Post # 15: The rest of day One in Venice

Just another bridge....
The Rialto fish market at night from our balcony.
A vaporetto.
A vaporetto pulling into the Ca de Oro stop (as seen from our balcony).
Stolling down a typical Venice 'street'...people and shops.

View to the right down the Grand Canal from our balcony (at night...duh)

Our waiter at dinner the first night.
Our first Tiramisu in Venice...for four please!
Where we ate dinner.
Pigeons in San Marco square
One side of San Marco square

A typical narrow canal.
A typical wider canal.
The Basilica de San Marco
A busy gondola station allow the lagoon adjacent to San Marco square.
Gondolas in front of our hotel (water taxi and fish market in the back ground)

OK, so I'm trying something different this time....faster (pictures at top and out of order).

After we got checked into our room...

Called Rich and Lynn, they are sitting at San Marco square listening to the music
Will meet them for dinner later
Confirmed lunch on Torcello tomorrow…Locanda Cipriani
New international phone already paying off.
EXHAUSTED…tried napping…too tired to sleep
Finally decided it was time to venture out.
Went for walk (to San Marco square).
There are squares everywhere…like parks.
Were lost most of the time…ended up on the wrong side of lagoon…so what
Whole thing is even better than imagined…what a feeling…
Sensory overload…soak it all in
Follow the signs…sure…dead end alleys, little bridges
…one big FUN maze (we got better at reading signs and didn't get lost...too much)
Narrow alleys, small canals, dogs, kids in squares…
BUSY…walking in circles…sore feet
Pick pockets? Thought about it often.
Lots of tourists, locals and…some seedy lookers
Slash proof fanny pack and security belt/wallet under clothes
…trying to be safe.
Found San Marco square…stood and stared…star struck
People and pigeons with live orchestra-type music
Vaporetto pass good for public restroom…found one…relief
Started back to hotel…mostly lost, didn’t matter
Pretty funny, used map, no help (a compass would have though)
Great little stores/shops lined the alleys…Pucci next to Gucci
Glass works (all kinds), masks, seeds, flags, shirts, trinkets) gelato…everything
Follow signs to Rialto bridge…
Hansel and Gretel (pigeons ate our bread crumbs)
Sore feet and knees…did I say that?
Got back and had a drink…stood on our balconies…SWEET!!!
Called Rich and Lynn…they vaporetto’d to us
They are at hotel Antiche Figure
Showed them our room…awe…theirs is very small, with no view
So what, they are in Venice…like being on a ship
…even inside cabins are great!
Headed out to find dinner…like Downtown Disney…8:30ish
Tried ATM…had concern in advance…no problem…free money, love it.
Restaurant 200 yards away, stopped, read menu, looked OK
2 minutes…or not…free glass of ‘bubbly’ while we waited (nice touch)
Menu in 4 languages…very ‘homey’
Fun staff…closed the place down
Took pictures…waiter wants copy of his
Came back and took more pictures of canal from balcony
crashed…11:00ish
Awake before 4:00am, now 4:30 (PC says 7:30pm)
Sitting in entry way, trying to be quiet…
Janna reading…light on, light off, sleep?, no sleep…bummer
BUT…it doesn’t matter…we’re in VENICE
At first light I’m going hunting…cameras in hand
…hunting for THE picture.
Took 104 pictures yesterday…before landing in Venice
359 after that…airport, taxi, room, balcony view, canals,
alleys, San Marco, people, pigeons, gondolas, dogs, shops, dinner, moon,
canal, vaporetto…why not? They’re free…for the taking (so to speak).

My favorite picture of the day. 1/4 moon rising over buildings across the Grand Canal from us. Water taxis, Vaporetto bus and parked Gondolas. At the lower right is where they have the produce and fish market in the mornings...amazing!