NNs On the Wind

April 12·

We’ve been thoroughly enjoying our Venice visit!! Our flat is superb and in the quiet sector, San Palo, with 2 small balconies overlooking the “street” and a turn in a small canal 100 feet away. It takes a bit of getting used to the fact there are no vehicles!! Even the trash, picked up every morning except Sunday at 8:30 by two workers, who ring the doorbell, is taken away in wooden carts that are pulled along the cobblestones. It’s easy to get lost, but that’s fun as well. It’s nice to be able to rely on google maps to get back to the flat!!!  Our flat is a 5* place, just perfect for 4 nights. Wandered to the market area but need to go back when the fish market is in gear, by the Rialto Bridge, 10 min from the flat.

We walked around on our first day to see what there is in the neighborhood, find the market, mostly closed, and provision with fresh fruit, veg, and at the store, 5eu bottles of wine and other things like yogurt, milk, cheese, etc. And then the stop at the bakery for some bread. We ate a late lunch in a café on the “street”, Zuppa de peche and some wine.  – and then enjoyed the wine and cheese and a salad for a light supper in the flat.

April 13

Friday was a beautiful sunny day with a bright blue sky. It was such a treat to be in Venice and be able to wander around. Today was the big explore! We headed to the Rialto Bridge with shops in the middle and then onto to St Mark’s Square. I was not prepared for the enormous scale of the square. And the majesty of the architecture. The square was so large that each of the 3 restaurants with café tables on the plaza had a small band playing. You could not hear the others while near any one of them.

We did the obligatory bag drop off as nearly every place we’ve been we have to check our small backpacks. I believe it’s for fear of bumping someone or some valuable thing when inside a church or museum. St Mark’s, appearing so large on the outside, is surprisingly small on the inside. It’s got great height inside but the seating capacity is surprisingly low. Maybe a few hundred???

We followed the queue around and then I climbed up to get the views from the outside mezzanine. Thom found the stairs too daunting. What a view!! Especially out to the sea.

We enjoyed a saunter along the crowded waterfront and then headed back, slowly, in search of a place for a late lunch, now being close to 5pm, which was out of “tourist central”. We found a little spot, on a little “street” and sat right next to a canal. It was fun watching boats – workboats, taxis, gondolas, etc. ply their way beside us. Thom was facing toward the end of the canal which was out towards the sea that we had seen from St Mark’s square. At one point he said “look” and I turned around and grabbed my camera to catch a view of a massive cruise ship passing at the end of the little canal. The scale was amazing!

We wandered back thru the maze and again enjoyed a light supper at the flat.

April 15

Saturday was a slow day, with little walking (a nice change) and a lot of time catching up on bills and planning out our next steps. What was so wonderful to see, on another sunny bright day, was that each plaza or square we passed through had at least 2 cafés set up outside where many were enjoying the sun and a beer or a spritz. A local drink that is quite tasty – I prefer the compari mix as opposed to the aperol mix, with prosecco being the primary ingredient.

We are now on track to depart on Monday 16Apr, by train to Trieste where we hope to catch a 9hr bus departing around 1300 to Split Croatia. Seems the best way to get there as flying is expensive; the bus and train will cost about 30eu for each of us. We will spend a week in Split and then take a 4hr bus to Dubrovnik in the southern portion of Croatia so we will have a long time to experience the Dalmatian coast. Our departure from Croatia was sorted once we found the best flight options to northern Europe. On 5 May, after 12 nights in Cavtat, we’ll fly to Stockholm for $95 apiece, including checked luggage! I’m looking forward to our extended time in Croatia, as we’ve been on the move since leaving Vietnam, staying no more than 3-4 nights in any place.

The future itinerary, roughly, is Stockholm in early May, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and the overland to Avignon in France. Still working on the lodging in Stockholm and Copenhagen as there are limited choices and mostly more expensive than we’ve been paying. With the exception, that is, of Venice – it’s expensive here – lodging, food, dining out, all except the wine!!!