Domani, arrivederci a Venezia

I had a lot of trouble today downloading photos and answering e-mail. If you didn't hear from me, it's because it didn't fly through cyberspace as it was supposed to. I had a few other pictures of San Marco that I wanted to share with you but Blogger just wouldn't co-operate.

The picture above was taken in Piazza San Marco. The quartet that is playing under the canopy is just one of 5-6 around the square. As you walk through you might hear Mozart from one group and as their sound fades, the music, maybe DeBussey, from the next group starts to envelop you. Each group plays in front of a restaurant and there are many tables and chairs set up for people to sit down, enjoy the music and have a libation and/or nosh.

I was out early enough this morning to witness boats coming in with deliveries - dozens of them. And I started to wonder what kind of organization it took to continuously stock all the hotels and restaurants not to mention just your average Venetian store. From what I understand, there are approximately 50,000 full-time residents and about 3-4 million annual visitors ... and that's just food. You have no idea how many shops are here, selling their little hearts out to almost every one of those 3-4 million visitors. I am in awe at the thought.


Above is the Rialto Bridge - the largest one in Venice - 30-40 steps up and 30-40 steps down. It's about a 4 minute walk from Piazza San Marco (assuming you're not dragging a flippin' suitcase behind you!). By the way, my advice to anyone intending to visit, unless you have your own personal assistant or can afford a bell-hop, leave the heavy luggage at the airport or rail station and pack just what you need in a back-pack. I saw dozens of people today huffing and puffing their way to their hotel dragging stuff they mostly won't need which was me on Friday!

Above is a garden I found today just a little ways beyond Piazza San Marco and is part of the Doge's Palace. It's lush and beautifully kept but not as rigidly planned as some public gardens seem to be. This place is welcoming and very tranquil. I was very comfortable here enjoying the quiet and the awesome fragrance from some of the vegetation.

This is one of the gazzillion canals that meander through Venice. There are a lot more gondolas here than I thought.

This morning as I wandered through the maze that is Venice I happened upon a shop that sold unique and sometimes, antique books. I was contemplating purchasing one of them but decided that it was a little on the expensive side. So, I kept wandering, wandering and thinking about that book. Eventually, I made my way back to the hotel where I stopped in to take a little rest, read a bit and re-energize. Anyway, I decided that if I could find the store again I would buy the book. Unfortunately, I didn't have a clue where it was. So I decided to wander again. I figured that if I were meant to find it I would. Silly me! I did, however, find the street on which all the really big-name designer stores are. Dolce Gabanna, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Prada, Gucci, Armani and a bunch of others I can't think of right now. The purse I liked was only 1,200 Eu. I wish I could have found the book-store.

I have so much more to tell you all, but I'll save it for later. Tomorrow I'm off to visit Ida and hopefully dip my toe in the Adriatic. I don't know what kind of WiFi service they'll have in that area so if you don't hear from me it's because I haven't been able to get on-line. In the meantime you all take care of yourselves. I love you.

Ciao for now.