Grabbed a late breakfast after sleeping until 8:30, then we split up to discover things on our own. I headed back to San Stefano to see the antique shops:
The best thing was stumbling across some street musicians so I stayed and listened for a long time- they were really good.
Then on to La Fenice since I am reading the Berendt book about rebuilding it after the fire in 1996. They were having concerts there but 'modern music' and that can be scary so passed on it. I would have loved to see the interior- much fuss around Venice that it was rebuilt as it was 200 years ago rather than finding a newer vision for the city. Personally the awe inspiring thing is that they could build anything at all in such a tight space having to get all supplies in by small boats.
Spent the afternoon trying to find something that wasn't cheesy for gifts for Meg and Tonny for my Philadelphia trip. I was also looking for marbelized papers for me but everything turned me off but the scenery. Here's a window in one shop, and an old blind man feeling the head sculpture in the campo.
There are three things that swarm Venice: 1. Africans selling knock-off bags, 2. Pigeons, and 3. Japanese tourists. No matter which alley you turn down, there are more of at least two of these things.
Met Ralph back on the deck of the hotel and watched the sun set over the Grand Canal while shooing away pigeons. One table left and they all immediately flew to it, knocking glasses and little appetizer plates over in a frenzy. We went for a drink at Regina Europa because A&A told us the bar was excellent. It was, and the route to find it led us by Anarchy advertised on the walls in spray paint. This trip is going to turn me into a drinker.
We went to a simple place just down the street for dinner and the street singers were performing there too- Ralph really liked one guy from Germany who was a contra tenor and even bought his CD.
No comments :
Post a Comment