Venezia

Thunderstorm over Piazza San Marco

Rachel in Venezia

We've spent two wonderful days in Venezia, weathering an intense thunderstorm, throngs of tourists, and hours of walking around ""La Serenissima", the stunningly beautiful city of shimmering water.  Had we arrived one day earlier, we would have been here when a tornado struck the island of Sant' Elena, which is about a 15 minute walk from Piazza San Marco.  The tornado uprooted many trees on the island, as well as leveled an agricultural area on the neighboring island of San Pietro.  The locals here are saying they've never witnessed anything like it - sunny one moment, a tornado the next.  Good timing on our part!

Our first afternoon in Venezia was sunny and warm, but within just a few hours, an unexpected thunderstorm arrived, scattering the crowds of tourists.  We sought shelter inside our favorite jewelry store near the Rialto Bridge so, yes, it was a slightly expensive thunderstorm.  We had dinner in a not so great restaurant, where it took well over an hour to get our food, this with a total of about 10 people in the place!.  Rachel had cuddlefish with black squid ink sauce and polenta (a Venetian speciality), but it wasn't as good as the last time she was here. After weathering the storm, and the not so great dinner, we were treated to a beautiful rainbow over Giudecca Island on our boat ride back to the hotel.

The hotel (Molino Stucky Hilton) offers the most incredible buffet breakfast, so we started today off by having some decadent and delicious food.  There must have been at least 10 different cheeses and salume, smoked salmon, gorgeous bowls of fresh fruit, and mouth-watering pastries, although neither Rachel nor I could eat those :-(   I was really surprised to find a gluten free chocolate cake at the buffet, so of course I had to try it - yummy!

We walked through the Dorsoduro and Accademia districts, which are far less crowded that the touristy San Marco area.  Rachel was on the hunt for some Carnevale masks, and we also visited one of our favorite glassware shops where I couldn't resist buying a gorgeous vase for the new house.  We had dinner at a much better restaurant in Campo San Polo (named after Marco Polo who was from Venezia).  They had quite the gluten free menu (which was great for me), so I had some ricotta and erbette (herb) ravioli with brown butter and sage sauce; Rachel had orate alla griglia (grilled sea bream).  We headed back to the hotel early to watch the Italia vs. Croazia soccer game in the bar, where the wine and prosecco helped calm our nerves during the game (or at least that was my excuse).  The match ended 1-1, so now Italia is 0-0-2 in the European Championship.  Forza Azzurri, here's to winning next time.

Tonight, the sunset over Venezia was just gorgeous - the sunlight over the glittery water was something to behold.  We leave for Padova tomorrow, where we'll visit for two days before returning to Berzo on Sunday.  Although I never want to leave Venezia, it's not quite goodbye yet, as I know we'll come back next month with Lidia and Greg.

A presto Venezia!

Sunset over the Giudecca Canal

Rainbow over Giudecca Island