although they certainly have the right to do just that!
Palma, you are right about the jeans...and, I can already hear a client or two commenting on them, when I wear them to work! I usually wear business clothes to my office, but there are going to be a few fun days when I wear these jazzy jeans, with the silver and black sparkles along the left thigh!
Colleen, the people at the shoe shop should offer a 'friend of Brenda' discount! They have gorgeous footwear and also gorgeous prices. I thought it would be more costly shopping here in Venice, but that's not the case in many of the places that I've been looking...so the discount would just sweeten the pot!
Deborah, you got it! I don't mind admitting to wearing a size 41 shoe, but a pair of jeans that are anywhere from size 52 - 58 sounds like I'm 'Hippy the Hippopotamus' to me!
Dog Mother, it does take some time to prepare this each day, but it is a cool thing to be sharing this trip with the people on Slow Trav, because it is a way to give back. My first trip to Europe was only last year, April 2005, and the main reason I had such a good trip with relatively few bumps along the way was because of the help and advice that my Slowtrav family gave to me, in the planning process and along the road while I was here. So, it seems such a little thing to take a few minutes to write this....hopefully, something I write can help someone else with their trip plans!
Jan, no jealousy allowed, just enjoyment! Thanks for posting, I'm so happy you like my stories!
Jerry, I'll be leaving on the 22nd of this month...and I've made note of the restaurant! Thanks for sharing!
Sheila...the 20th's the big day! No idea yet what we are going to be doing, but whatever it is will be fantastic...I'm one of those people who gives thanks for every single day that I get to live on this planet, in fairly stable health and with such loving and supportive people around me, like you and everyone else on this incredible travel site!
Gotta run, I don't wanna be late getting home and meeting Karen and Vincenzo! Ciao ciao...
"Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again." ~ Menachem Mendel Schneerson Brenda
Brenda - better late than never! I just realized you're posting from Italy. I thoroughly enjoyed your travel stories so far, told with your usual flair!
Enjoy the remainder of your visit - I'll be looking for your posts from now on. It's really nice to hear about it "live".
Brenda, we are all living Venice along with you - mille grazie! And, give us the name of the shoe shop where you bought the boots for future reference. We're all friends of Brenda's, right?
The shoe shop is called Silvia, and I'll post the address as soon as I get home. Not only are the prices fantastic, the stock is really gorgeous stuff. They also stock purses, plus some clothing and belts, as well. Niiiiice! A small place, with the owner and one staff person. I love to support these shops, because it is the smaller places that are the first to feel the pinch in any economic downturn. Besides, I can personally attest to the drive required to make your living from owning your own business...it's a totally different level of fear that is the motivating factor to us!
I'll talk to them about a 'friend of Brenda' discount, it can't hurt to ask!
Last night Karen and Vincenzo arrived and the first thing we did was to walk to Arsenale and back. Two HUGE cruise ships were being piloted out of the waters around Venice. I had no idea what was going on, then Vincenzo explained t
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Oh yeah!! we read it and look forward to every installment!
So happy to hear you're having a lovely time.
(I'm really not sure how to use this emoticon, but it looks like a cow in the midst of a thrill.....)
whenever it is!!!
Comfort first, and then the ever-present drop-dead gorgeous factor?
(Wonder if Karen'll find this funny? 