Secret Passage

Imagine living on the lower east side in NY and working in the Times Square area which is midtown on the west side. You would have to take a bus or a train across town and then the subway all the way up to 42nd Street. But one day as you are leaving your apartment,  you decide to go right instead of left, which you've never done. And as you turn a few corners and go thru some dark passageways, suddenly you find yourself in Times Square! It was right there all along.
Well, that's what happened to Carmen and I last evening. We walked down the street in a different direction than we usually walked and as we passed thru this dark passage, over some small bridges, we found ourselves on the other side of the Rialto bridge on the way to St Mark's. On the Vaporrati it took us 3/4 hour; but just walking down our street we were less then 20 minutes away.
That's just one of the weird things about Venice, the twisting, turning in on itself. You get lost but you always find something, even if it's just the place you started from. We never found Carmen's nervetti (beef tendons) or  Casanova's balls, but tomorrow we have to move on to Bologna. Baloney not balls.

Spritz

I tricked Carmen into taking one of those frowned upon selfies. Here we are in a cafe near our apartment having a Venetian drink, a Spritz. I think it's an acceptable alternative to beer, wine or prosecco. Even the waiter said he drank it.
We didn't see near enough Tintoretto's but we did cruise slowly down the entire Grand Canal today and visited the Jewish quarter where, surprise, orthodox Jews still live. Tomorrow is our last day in Venice.

Horsemeat

I suppose I should hope that few people see this post. Today Carmen and I ate horsemeat. When in Venice, do as. .. Etc. Chewy and very red, with mushrooms.
I also finally was able to get Carmen into a museum, the Accademia: Titian, Veronese, and Bellini. Tons of fun.

Venice Food Tour

Cicchetti: that's the name of Venetian style small plates. I could say tapas but then I'd be mixing up countries. Today we went on a fabulous, fascinating, and fattening tour of the Rialto market in Venice, all through Walks of Italy
http://www.walksofitaly.com/
Mosè, our guide explained something of the history of Venice while we ate, and drank our way from place to place, tasting ham, cheese, salami....that was just the first stop. There were two more and a coffee shop.
A great day, followed by Carmen and I "accidentally" getting ahead of the very long line to get into the Basilica. The Basilica was ethereal,  or maybe it was all that wine we had drunk.

The Vaporetti

Today began our commute on the #1 line, making all local stops along the Grand Canal. Before that, Carmen and I were catching the traghetti, which is not related to spaghetti. It's a gondola that just takes you back and forth across the Canal, full of customers and rocking madly. The locals ride standing up but Carmen and I wisely sat on the sides of the boat.
The Vaporetti at end of day was like the L line in NY. but with much better views, as you can see.

Flooding in the Square

We arrived in Piazza San Marco today to this scene: tourist waiting in line to enter the church, standing on ramps because of some flooding in the Square. But by early afternoon the waters had spread to the point where Carmen and I had to rush to the very end of the Square to beat the ever rising waters. We found a sliver of dry pavement and made our escape. No cappuccinos in the Square today!

Our First Walk in Venice

The first thing we did was get lost, not hard to do when two oldsters are jet lagged. Watery streets and rich colors. Too tired to write or even think except to say that Venice, on our evening passiagiato was not crowded or so touristy at all. Actually sort of tranquil!