Hello!

I’m not going to lie to you. Today’s post isn’t going to be as exciting as the past few cities. It involves snow, rain, and lots of walking. Read on at your own peril.

Side note. Here’s the thing I have learned so far about having roommates from other countries. Everyone has different levels of noise they think is acceptable to make in the morning (nighttime is weirdly agreed upon). Alison and I are (in my humble opinion) overly cautious when making noise and try to be as considerate as we can. We pack the night before, lay out our clothes and generally prepare for the day ahead. Others? Not so much. I haven’t really noticed a pattern in age or citizenship so I can’t draw a formal conclusion for you. And I really only bring it up because Alison is sick of me complaining about it and I needed to vent. Ugh. People.

The train to Venice was pretty painless other than dealing with people who enter at the wrong end of the train and then have to squeeze past you with their luggage and fifteen family members to get to their seats. In a different car entirely. Again. People.

We arrived in Venice and the first thing we noticed was how cold it was. Brrr. So after layering up, with map in hand, we took off for our hotel. The rain itself wasn’t bad but combined with the gale force wind it was brutal. The canals were nothing like the picturesque calm with singing men in gondolas that is advertised. I knew it would be wet because of the season but even our hostess said she hadn’t seen weather like this in a long time. We had to detour a number of times due to flooding of sidewalks. Luckily we made it in one semi-drenched piece and were able to check in early.

Honestly? I had to force myself to go outside. It’s the first time on the trip I wished I was at home with my cat on my lap watching Netflix.

After lots of mental you-can-do-it-girl prompting, layers, on layers, on layers and with a general direction in mind, (and a brief stop for a poncho for Alison) we were ready for the Galleria dell’Accademia. What should have been a ten minute walk turned into an hour and a half of “this way.””no it’s flooded.” “This way?” “Nope that’s a dead end.” On the bright side we did get to see a LOT of the island, and the canals and buildings are pretty marvelous.

The Galleria was a nice change of pace with no statues. Anywhere. I like a good roman statue as much as the next, but wow can it be overwhelming. Al read about an actual syndrome called Hyperkulturemia also known Stendhal syndrome or Florence syndrome which occurs when you view too much art or natural beauty. So check that off my bucket list.

Here are some of my favorites:

We stopped in our first fine dining restaurant of the trip and splurged on gnocchi with cheese sauce for me and Calamari for Alison. I tried the calamari and I didn’t enjoy it but I didn’t hate it either. The texture is a little odd.

On our walk back to the hotel we were amazed at the amount of discarded umbrellas that had been broken due to the wind. We probably saw over thirty casualties. Venice: Where good umbrellas go to die.

Tomorrow’s forecast is sunny with 70% chance of rain. There is also high probability of flooding so Al and I may need to invest in some waders. I’ll keep you posted. We are headed to Saint Mark’s square and Basilica tomorrow. We will also be visiting the Doge’s Palace. (Heh. Doge.) Send us dry thoughts and I will talk to you tomorrow!