Bong, Bong, Bong!

Realizing that we should think about dinner we started looking for a place to eat.  We would walk up to the plentiful restaurants and read each menu.  What did we want to eat?  How much did this place charge?  Was it busy or empty?  

We sort of stumbled out a calle and found the Grand Canal in front of us and to our right the Rialto Bridge.  How did we wind up here?  We had no idea but it was a pleasant surprise.

We started walking up and down along the water checking out the restaurants there.  We thought it would be nice to eat along the water.  Then it was what side of the Canal should we eat on?  It didn't really matter as after reading two different menus of restaurants side by side, we ended up at Ristorante Omnibus.  We ordered a 1/2 liter of the house Vino (7  Euro),  E. ordered Lasagna (9 Euro) and I ordered a Pizza with Speck and Rocket greens (9 Euro) which to the US dollar was about $36.00 in total.  Both our entrees were terrific!  We sat and relaxed after the long day of travel, finding our hotel, our beginning sightseeing and what or where to go the next day.  

I love that in Europe that you are never hurried out of a restaurant.  You can linger all you wish.  When you are ready to leave you ask for the bill and even the process of paying is not in a hurry. 

Finding our way back to the hotel was no problem as we just followed any sign that said "San Marco".  We got back to our room after 10:00 and got ready for bed.  I opened the windows and the street noise below didn't seem too loud and decided to leave the windows open to the fresh air.  I felt with all the carrying of my bag up and down over the bridges and up the many stairs to our room that a Tylenol PM was in order.  This way I would also get a sound sleep in a new setting and be able to wake up fresh and well rested for our big day of touring.  Or so I thought.


I heard this Bong, bong, bong and woke with a start.  What was that?  I flopped back down on my pillow and fell to sleep.  The next time the sound seemed louder and I fully awoke.  Bells?  Oh good Lord bells!  Of course we were quite close to the bell on top of Torre dell'Orologio and that was what was ringing.  The midnight toll is what woke me this time.  I got up and sadly closed the windows.  It was quiet outside once the bell had done it's bonging.  Nonetheless I did want to sleep the rest of the night.  With the windows closed not a sound outside could be heard.


Morning came and I rose first, took my shower and then E. did the same.  We walked out into the mostly emptied calle and looked for our breakfast.  We looked in shop windows where an employee would be tiding up the store for the day ahead.  


We found a panifici in a quiet spot near a narrow canal with outside tables to sit at.  We ordered our first Venician cappuccino (E. at first wasn't going to get one but she did and that began her morning start of a cappuccino everyday), and picked out our breakfast treat that was so often referred to as brioche (it was not the brioche I was familiar with).  

E.'s photo ~ first morning in Venice ~ Breakfast

The foot traffic began to pick up.  It seemed like everyone was talking on a cell phone and it was really cute to hear Italian and no English.  Several dogs and their owners walked by, most common seemed to be French Bulldogs.  I wondered where in the world they would take them to go to the bathroom.  I hadn't seen any doggie poop anywhere.  


Out of that narrow canal a small skiff of a boat drew up and then two men with a cart came up to the boat and quickly unloaded supplies off the boat to the cart.  Strong, good looking Italian men, fit, not pudgy sloppy Americans.  Oh I know I am not in the USA!    The cart and men were gone within minutes.  


Our day begins and off we go.  First destination is to St. Mark's Basilica.  We wait in a line that moves along where we can look around at how beautiful this Piazza is.  It is not flooded with tourist and the weather is perfect.  Brilliant blue skies with not a cloud to be seen.

Doge's Palace ~ Porta della Carta

I look to the right of our line and see this gorgeous entry that is called the Porta della Carta.  It stands between the Basilica and the Doge's Palace.  This was the ceremonial entrance where permits were checked for entry into the Palace courtyard.  There is the winged lion that stands so majestically in front of the Doge Francisco Foscari.   

Inside the Basilica your eyes are drawn up to the gilded walls and ceiling that are all mosaics.  Where some churches feel cold because of the vast marble, I felt warmth inside here.  Rounded arches covered with saints, angels and other religious figures were surrounding us.

We walk in a horseshoe shape around the inside and marvel at the beauty of the mosaic tiled floors of different designs.

I am transfixed by the flickering candles, of how I may not understand the lighting of a candle with a prayer, I can be moved by the thoughts that went with their lighting.

Buon Giorno!

I'm missing a morning in Venice, thinking of when E. and I would walk down the four flights of stairs inside our hotel the Ai Do Mori, in search of where to have a cappuccino and to pick out which delectable baked treasure we would eat that day.  Out the door away from the Piazza San Marco (which was just a left turn from our hotel down a short block) we would go, a quick right against the flow of most foot traffic.  We might go left and right multiple times, up one Calle and down another.  A small square might open up before us or a dead end to one of many small canals.  A gondola might glide by awaiting passengers or already inhabited with a couple on their romantic tour.  Silent except for the oar as it would break through the still, opal colored water.

E.'s photo ~ our hotel the Ai Do Mori

We didn't always pick the closest place, often trying to find one with seats to sit at.  Most of the Venetians would stand next to the bar to have their quick espresso or cappuccino, chatting away to the barista animatedly.  "Buon giorno!" and "Ciao" were all I could pick up.  Everyone seemed happy in the morning in Venice.  For that matter every establishment we went into we were greeted kindly.  

Photo by E

We would savor our breakfast treats, remarking on the flakiness or if one had a filling and what it was.  I would clean the cup with my tiny spoon to scrape the remains of milky froth left at the bottom.  A part of me really wanted to order just one more but the beginning of the day begged me to stand up and start the adventure of our day.


Venice had countless panifici or bakeries.  We saw meringues the size of your fist.  Some in the shape of seashells that were delicately dusted with cocoa.

Then there were the toasted tipped macaroons that looked shamlessly like nipples.

It was impossible to escape all the sweets that tried to lure us and lure us they did by our standing at the shop window examining every item.  Our mouths salivating while we resisted (why?) a purchase.  Why were they all so big?  The Venetians were not overweight but svelte and neatly attired.  They must not buy them but are bought by the turista.

All of this just one of many layers to fantastical Venice. Buon viaggio con me!