October 31, 2019
When we crossed the gangway and entered the Koningsdam, a couple of members of the entertainment department were welcoming guests on board. I looked at a man standing there, and said, “I know you.” And he replied, “I know you.” He is the cruise director, and we sailed with him back in April on the Veendam, and he’s been promoted to a larger, newer ship. And he made me feel good when he said, “I looked at the list of guest speakers and was very pleased when I saw that you would be with us again because we had such a good time on the Veendam.” He could have been just puffing me up, and it worked if he was. Mom said he was sincere.
Our ride from Rome was smooth – our driver was not competing in a 24 hour Lemans Road Race. And when we got to the ship, porters took our bags and had them in our room in good order. We sailed through check-in and even got an early on pass because my cruise buddy was walking with a stick (that’s what the outside person said, and we’ll take it anyway we can).
There were a couple of First World problems to be dealt with.
The first problem we noticed was that the lights did not come on. During the day, that’s not much of a problem, except there were no lights in the potty room, so that was interesting. When I enquired, I was told that they had some kind of a power recycling in the stern section of the ship (where we are) and it may not have reset. As the sun began to set and the lights still hadn’t come on, we checked again, and an electrician came down and replaced the master switch just inside the door, and as it says in a Good Book I’ve read, “And there was light.”
The second change that needed made was our key cards did not say “Service Staff” which meant the computers weren’t set up to give us our discounts and other spiffs. It took a little more to get that fixed than the lights, but eventually it was done and guest services gave us new cards. And would you believe – of course you would – the new keys would not unlock our door. So back up to guest services and new keys were made and now we can get in and out and shop all over the ship, gamble in the casino, and, well, we can get in and out.
And if you are reading this you will know that we got internet set up. Crew internet rate is $40 for the cruise, and guest internet starts at $14.95 a day. That’s one reason we had to have cards that said “Service Staff.”
We have anytime dining, which we like because we can eat early. Tonight we shared a table with two other couples, one Canada who got on today. And the other from Australia who has been on for 14 days already and are seasoned Koningsdamers.
My talks are at 2 o’clock each sea day afternoon, so we don’t have to get up at dawn’s crack any day except shore days. And only on one of those do we have an early excursion, so maybe there will be some sleeping in in Stateroom 1153.
Mom is tired tonight and begs your indulgence for not writing, but she will come to the keyboard tomorrow night. And so with the sun set, and bedtime approaching I will close for now. See yinz tomorrey.
TTFN
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
ROME FOR THE NIGHT
October 30, 2019
Take about a culture shock! After a week in Venice with the leisurely pace of the various water craft, and then to be hurtled like a projectile fired from a high powered weapon, I’ll take the water craft! Rome is not quite as bad as Moscow where a 2 lane road became a 3 lane road, and a 3 became a 4 and on and on. But this is aggressive driving at its best, or worst – your choice. Our driver was a half an hour late meeting us in front of McDonalds at the Rome Termini train station, and made up for it in slalom style driving. Oh my goodness! But here we are, safe and sound, alive and well.
The train ride was very smooth. Our water taxi got us to the station early, and a porter moved our luggage from the boat to inside the station – for a 20 euro fee, one that I was glad to pay. We stopped in front of a set of empty tracks with no train information on the overhead sign and asked a clean up crew where #8427 for Rome would come in. They checked an app on their phones, and said this one. How about that for a blind hog? One of the workers said the train would be 20 minutes late, but they must have made it up because it pulled up, we got on, and departed right on time.
Lisa at the Pisani Palace had booked our seats in first class, and we were in a single row facing each other. Interestingly, going part of the way to Rome I was riding backwards and Mom was facing forwards. We made that partway stop – the train only stopped four times from Venice to Rome – and then pulled out for Rome with me facing forwards and Mom facing backwards. I never noticed a turn around, but we got here all the same. A steward came through the car offering drinks and snacks. The snacks were salty or sweet. We chose salty and were given a kind of pretzel, good, but not really salty.
Both of us caught naps on our four hour journey, and enjoyed the scenery and read. A few minutes ago we had supper here in the hotel – real hamburgers (we had one in Venice that was a microwaved meat patty) and french fries and washed it all down with still water (which runs deep).
Now back in our room we turned the TV on and flipped channels, catching a couple of game shows, NCIS dubbed into Italian, the Dukes of Hazzard dubbed into Italian, and BBC World News which would have been better if it had been dubbed into Italian. Instead we learned that the democrats continue their attacks on Donald Trump, which started on inauguration day (or before) and continue to this time while they do nothing to run the country.
We will be picked up by a shuttle tomorrow and transported to Civitavecchia and the Koningsdam. We will have internet on board, but after we sail we will not be able to text. Until tomorrow night from somewhere in the Mediterranean then.
TTFN
Take about a culture shock! After a week in Venice with the leisurely pace of the various water craft, and then to be hurtled like a projectile fired from a high powered weapon, I’ll take the water craft! Rome is not quite as bad as Moscow where a 2 lane road became a 3 lane road, and a 3 became a 4 and on and on. But this is aggressive driving at its best, or worst – your choice. Our driver was a half an hour late meeting us in front of McDonalds at the Rome Termini train station, and made up for it in slalom style driving. Oh my goodness! But here we are, safe and sound, alive and well.
The train ride was very smooth. Our water taxi got us to the station early, and a porter moved our luggage from the boat to inside the station – for a 20 euro fee, one that I was glad to pay. We stopped in front of a set of empty tracks with no train information on the overhead sign and asked a clean up crew where #8427 for Rome would come in. They checked an app on their phones, and said this one. How about that for a blind hog? One of the workers said the train would be 20 minutes late, but they must have made it up because it pulled up, we got on, and departed right on time.
Lisa at the Pisani Palace had booked our seats in first class, and we were in a single row facing each other. Interestingly, going part of the way to Rome I was riding backwards and Mom was facing forwards. We made that partway stop – the train only stopped four times from Venice to Rome – and then pulled out for Rome with me facing forwards and Mom facing backwards. I never noticed a turn around, but we got here all the same. A steward came through the car offering drinks and snacks. The snacks were salty or sweet. We chose salty and were given a kind of pretzel, good, but not really salty.
Both of us caught naps on our four hour journey, and enjoyed the scenery and read. A few minutes ago we had supper here in the hotel – real hamburgers (we had one in Venice that was a microwaved meat patty) and french fries and washed it all down with still water (which runs deep).
Now back in our room we turned the TV on and flipped channels, catching a couple of game shows, NCIS dubbed into Italian, the Dukes of Hazzard dubbed into Italian, and BBC World News which would have been better if it had been dubbed into Italian. Instead we learned that the democrats continue their attacks on Donald Trump, which started on inauguration day (or before) and continue to this time while they do nothing to run the country.
We will be picked up by a shuttle tomorrow and transported to Civitavecchia and the Koningsdam. We will have internet on board, but after we sail we will not be able to text. Until tomorrow night from somewhere in the Mediterranean then.
TTFN
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
WHEN IT’S A RAINY NIGHT IN VENICE
October 29, 2019
It’s raining all over the world.
That may not be exactly the way the song goes, but it worked this time. It started raining sometime in the night here (and I heard from Evans and Augusta that it was raining there). We were glad we went for our gondola ride yesterday, because everywhere we went today – in the rain with umbrellas on loan from Pisani Palace – the gondolas were covered, and no small boats were out on the Grand Canal.
After talking to the folks at the front desk, we decided to go ahead with our plans to ride a vaparetto – the water buses – around the Grand Canal. It was 7.5 euros for one stop anywhere on the route, so we opted for a one day pass of 20 euros that allowed us to get on and off where ever we wanted. We stood up in the center of the vaparetto so we could look out easier as we traveled, and it was fun seeing the city from that perspective.
We got off Bus #2 when we saw a church immediately behind one of the stops and enjoyed that visit. Then we got on #41 and rode the rest of the way up the GC and out into the Lagoona, circling around the eastern side of the city and coming back into the GC on the southern end. It was a neat ride.
Bonnie said, I thought, “I want to buy a coat.” What she really said, she said, was, “I want to buy a coke.” Thinking she wanted a new outer garment, and it was chilly today, I said, “Let’s get off at San Marco and walk back because there are lots of shops to look in.” Oh well. It was a nice walk. The rain wasn’t coming down too hard and we had our umbrellas.
An interesting thing today that we had not seen earlier was their preparation for high water. Twice a year (I think it’s twice) they have a season called acqua alta when the water in the canal gets higher than normal – and it’s tidal, so in the morning’s the water is higher (I took pictures and a video to show it) – but acqua alta is different. Well, it wasn’t AA today, but because of the rain, many of the streets were literally underwater. But they have platforms prepared to put out as raised walkways. So you can keep your feet dry.
Never one to miss a good sale, the street vendors had today – in addition to their magnets, cards, license plates, bibs, postcards, and other touristy paraphernalia – ponchos and rain boots. Yes, rain boots. They had them in blue and orange. You slipped them over your shoes and they came up just to your knees. We did not purchase any, but saw lots of blue and orange legs today.
Well, there’s more to tell, but I will turn the keyboard over to my traveling companion.
TTFN
After getting up, washing, dressing and having breakfast we returned to our room and sat for a while. Then, we decided we just as well go out and try to ride up and around on the grand canal. As David said we initially were going off without umbrellas but had decided to return to our room and get ours but they offered us ones with hotel name on it that we could borrow. We graciously accepted.
When you went out the door to the passage to the street it was flooded. Over your shoes but they had a wooden walkway set up about 2 feet off the ground for you to walk on out to the higher walkway. Definitely a unique adaptation. So we made it to the street headed for the Academia bridge and bought our tickets for the boat ride. We validated the tickets and soon figured out which boat to get on. The first boat we got on was not very crowded and we stood on deck watching the buildings, the boats and the scenery as we rode. It was fun. After we passed under the Rialto bridge we saw the church and got off to explore it. It turned out that the stop we got off at was the train station where we will take our taxi ride to tomorrow.
There are about 7 or 8 steps outside the sation that will be interesting tomorrow to tote our luggage up. Venice is not a handicap friendly town. There are very few ramps to accommodate strollers or wheel chairs or canes. Thought there are many strollers that parents must carry up and over the many small bridges which cross the side canals. There were seats down on the inside of the boats for handicap but I preferred to stand outside on the deck.
There was one interesting thing about the church we went to see. In 1915 the church was bombed and the bomb fell through the roof . It destroyed the greatest fresco painting by Giambattista Tiepoto . It could not be reproduced or replaced. Sadness.
After the church we returned to the boats. After a having a little bit of trouble we figured which one to get on and continue our ride. Un like the first boat this one was extremely crowded. We rode on up and out into the Lagoon and got to see the place where cruise ships dock, the Venice cruise port. Neither very large or impressive. We had our first glimpse on cars in Venice. There was a large parking lot on the lagoon. There are not vehicles in Venice. UPS or FEDX would use a hand truck to deliver packages pushing them through the narrow streets and up and down the many small bridges.
We finally got off at actually Zaccara stop and started our trek back. Some of the St Marco square was flooded and they had some raised wooden walkways. But we managed to stay on dry ground by the shops. It is fun trying to walk through very narrow streets with umbrellas. We decided to stop at a small deli type store which had a few inside tables for a bite of lunch. Very small but there were two seats left. We had eaten there before and even though they charge extra if you sit down it is good food. I had a calzone with mazazello cheese and proscuitto but I couldn’t find any proscuitto. Oh well the cheese was good. Also, they had a one man toilet for customers only. Very primitive, no toilet seat. We walked on back. And of course got gelato before getting to the room.
David has reserved a taxi for 10:30 to take us to the train station and our ride to Rome. They will kindly carry our suitcases down to the door and onto the taxi. After that it will be all us. I have taken my shower and washed my hair. I have my suitcase ready. I just have to finish the carry on before we go to breakfast.
Well, whoever is in the room above us has finally stopped stomping and racing in the room so we will be in bed shortly. Love you. See you in Rome.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
It’s raining all over the world.
That may not be exactly the way the song goes, but it worked this time. It started raining sometime in the night here (and I heard from Evans and Augusta that it was raining there). We were glad we went for our gondola ride yesterday, because everywhere we went today – in the rain with umbrellas on loan from Pisani Palace – the gondolas were covered, and no small boats were out on the Grand Canal.
After talking to the folks at the front desk, we decided to go ahead with our plans to ride a vaparetto – the water buses – around the Grand Canal. It was 7.5 euros for one stop anywhere on the route, so we opted for a one day pass of 20 euros that allowed us to get on and off where ever we wanted. We stood up in the center of the vaparetto so we could look out easier as we traveled, and it was fun seeing the city from that perspective.
We got off Bus #2 when we saw a church immediately behind one of the stops and enjoyed that visit. Then we got on #41 and rode the rest of the way up the GC and out into the Lagoona, circling around the eastern side of the city and coming back into the GC on the southern end. It was a neat ride.
Bonnie said, I thought, “I want to buy a coat.” What she really said, she said, was, “I want to buy a coke.” Thinking she wanted a new outer garment, and it was chilly today, I said, “Let’s get off at San Marco and walk back because there are lots of shops to look in.” Oh well. It was a nice walk. The rain wasn’t coming down too hard and we had our umbrellas.
An interesting thing today that we had not seen earlier was their preparation for high water. Twice a year (I think it’s twice) they have a season called acqua alta when the water in the canal gets higher than normal – and it’s tidal, so in the morning’s the water is higher (I took pictures and a video to show it) – but acqua alta is different. Well, it wasn’t AA today, but because of the rain, many of the streets were literally underwater. But they have platforms prepared to put out as raised walkways. So you can keep your feet dry.
Never one to miss a good sale, the street vendors had today – in addition to their magnets, cards, license plates, bibs, postcards, and other touristy paraphernalia – ponchos and rain boots. Yes, rain boots. They had them in blue and orange. You slipped them over your shoes and they came up just to your knees. We did not purchase any, but saw lots of blue and orange legs today.
Well, there’s more to tell, but I will turn the keyboard over to my traveling companion.
TTFN
After getting up, washing, dressing and having breakfast we returned to our room and sat for a while. Then, we decided we just as well go out and try to ride up and around on the grand canal. As David said we initially were going off without umbrellas but had decided to return to our room and get ours but they offered us ones with hotel name on it that we could borrow. We graciously accepted.
When you went out the door to the passage to the street it was flooded. Over your shoes but they had a wooden walkway set up about 2 feet off the ground for you to walk on out to the higher walkway. Definitely a unique adaptation. So we made it to the street headed for the Academia bridge and bought our tickets for the boat ride. We validated the tickets and soon figured out which boat to get on. The first boat we got on was not very crowded and we stood on deck watching the buildings, the boats and the scenery as we rode. It was fun. After we passed under the Rialto bridge we saw the church and got off to explore it. It turned out that the stop we got off at was the train station where we will take our taxi ride to tomorrow.
There are about 7 or 8 steps outside the sation that will be interesting tomorrow to tote our luggage up. Venice is not a handicap friendly town. There are very few ramps to accommodate strollers or wheel chairs or canes. Thought there are many strollers that parents must carry up and over the many small bridges which cross the side canals. There were seats down on the inside of the boats for handicap but I preferred to stand outside on the deck.
There was one interesting thing about the church we went to see. In 1915 the church was bombed and the bomb fell through the roof . It destroyed the greatest fresco painting by Giambattista Tiepoto . It could not be reproduced or replaced. Sadness.
After the church we returned to the boats. After a having a little bit of trouble we figured which one to get on and continue our ride. Un like the first boat this one was extremely crowded. We rode on up and out into the Lagoon and got to see the place where cruise ships dock, the Venice cruise port. Neither very large or impressive. We had our first glimpse on cars in Venice. There was a large parking lot on the lagoon. There are not vehicles in Venice. UPS or FEDX would use a hand truck to deliver packages pushing them through the narrow streets and up and down the many small bridges.
We finally got off at actually Zaccara stop and started our trek back. Some of the St Marco square was flooded and they had some raised wooden walkways. But we managed to stay on dry ground by the shops. It is fun trying to walk through very narrow streets with umbrellas. We decided to stop at a small deli type store which had a few inside tables for a bite of lunch. Very small but there were two seats left. We had eaten there before and even though they charge extra if you sit down it is good food. I had a calzone with mazazello cheese and proscuitto but I couldn’t find any proscuitto. Oh well the cheese was good. Also, they had a one man toilet for customers only. Very primitive, no toilet seat. We walked on back. And of course got gelato before getting to the room.
David has reserved a taxi for 10:30 to take us to the train station and our ride to Rome. They will kindly carry our suitcases down to the door and onto the taxi. After that it will be all us. I have taken my shower and washed my hair. I have my suitcase ready. I just have to finish the carry on before we go to breakfast.
Well, whoever is in the room above us has finally stopped stomping and racing in the room so we will be in bed shortly. Love you. See you in Rome.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Monday, October 28, 2019
VENICE AND A CANE
October 28, 2019
Our blog begins this evening through the ten talented fingers of She Who Must Be Obeyed, and I will follow at the end.
Well, this will totally confuse you when you read his!! We got up at the correct time of 8, after over 9 hours of sleep. Went to breakfast and then started out but before we got hardly out of the door he went back and got me my sweater because it was very overcast today and cool. Then, off to the gondola for a ride. It was for about 30 minutes but was quite enjoyable. No singing just riding.
After the ride we headed to San Marco to go around the church on the left side to find the church of Zachariah. We didn’t have to walk very far and soon found it but it was closed and not due to open till 3. As it was just 12 we decided we would walk back to San Marco square and head toward the Grand Canal. We were going to turn right at the canal because we had seen a bridge from there to the next church we wanted to visit. But when we got to where the bridge was the day we had ridden out to the Murano glass factory it was not there. Part of it had been moved out, it was some kind of metal extension bridge. Strange. So we turned around and while he looked at all of the art work put out by street artists I browsed the tourist kiosks that were opposite the art work. I bought a 4 euro Venice bag just because it had scenes of the canal and gondolas and places we had visited. Then we turned toward home, stopped for a slice of pizza and being tired went home for a rest. We also had a double cone of gelato.
After resting we got up and headed to the second church we had not gotten to this morning by going across the Academia bridge and down past the Guggenheim museum. This time we got there and enjoyed a nice quiet visit. The visit into the main church was free but they had a small museum area with great art work that cost 2 euros each for old folks. It had very nice artwork.
Then we started back to the Academia bridge and decided to head to the Rialto bridge again. After arriving there and taking some pictures we headed home and for a restaurant and table where we decided we would get our 3 euro per person service fee value by sitting a while after we finished our meal. We sat an hour and a half. It is a nice restaurant in the square near our room and there is always lots of people to watch and enjoy. Spaghetti for me and salad and pork cutlet with fries for him was enjoyed.
Now we are back and resting before heading for bed and our last day tomorrow. Our gondolier told us this morning that it is to rain tomorrow. So we will be sure to take our ponchos out with us.
Love you all Mom, Granny and Bonnie
“Woah, Macklin. Good party. Where whiskey?” asked Running Buffalo in one of my all-time favorites, McLintock! No whiskey, but it has been a very good party.
Listen. She can tell it her way. I’ll tell it mine. So there.
Today we headed out for the Church of Zachariah and found it easier than when we stumbled onto it yesterday. It wasn’t open yesterday, and it didn’t open today until 3 p.m. and we were there just before noon.
So we walked back to the Academia Bridge and went to the Church of Saint Mary the Healer. It is a large edifice that you can see from the balcony of our hotel. Inside, it is a church in the round, with four different altars pointing in four different directions. There was a service going on, and we stood and watched for a time. The priest would do a reading, a lay person – a woman – did a reading, and then the beautiful pipe organ would do a piece, and people would sing. I didn’t recognize a thing, but enjoyed standing quietly and worshiping.
On the way back to the Academia Bridge we browsed through an area we hadn’t visited before, one with many artists offering their creations. I bought a beautiful painting of a canal with a gondola sailing down it. Other than two small books, that was my souvenir for the trip.
Well, my back is being cranky, so I’m going to wrap this up and post it on its way. Tomorrow is our last day and we are going to take a vaporetto ride round-trip from near our hotel to the train station, just to see the sights from the water. We will have our last supper in Venice tomorrow at a restaurant where we’ve eaten twice – good food, and good service. Then relax before catching the 11:25 train to Rome.
See you on the blog tomorrow night.
TTFN
Our blog begins this evening through the ten talented fingers of She Who Must Be Obeyed, and I will follow at the end.
Well, this will totally confuse you when you read his!! We got up at the correct time of 8, after over 9 hours of sleep. Went to breakfast and then started out but before we got hardly out of the door he went back and got me my sweater because it was very overcast today and cool. Then, off to the gondola for a ride. It was for about 30 minutes but was quite enjoyable. No singing just riding.
After the ride we headed to San Marco to go around the church on the left side to find the church of Zachariah. We didn’t have to walk very far and soon found it but it was closed and not due to open till 3. As it was just 12 we decided we would walk back to San Marco square and head toward the Grand Canal. We were going to turn right at the canal because we had seen a bridge from there to the next church we wanted to visit. But when we got to where the bridge was the day we had ridden out to the Murano glass factory it was not there. Part of it had been moved out, it was some kind of metal extension bridge. Strange. So we turned around and while he looked at all of the art work put out by street artists I browsed the tourist kiosks that were opposite the art work. I bought a 4 euro Venice bag just because it had scenes of the canal and gondolas and places we had visited. Then we turned toward home, stopped for a slice of pizza and being tired went home for a rest. We also had a double cone of gelato.
After resting we got up and headed to the second church we had not gotten to this morning by going across the Academia bridge and down past the Guggenheim museum. This time we got there and enjoyed a nice quiet visit. The visit into the main church was free but they had a small museum area with great art work that cost 2 euros each for old folks. It had very nice artwork.
Then we started back to the Academia bridge and decided to head to the Rialto bridge again. After arriving there and taking some pictures we headed home and for a restaurant and table where we decided we would get our 3 euro per person service fee value by sitting a while after we finished our meal. We sat an hour and a half. It is a nice restaurant in the square near our room and there is always lots of people to watch and enjoy. Spaghetti for me and salad and pork cutlet with fries for him was enjoyed.
Now we are back and resting before heading for bed and our last day tomorrow. Our gondolier told us this morning that it is to rain tomorrow. So we will be sure to take our ponchos out with us.
Love you all Mom, Granny and Bonnie
“Woah, Macklin. Good party. Where whiskey?” asked Running Buffalo in one of my all-time favorites, McLintock! No whiskey, but it has been a very good party.
Listen. She can tell it her way. I’ll tell it mine. So there.
Today we headed out for the Church of Zachariah and found it easier than when we stumbled onto it yesterday. It wasn’t open yesterday, and it didn’t open today until 3 p.m. and we were there just before noon.
So we walked back to the Academia Bridge and went to the Church of Saint Mary the Healer. It is a large edifice that you can see from the balcony of our hotel. Inside, it is a church in the round, with four different altars pointing in four different directions. There was a service going on, and we stood and watched for a time. The priest would do a reading, a lay person – a woman – did a reading, and then the beautiful pipe organ would do a piece, and people would sing. I didn’t recognize a thing, but enjoyed standing quietly and worshiping.
On the way back to the Academia Bridge we browsed through an area we hadn’t visited before, one with many artists offering their creations. I bought a beautiful painting of a canal with a gondola sailing down it. Other than two small books, that was my souvenir for the trip.
Well, my back is being cranky, so I’m going to wrap this up and post it on its way. Tomorrow is our last day and we are going to take a vaporetto ride round-trip from near our hotel to the train station, just to see the sights from the water. We will have our last supper in Venice tomorrow at a restaurant where we’ve eaten twice – good food, and good service. Then relax before catching the 11:25 train to Rome.
See you on the blog tomorrow night.
TTFN
Sunday, October 27, 2019
THE END OF THE MARATHON
October 27, 2019
My beloved wife poked me – I had just looked at my phone and it said 7:04 – and said, “Are you getting up? It’s after 8 o’clock!”
After I assured her it wasn’t, she said her watch and her phone said it was. I looked at the traveling computer which also said 8. I had set the computer to Venice time when we arrived, and she never changes the time on her devices, so I’m not sure how she tells the time because sometimes she doesn’t add or subtract correctly. On the other hand (there are five more fingers) I set my phone to keep up with local time, which meant my calculation should have been correct.
Well, we went to breakfast and then stopped at the desk to enquire as to the time. Raffi told me it was the time I thought it was because Italy had “fallen back” last night, a week ahead of the United States. So, she got me up an hour early.
That put us in San Marco Piazza around 10 o’clock and when we walked into the square we saw barricades everywhere. After heading in the direction of our first quest for today we saw signs that said this was the route for the local marathon. Interestingly, we saw runners over the next six hours. No idea when they started, maybe it was a staggered start, but all throughout the rest of the morning and into the afternoon we saw racers pounding along the way, damaging their knees for a small medallion and a t-shirt. And the thrill of competition.
I bring all of this up because at 4 o’clock we were back in St. Mark’s Square qued up to ride the elevator to the top of the 325 foot high Campanile Tower for a 360 degree view of the city. We heard cheering from across the square and watched as a lone runner, accompanied by two members of the polizia, came chugging by. He was the last contestant, and was on his way to the finish line. No speed record would be set, but he would cross the finish line. Which reminded me of Ecclesiastes 9:11 – “The race is not given to the swift nor the strong but he who endures until the end.” Or as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart said in Galaxy Quest, “Never give up! Never surrender!”
Good advice!
And we took said advice as we looked for the Libreria Acqua Alta (Book Store of the High Water). One of the front desk folks gave us directions, and we headed out, ending up walking too far, but finding the Naval Military Museum – four interesting floors of ships, weapons, uniforms, and other regalia. We headed back to pick up the trail and wandered away from the lagoon into a part of the city we had yet to explore.
After a while I did what no self-respecting man should ever do. I asked for directions. A shop attendant told me it was right behind the church which was just down the street. Well, it wasn’t.
A second shop attendant said, “Go over the first bridge and keep straight. Then go over the second bridge and keep straight.” We did, and it wasn’t there.
So I asked a waiter at an outdoor café. He pointed to the corner and said, “Turn right there. In 80 meters it will be on your left.” And it was. After all that, the book store was disappointing, but we found it.
We passed a church we wanted to visit, but being that this is Sunday, the churches were not open to tourists, just worshipers. So we will head back tomorrow.
Okay. I’m through typing now.
TTFN
I am sure you just heard that awful sound, that was my body groaning in pain moving from the couch to the chair. We walked over 15,000 steps, 6 miles and 27 flights of stairs. Yes I am very achy tonight. And I have the hiccups for the second time today.
We were surrounded by even more people today as they had barricaded half of all the pathways up and down the street and over the bridges for the race. The walking areas were extremely crowded. Plus you had to deal with all the tour leaders and their followers. It was maddening. There are always lots of people on the very narrow streets but today was worse.
The Naval museum was very nice with lots of cannons, old ships, and models of old ships, uniforms, swords, and more. The elevator didn’t work, and I wouldn’t have used it anyway, and we walked from level 0 to 4. It was very interesting. We saw some of the clocks that were made to use on ships and help them tell the longitude when they travel. David has a talk about that.
The trip trying to find the bookstore was LOOOOONG. We went here there and yon.
Then it wasn’t really what he expected to see so that was sad. Tomorrow we are going to try and get to a church we can see the dome of that is across the grand canal and below the Guggenheim museum. We also want to take a gondola ride. They are pricey but you can’t come to Venice and not take a ride.
For lunch we shared a caprese pizza (tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil) it was very good. The crust on the pizza here is soooo good, you just eat it all without ranch! Then, for supper it was a hamburger and we shared a salad of tomatoes, lettuce and corn (strange but good) with oil and vinegar. There are no salad dressings in Venice, just oil and vinegar. And of course there was gelato. We bought a couple of souvenirs too. The top of the tower was very nice and it really didn’t take too long to get to the top, but as everywhere else it was crowded. But I got to look out all four sides.
Well, happy birthday Maggie!! Hope you enjoy your presents.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
My beloved wife poked me – I had just looked at my phone and it said 7:04 – and said, “Are you getting up? It’s after 8 o’clock!”
After I assured her it wasn’t, she said her watch and her phone said it was. I looked at the traveling computer which also said 8. I had set the computer to Venice time when we arrived, and she never changes the time on her devices, so I’m not sure how she tells the time because sometimes she doesn’t add or subtract correctly. On the other hand (there are five more fingers) I set my phone to keep up with local time, which meant my calculation should have been correct.
Well, we went to breakfast and then stopped at the desk to enquire as to the time. Raffi told me it was the time I thought it was because Italy had “fallen back” last night, a week ahead of the United States. So, she got me up an hour early.
That put us in San Marco Piazza around 10 o’clock and when we walked into the square we saw barricades everywhere. After heading in the direction of our first quest for today we saw signs that said this was the route for the local marathon. Interestingly, we saw runners over the next six hours. No idea when they started, maybe it was a staggered start, but all throughout the rest of the morning and into the afternoon we saw racers pounding along the way, damaging their knees for a small medallion and a t-shirt. And the thrill of competition.
I bring all of this up because at 4 o’clock we were back in St. Mark’s Square qued up to ride the elevator to the top of the 325 foot high Campanile Tower for a 360 degree view of the city. We heard cheering from across the square and watched as a lone runner, accompanied by two members of the polizia, came chugging by. He was the last contestant, and was on his way to the finish line. No speed record would be set, but he would cross the finish line. Which reminded me of Ecclesiastes 9:11 – “The race is not given to the swift nor the strong but he who endures until the end.” Or as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart said in Galaxy Quest, “Never give up! Never surrender!”
Good advice!
And we took said advice as we looked for the Libreria Acqua Alta (Book Store of the High Water). One of the front desk folks gave us directions, and we headed out, ending up walking too far, but finding the Naval Military Museum – four interesting floors of ships, weapons, uniforms, and other regalia. We headed back to pick up the trail and wandered away from the lagoon into a part of the city we had yet to explore.
After a while I did what no self-respecting man should ever do. I asked for directions. A shop attendant told me it was right behind the church which was just down the street. Well, it wasn’t.
A second shop attendant said, “Go over the first bridge and keep straight. Then go over the second bridge and keep straight.” We did, and it wasn’t there.
So I asked a waiter at an outdoor café. He pointed to the corner and said, “Turn right there. In 80 meters it will be on your left.” And it was. After all that, the book store was disappointing, but we found it.
We passed a church we wanted to visit, but being that this is Sunday, the churches were not open to tourists, just worshipers. So we will head back tomorrow.
Okay. I’m through typing now.
TTFN
I am sure you just heard that awful sound, that was my body groaning in pain moving from the couch to the chair. We walked over 15,000 steps, 6 miles and 27 flights of stairs. Yes I am very achy tonight. And I have the hiccups for the second time today.
We were surrounded by even more people today as they had barricaded half of all the pathways up and down the street and over the bridges for the race. The walking areas were extremely crowded. Plus you had to deal with all the tour leaders and their followers. It was maddening. There are always lots of people on the very narrow streets but today was worse.
The Naval museum was very nice with lots of cannons, old ships, and models of old ships, uniforms, swords, and more. The elevator didn’t work, and I wouldn’t have used it anyway, and we walked from level 0 to 4. It was very interesting. We saw some of the clocks that were made to use on ships and help them tell the longitude when they travel. David has a talk about that.
The trip trying to find the bookstore was LOOOOONG. We went here there and yon.
Then it wasn’t really what he expected to see so that was sad. Tomorrow we are going to try and get to a church we can see the dome of that is across the grand canal and below the Guggenheim museum. We also want to take a gondola ride. They are pricey but you can’t come to Venice and not take a ride.
For lunch we shared a caprese pizza (tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and basil) it was very good. The crust on the pizza here is soooo good, you just eat it all without ranch! Then, for supper it was a hamburger and we shared a salad of tomatoes, lettuce and corn (strange but good) with oil and vinegar. There are no salad dressings in Venice, just oil and vinegar. And of course there was gelato. We bought a couple of souvenirs too. The top of the tower was very nice and it really didn’t take too long to get to the top, but as everywhere else it was crowded. But I got to look out all four sides.
Well, happy birthday Maggie!! Hope you enjoy your presents.
Love you all, Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Saturday, October 26, 2019
EACH PIECE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE LAST
October 26, 2019
Yesterday our hosts here at Pisani Palace suggested a new activity to us. The island of Murano, just across the Lagoon, is the home of the Murano Glass Factory, producers of legendary Italian glass. As a courtesy to their guests, they called a complimentary water taxi for us to take us to the island (there are several islands off shore of Venice, each one with a different atmosphere and culture).
The lanes for boats are marked with pylons driven into the Lagoon bottom and topped with lights that are activated in the evening by photo cells. In an area where there are no motorized vehicles on land, everyone has a boat or travels by boat. Construction trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, you name it, come by boat. We saw one large vessel carrying two full-size cement mixers.
Anyway, back to Murano. The taxi pulled right up to the front door of the factory and disembarked us. We were greeted by a bald, well dressed man, who introduced himself as Nicoleto, and he took us into the factory and gave us a tour. He seated us in the front row, close to the master glass blower who made, first, a pitcher, and second, a horse. I took some video of the fascinating process. Then he took us into the show rooms – and there are probably 10 – and explained some of the pieces, always looking for an opportunity to close a sale. Because we are not Italian, we get an automatic 22% discount (the Italian tax) and an additional 10-15% depending on the piece.
Well, as I titled this blog, each piece was more beautiful than the last. And very frequently more expensive. We saw a beautiful glass globe with a list price of 30,000 Euros – somewhere in the neighborhood of $36,000 Yankee dollars – a very nice neighborhood indeed. They have modern art pieces, classical decanters and gobblet sets, platters, glasses, bowls, and on and on. In one section, an artist had reproduced Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in glass. There were Picasso’s and more.
Finally the gift shop, where we looked, and continued our non-purchase way. Thanking Nicoleto sincerely, we praised the work of the masters and his expertise. He thanked us for coming and offered us a free water taxi back to San Marco Piazzo. It was a great couple of hours and absolutely free.
We stopped for lunch and gelato along the way back and when we returned to our room, took a nap – the first of this trip. Then we were back out in the streets, found a nice restaurant where Mom had a Margaretta pizza and I had spaghetti alla carbonara. We wandered out towards the Rialto bridge, but changed directions for San Marco and home, stopping in Piazzo San Stefano for our evening gelato (yes, we had gelato twice today, but each time only one scoop).
Tomorrow being Sunday, most churches will not be open for tours, and we will find other amusements, perhaps doing a gondola ride. And maybe we will look for the House of Books.
It was a very good day.
Okey-dokey. It’s BonBon’s turn.
TTFN
First I will tell you we have a new chair which is not as creaky. I think we will not break this one. We got up at our usual time ( me having woken at my usual 3:30 and 5) at 8. We bathed and dressed and headed for breakfast. This morning I had an omelet with ham and cheese, toast and OJ. Then, we got a taxi and headed for the famous glass factory of Venice. It was about a 20 to 30 minute ride in a speed boat at times going very fast, but very enjoyable. We got to see some of Venice and the islands around it that we had not yet seen.
Now to the factory. The demonstration of the glass blowing was very nice and I really enjoyed that but from that point on I was very uncomfortable. Nothing in the showrooms, and there were more than 10, was priced under 4 figures. There was absolutely beautiful stuff. There were lots of things that you could set around and have to dust and there were useful items, lamps, lampshades, sconces, clocks, glass and pitcher sets, magnificent serving platters, bowls and more than I could ever tell. However, the gentleman was too close for my comfort. I would wander off from where he was talking to David but he would always come find me. You know how when you go into a store just to look and the clerk follows on your heels, well that is what it felt like. I enjoyed the visit but was glad when we headed back home. The return taxi dropped us in San Marco square so we knew how to get back home.
I did finally find a t shirt I liked in San Marco on our walk back to our room.
We both napped about 2 hours. I was awakened when I heard a stream of water running outside. In fact that is what woke me. When I looked out of the window down near the bottom of the building across the small canal beside our building was a stream of water gushing out from under a brick into the canal. He said he couldn’t see it but it was there. It stopped about 15 minutes after I first heard it.
Our trip out for supper and a little bit of shopping was fun. At dark the small streets are not quite as crowded except where there are small bars open to the narrow streets where the young like to gather. We wandered till we found our way to San Marco and then headed toward home. I found a small Christmas tree of Murano glass to go with the one I got from Malta. It has tiny decorations on it. Very nice. I still have one more thing I want to get but tomorrow is another day.
If you are planning on coming to Venice and stay a week you will need at least 100 euros a day just to eat and have gelato. If you set down at a café or restaurant there is a 3 euro charge per person for sitting down. Even at the little cafes if you sit inside at a table all the prices are 1 or 2 euros more if you sit at a table and don’t carry it away. When David rented our room he paid for breakfast for every day. So we are basically eating one meal, a snack and gelato each day. Which is more than enough. The servings are very generous.
Some of the large museums are quite expensive, too. The Doge Palace is 38 euros per person. There is a very tall tower in San Marco square , that we are probably going to go up, called Campanile that costs 17 euro to ride in an elevator to the top and you have 35 minutes to walk around.
Still have some churches and museums to visit. We visited 2 nice churches today. Very old but in most cases they are not well tended to. We are having a marvelous time and I really enjoy walking through the streets, even though they are quite crowded. Well, I had better say goodnight. Love you all. Hope you girls had a great time at the ladies retreat and are safely home. Hope Jack, Mac, Luke and Tate enjoyed the fishing. Hope Frank and Karen are enjoying the Smokies.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Yesterday our hosts here at Pisani Palace suggested a new activity to us. The island of Murano, just across the Lagoon, is the home of the Murano Glass Factory, producers of legendary Italian glass. As a courtesy to their guests, they called a complimentary water taxi for us to take us to the island (there are several islands off shore of Venice, each one with a different atmosphere and culture).
The lanes for boats are marked with pylons driven into the Lagoon bottom and topped with lights that are activated in the evening by photo cells. In an area where there are no motorized vehicles on land, everyone has a boat or travels by boat. Construction trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, you name it, come by boat. We saw one large vessel carrying two full-size cement mixers.
Anyway, back to Murano. The taxi pulled right up to the front door of the factory and disembarked us. We were greeted by a bald, well dressed man, who introduced himself as Nicoleto, and he took us into the factory and gave us a tour. He seated us in the front row, close to the master glass blower who made, first, a pitcher, and second, a horse. I took some video of the fascinating process. Then he took us into the show rooms – and there are probably 10 – and explained some of the pieces, always looking for an opportunity to close a sale. Because we are not Italian, we get an automatic 22% discount (the Italian tax) and an additional 10-15% depending on the piece.
Well, as I titled this blog, each piece was more beautiful than the last. And very frequently more expensive. We saw a beautiful glass globe with a list price of 30,000 Euros – somewhere in the neighborhood of $36,000 Yankee dollars – a very nice neighborhood indeed. They have modern art pieces, classical decanters and gobblet sets, platters, glasses, bowls, and on and on. In one section, an artist had reproduced Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” in glass. There were Picasso’s and more.
Finally the gift shop, where we looked, and continued our non-purchase way. Thanking Nicoleto sincerely, we praised the work of the masters and his expertise. He thanked us for coming and offered us a free water taxi back to San Marco Piazzo. It was a great couple of hours and absolutely free.
We stopped for lunch and gelato along the way back and when we returned to our room, took a nap – the first of this trip. Then we were back out in the streets, found a nice restaurant where Mom had a Margaretta pizza and I had spaghetti alla carbonara. We wandered out towards the Rialto bridge, but changed directions for San Marco and home, stopping in Piazzo San Stefano for our evening gelato (yes, we had gelato twice today, but each time only one scoop).
Tomorrow being Sunday, most churches will not be open for tours, and we will find other amusements, perhaps doing a gondola ride. And maybe we will look for the House of Books.
It was a very good day.
Okey-dokey. It’s BonBon’s turn.
TTFN
First I will tell you we have a new chair which is not as creaky. I think we will not break this one. We got up at our usual time ( me having woken at my usual 3:30 and 5) at 8. We bathed and dressed and headed for breakfast. This morning I had an omelet with ham and cheese, toast and OJ. Then, we got a taxi and headed for the famous glass factory of Venice. It was about a 20 to 30 minute ride in a speed boat at times going very fast, but very enjoyable. We got to see some of Venice and the islands around it that we had not yet seen.
Now to the factory. The demonstration of the glass blowing was very nice and I really enjoyed that but from that point on I was very uncomfortable. Nothing in the showrooms, and there were more than 10, was priced under 4 figures. There was absolutely beautiful stuff. There were lots of things that you could set around and have to dust and there were useful items, lamps, lampshades, sconces, clocks, glass and pitcher sets, magnificent serving platters, bowls and more than I could ever tell. However, the gentleman was too close for my comfort. I would wander off from where he was talking to David but he would always come find me. You know how when you go into a store just to look and the clerk follows on your heels, well that is what it felt like. I enjoyed the visit but was glad when we headed back home. The return taxi dropped us in San Marco square so we knew how to get back home.
I did finally find a t shirt I liked in San Marco on our walk back to our room.
We both napped about 2 hours. I was awakened when I heard a stream of water running outside. In fact that is what woke me. When I looked out of the window down near the bottom of the building across the small canal beside our building was a stream of water gushing out from under a brick into the canal. He said he couldn’t see it but it was there. It stopped about 15 minutes after I first heard it.
Our trip out for supper and a little bit of shopping was fun. At dark the small streets are not quite as crowded except where there are small bars open to the narrow streets where the young like to gather. We wandered till we found our way to San Marco and then headed toward home. I found a small Christmas tree of Murano glass to go with the one I got from Malta. It has tiny decorations on it. Very nice. I still have one more thing I want to get but tomorrow is another day.
If you are planning on coming to Venice and stay a week you will need at least 100 euros a day just to eat and have gelato. If you set down at a café or restaurant there is a 3 euro charge per person for sitting down. Even at the little cafes if you sit inside at a table all the prices are 1 or 2 euros more if you sit at a table and don’t carry it away. When David rented our room he paid for breakfast for every day. So we are basically eating one meal, a snack and gelato each day. Which is more than enough. The servings are very generous.
Some of the large museums are quite expensive, too. The Doge Palace is 38 euros per person. There is a very tall tower in San Marco square , that we are probably going to go up, called Campanile that costs 17 euro to ride in an elevator to the top and you have 35 minutes to walk around.
Still have some churches and museums to visit. We visited 2 nice churches today. Very old but in most cases they are not well tended to. We are having a marvelous time and I really enjoy walking through the streets, even though they are quite crowded. Well, I had better say goodnight. Love you all. Hope you girls had a great time at the ladies retreat and are safely home. Hope Jack, Mac, Luke and Tate enjoyed the fishing. Hope Frank and Karen are enjoying the Smokies.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Friday, October 25, 2019
IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES ...
October 25, 2019
It was the worst of times.
“Message, Spock?”
“None that I am aware of. Except Happy Birthday. Surely the best of times.”
Okay, that recap from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan should give you a clue into our day today. But as stinky as part of it was, as Michael says, “That’s a First World problem.”
After breakfast – a ham omelet for me, and a bowl of cereal with sliced banana for Bonnie, plus toast, juice and some other stuff – we walked across the Academia Bridge to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. There is a temporary exhibition on display featuring cubism and other strange works of art. Think Picasso after he went to the Dark Side and you get an idea of the pictures. It was neat looking around, but definitely not our cup of tea.
Here’s part of the description from Picasso’s “The Studio.” “Picasso has created an image which tempts us with our need to link images to things we know in nature without surrendering the artist’s liberty to paint what he wishes.”
And another from Piet Mondrian’s “Composition No. 1 with Grey and Red 1939: “Mondrian hoped to provide a visual equivalent for the truths that inhabit nature but are concealed in its random, flawed manifestations.”
In other words, these guys are going to paint what they want, a dab of color here, a squiggly line there, and people will pay a fortune for it. It works for them.
After we had broadened our cultural appreciation, we lunched on pizza (we’re in Italy – what else is there for lunch). Mom had pepperoni and I had, wait for it, a pizza with sliced hot dogs on it. Remember those good old days?
We popped into another display of art in a small church. This one by the Russian artist, Zorikto Dorzhiev. Looking at the works, I knew I did not know his region, but the Asian features on his subjects clued me in that he was from the eastern part of Russia where the Mongols and the Tartars once held sway. Beautiful pieces. I’ll show you some pictures when I figure out how to get them from the cell phone to the computer (and it looks like that will be in mid-November). There is a concert in that church on Sunday, “Back to Bach,” and we are thinking about taking it in.
Well, all of that was good, including the goofy pictures, but then we decided to go back to Piazza San Marco to go into the Basilica of San Marco. Big mistake. Really big. Huge.
It started off nice enough. Free entry. We rented audio guides and went in. Problem was, none of the things we were to look at and listen to had any direction as to where we were. After the fact, I complained to the woman who rented them, and she said, “Well, they were in another area that you had to pay to go into.” I asked why she didn’t mention that at first, and she answered with a shrug.
The worst part of the whole excursion into the Basilica was the total lack of organization. It was easy to see that this oldest church in Venice, dating back some 600 years, is absolutely fascinating. But parts are covered by plywood – repairs? – and others well hidden. Outside are rules pointing out this is a church, proper dress is required (we saw several people turned away for wearing shorts and/or tank tops) and silence is to be maintained, because this is a church. Well the building was full of tour guides talking to their customers and, oh well. First World problems.
We then went to another museum, and with the help of a kind lady were able to get free tickets (I bought tickets for museums, churches, and transportation before we left and I still haven’t been able to get the transport and the museums – she called her supervisor who said he would contact the company involved and get us a new PIN – if that doesn’t work what’s in my wallet will be contacted). That was a great museum.
We stopped for club sandwiches on the way back – piled high with ham, cheese, and tomatoes, washed down with cold water. Then it was back across the Academia Bridge for gelato, and now we are in for the night, having covered over 6 miles today. Tomorrow we are going to slow down.
And now hereeeeeeeeeeeees Bonnie!
TTFN
Hey there everybody!!
Well, today was long. It was 58 when we got up and I took my sweater with me. Mistake. I didn’t need it or wear it, just carried it. So tomorrow no sweater. I did take my water bottle carrier and got a bottle of water when we got our pizza so that made the day better. I enjoyed the walk over the academia bridge and the walk to find the Guggenheim museum was nice and we saw a church and another small museum on the way. The shops are really fun to look into. So far I have bought a pencil. I want a t shirt but haven’t found the one I want yet. The G museum was way too much like the Picasso museum. I am just not high brow enough to enjoy it. To many lines and odd shapes that look like nothing. There was one painting there I swear Tate had drawn. There was another that looked like a blackboard and someone had used chalk to make rows upon rows of loops across the board. Most pictures of women emphasize their bare upper torsos, totally misdrawn. The only recognizable things are their boobs. There was one statue of a man riding a horse that was really obscene. I will not show you that picture. After pizza and walking back across the bridge we came to our room and got rid of some stuff and decided to go back to St Mark square and church. The church is beautiful outside but they have the inside so roped off and areas covered so you can’t see unless you pay an extra fee for every room that you really can’t see or appreciate anything. They should just charge a flat fee and let you see it all. The second large museum that we saw was much better. We spent about 2 hours looking around. They had everything from art work, to huge globes from the 1600's, a whole room of all size cannons, a room full of coins, a huge room with floor to ceiling book cases filled with books, statues of all kinds, guns muskets and swords. There was just too much stuff to see it all or tell you. Everything was very well displayed. The only hard part was finding the way to “uscita”, that is exit. It was almost harder than getting into it.
We found a little sandwich shop and decided to have a ham, mozzarella, lettuce and tomato Panini. They were very good. Washed them down with a bottle of natural water, no bubbles. Then we found a store to buy a couple of 1.5 liter bottles of water for our room. Since we had not had any gelato yet we went in search of some. One store we had been to on the first day was closed, so we found a second one. By this time it was very dark and the streets were crowded by young people in the areas around small bars.
Well, tomorrow our hotel offers a free taxi ride to the Murano glass factory which is on an island. So we are going to take it to the factory and maybe buy something. Then, we will have a ferry ticket to take us to some of the other little islands and eventually back home. It is absolutely fantastic weather here and the strike today didn’t seem to slow anyone down. We are having a great time. Both of us are sleeping pretty good. We got our room assignment for the cruise ship today, so that is all set to go.
Well, a little more relaxing and it will be time for bed. Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
It was the worst of times.
“Message, Spock?”
“None that I am aware of. Except Happy Birthday. Surely the best of times.”
Okay, that recap from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan should give you a clue into our day today. But as stinky as part of it was, as Michael says, “That’s a First World problem.”
After breakfast – a ham omelet for me, and a bowl of cereal with sliced banana for Bonnie, plus toast, juice and some other stuff – we walked across the Academia Bridge to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. There is a temporary exhibition on display featuring cubism and other strange works of art. Think Picasso after he went to the Dark Side and you get an idea of the pictures. It was neat looking around, but definitely not our cup of tea.
Here’s part of the description from Picasso’s “The Studio.” “Picasso has created an image which tempts us with our need to link images to things we know in nature without surrendering the artist’s liberty to paint what he wishes.”
And another from Piet Mondrian’s “Composition No. 1 with Grey and Red 1939: “Mondrian hoped to provide a visual equivalent for the truths that inhabit nature but are concealed in its random, flawed manifestations.”
In other words, these guys are going to paint what they want, a dab of color here, a squiggly line there, and people will pay a fortune for it. It works for them.
After we had broadened our cultural appreciation, we lunched on pizza (we’re in Italy – what else is there for lunch). Mom had pepperoni and I had, wait for it, a pizza with sliced hot dogs on it. Remember those good old days?
We popped into another display of art in a small church. This one by the Russian artist, Zorikto Dorzhiev. Looking at the works, I knew I did not know his region, but the Asian features on his subjects clued me in that he was from the eastern part of Russia where the Mongols and the Tartars once held sway. Beautiful pieces. I’ll show you some pictures when I figure out how to get them from the cell phone to the computer (and it looks like that will be in mid-November). There is a concert in that church on Sunday, “Back to Bach,” and we are thinking about taking it in.
Well, all of that was good, including the goofy pictures, but then we decided to go back to Piazza San Marco to go into the Basilica of San Marco. Big mistake. Really big. Huge.
It started off nice enough. Free entry. We rented audio guides and went in. Problem was, none of the things we were to look at and listen to had any direction as to where we were. After the fact, I complained to the woman who rented them, and she said, “Well, they were in another area that you had to pay to go into.” I asked why she didn’t mention that at first, and she answered with a shrug.
The worst part of the whole excursion into the Basilica was the total lack of organization. It was easy to see that this oldest church in Venice, dating back some 600 years, is absolutely fascinating. But parts are covered by plywood – repairs? – and others well hidden. Outside are rules pointing out this is a church, proper dress is required (we saw several people turned away for wearing shorts and/or tank tops) and silence is to be maintained, because this is a church. Well the building was full of tour guides talking to their customers and, oh well. First World problems.
We then went to another museum, and with the help of a kind lady were able to get free tickets (I bought tickets for museums, churches, and transportation before we left and I still haven’t been able to get the transport and the museums – she called her supervisor who said he would contact the company involved and get us a new PIN – if that doesn’t work what’s in my wallet will be contacted). That was a great museum.
We stopped for club sandwiches on the way back – piled high with ham, cheese, and tomatoes, washed down with cold water. Then it was back across the Academia Bridge for gelato, and now we are in for the night, having covered over 6 miles today. Tomorrow we are going to slow down.
And now hereeeeeeeeeeeees Bonnie!
TTFN
Hey there everybody!!
Well, today was long. It was 58 when we got up and I took my sweater with me. Mistake. I didn’t need it or wear it, just carried it. So tomorrow no sweater. I did take my water bottle carrier and got a bottle of water when we got our pizza so that made the day better. I enjoyed the walk over the academia bridge and the walk to find the Guggenheim museum was nice and we saw a church and another small museum on the way. The shops are really fun to look into. So far I have bought a pencil. I want a t shirt but haven’t found the one I want yet. The G museum was way too much like the Picasso museum. I am just not high brow enough to enjoy it. To many lines and odd shapes that look like nothing. There was one painting there I swear Tate had drawn. There was another that looked like a blackboard and someone had used chalk to make rows upon rows of loops across the board. Most pictures of women emphasize their bare upper torsos, totally misdrawn. The only recognizable things are their boobs. There was one statue of a man riding a horse that was really obscene. I will not show you that picture. After pizza and walking back across the bridge we came to our room and got rid of some stuff and decided to go back to St Mark square and church. The church is beautiful outside but they have the inside so roped off and areas covered so you can’t see unless you pay an extra fee for every room that you really can’t see or appreciate anything. They should just charge a flat fee and let you see it all. The second large museum that we saw was much better. We spent about 2 hours looking around. They had everything from art work, to huge globes from the 1600's, a whole room of all size cannons, a room full of coins, a huge room with floor to ceiling book cases filled with books, statues of all kinds, guns muskets and swords. There was just too much stuff to see it all or tell you. Everything was very well displayed. The only hard part was finding the way to “uscita”, that is exit. It was almost harder than getting into it.
We found a little sandwich shop and decided to have a ham, mozzarella, lettuce and tomato Panini. They were very good. Washed them down with a bottle of natural water, no bubbles. Then we found a store to buy a couple of 1.5 liter bottles of water for our room. Since we had not had any gelato yet we went in search of some. One store we had been to on the first day was closed, so we found a second one. By this time it was very dark and the streets were crowded by young people in the areas around small bars.
Well, tomorrow our hotel offers a free taxi ride to the Murano glass factory which is on an island. So we are going to take it to the factory and maybe buy something. Then, we will have a ferry ticket to take us to some of the other little islands and eventually back home. It is absolutely fantastic weather here and the strike today didn’t seem to slow anyone down. We are having a great time. Both of us are sleeping pretty good. We got our room assignment for the cruise ship today, so that is all set to go.
Well, a little more relaxing and it will be time for bed. Love you all.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Thursday, October 24, 2019
THE RIALTO BRIDGE
October 24, 2019
It was 9:30 when we went to bed last night, and except for the usual nighttime journeys, we slept until the alarm went off at 8:00 this morning. I reckon we were tired.
The hotel serves breakfast from 8-10:30, so that gave us time to shower and prepare for our wanderings. It is a very good buffet with many selections, and the option to have fresh scrambled eggs or omelets. And they brewed me some decaf coffee. We just did the buffet this morning, but tomorrow we’re going to ask for some special creations.
There are four bridges that cross the Grand Canal and so far we have crossed two of them. The Academia Bridge yesterday and the Rialto Bridge today. The Academia is very close to the Pisani Palace (our lodgings) and we did that after checking in yesterday. Today we went to the Rialto, not arriving in time to visit the fresh outdoor market there. It is, I am told, a large fish market, which would not interest my traveling companion in the least, but it would have been fun to see.
We have a couple of maps, one I bought from our friends at Amazon.com and one that our friends here at the hotel gave us. But they are printed with very small letters, and difficult for an old orienteer to read. However, we came equipped with Elena 2, the GPS on my phone. I programmed in the Pisani Palace so we can get back from wherever we go, and I told her to take us to the Rialto. After stumbling around a bit, and making one unnecessary circle, I figured it out and we got there and back in good stead.
Along the way we stopped at the Church of St. Stephen, a second smaller chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael, and a Music Museum. Venice has collected an incredible selection of old musical instruments and they are on display in several places (we actually saw two music museums). There was a viola that dated before 1600 and a collection of clarinets which are over 300 years old, and much more besides – including some very antique keyboard instruments.
On the way back we chanced upon one of the sites that I had wanted to see, and what a beautiful stop it was. We spent several hours touring the Teatro La Fenice – the Phoenix Theater. It is one of the premier theaters in Venice, and for seven years was the home of Maria Callas, one of opera’s great divas. It has burned down at least twice, hence the name Phoenix – the mythical creature who rises from its own ashes. We toured many rooms and sat in the Royal Box. A great architectural treat.
Once again we had dinner on a square – this time in Campo Santo Stefano. A leisurely meal, the kind that I enjoy. And it was neat watching the people go by as we were sitting outside eating. A little boy of two or three was pushing himself through on a small scooter and another boy was just playing in the square. An American couple seated behind us were having a spirited discussion, and he kept telling her, “But you are denying the logic of what I am saying!” I quoted Dr. McCoy in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan – “Logic! Logic! You’re talking about universal Armageddon!” They didn’t hear me. I was surprised when Mom talked about the folly of speaking logically to a woman.
For some unknown reason, I cannot get the pictures off my phone to show you tonight. Yesterday all I did was email them to myself, and today the emails just que up. Oh well. Sorry.
Well, before I turn the keyboard over to her, I will tell all of you who enquired after my leg cramps that I went to a local drugstore and bought compression socks. One bout like last night is enough, thank you very much.
Well, TTFN
Well, before I tell you about today , I will tell you a humorous story from last night. When we had gotten back to the room, I was resting on the couch. I heard the sound of someone taking a bath in a bathtub with great sounds of splashing. Upon commenting to David he said it wasn’t a man taking a bath but the waves of the canal hitting the building outside beneath the window. I laughed because I really thought I was hearing someone bathe.
Now to stories about flying. The flights from Charlotte and Chicago were fine. I even managed to sleep on both. The one from Chicago began with a small infant crying loudly for over 40 minutes. He even started before the plane had moved. But he did finally get quiet and slept the rest of the 9 hour trip.
The boat ride from the airport was very interesting. It was a speed boat and he was traveling at a high rate of speed. Flying over the waves made by the many other ships coming toward us . It was an interesting ride. When we arrived at the hotel the boat pulled up to the edge of the canal and the hotel let out a ramp. The boatman pulled out a pair of steps and up we went and across the ramp. How interesting. They passed all the heavy luggage up and then I thought they might lift me up and over too.
It is a nice room. It is what was at one time a very large house. There are at least three floors, including a salon on top where they have a restaurant and we get our breakfast. There are over 10 rented rooms. Each room has a name and a key with a large tassel attached to it. So You hopefully won’t lose it. You turn your key into the desk anytime you go out. When you go out the second entrance to the house if you turn left you will walk into the canal so you turn right and wander through several turns and passages and you come out at a large building on the right that is the music conservatory. We can hear students practicing music all day. We have heard the piano, flute and others.
Contrary to my better halfs comments, I did not sleep straight through. I awoke at 3 and played on my kindle for an hour before returning to the bed and sleeping to 8. Breakfast was good. Too many options to tell but I had eggs, toast, yogurt, dried fruit granola mix and cheese. Orange juice to drink. I am going to ask for hot chocolate tomorrow. I don’t know whether they have it or not. They even have a juicer set up with fresh oranges and you can make yourself fresh squeezed oj. They also have a honeycomb set up and fresh honey draining out of it.
Yes we did wander around! But it was all enjoyable. We had over 14000 steps that is over 5 and a half miles. The temperature at 10:30 was 61. It didn’t get much warmer than that. He had on a couple of layers but I just had on my t shirt. I may take my sweater tomorrow. Most of the times the very narrow streets are crowded. There are very many small bridges to cross as you wander through the streets as there are many side canals. There no cars or vehicles of any type. Things are transported either on boats on the canal or on hand trucks pushed up and down the streets and bridges. We even saw an amazon package on one of the hand trucks. The Rialto bridge is just a bridge. It is big but not massive. Everywhere in the area around the bridge and going to the bridge are shops. You see anything you could imagine and stuff you would never imagine. Lots of clothes, shoes, pottery, glassware and more. One store has a window of powder for making all different colors of paints. I saw several stores where you could buy sealing wax and seal markers and many had quill like pens with old ink type tips. Lots of leather pocket book stores. Last night we saw Louis Vauton, Gucci, and many high end stores that I couldn’t even begin to look in. There are pizza stores by the slice, gelato and sweet rolls everywhere.
The theater today was amazing. We spent about 2 hours walking up and down steps looking at it and listening to a little recorder talk about it. It had burned down in 1836 and 1996 if I remember correctly. Each time it was rebuilt as much as they could to exactly the same way. There are still some parts that were not burned from the 1996 that were still left and used.
We actually saw two small churches that contained the musicals instruments. Some as old as 400 years. The wooden clarinets and oboes from the 1600 and 1700 hundreds were amazing. In the one church they had a workshop set up where you could see how they would have built the stringed instruments along with examples of the original tools and parts. One of the churches is still a church being used for a church.
Well, there is much more to tell. Tomorrow will be interesting because there is a one day strike of all gondola and boats. There will be no riding either. They are supposed to run an early route of the boats that carry people to and from work and then a late one at the end of the day. But there will be no rides for tourists. We want to go and see what the canal is going to be like. I shall report more on this tomorrow.
For now I will end my tale. Love you all. Girls be careful at the ladies retreat and have a fun time.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
It was 9:30 when we went to bed last night, and except for the usual nighttime journeys, we slept until the alarm went off at 8:00 this morning. I reckon we were tired.
The hotel serves breakfast from 8-10:30, so that gave us time to shower and prepare for our wanderings. It is a very good buffet with many selections, and the option to have fresh scrambled eggs or omelets. And they brewed me some decaf coffee. We just did the buffet this morning, but tomorrow we’re going to ask for some special creations.
There are four bridges that cross the Grand Canal and so far we have crossed two of them. The Academia Bridge yesterday and the Rialto Bridge today. The Academia is very close to the Pisani Palace (our lodgings) and we did that after checking in yesterday. Today we went to the Rialto, not arriving in time to visit the fresh outdoor market there. It is, I am told, a large fish market, which would not interest my traveling companion in the least, but it would have been fun to see.
We have a couple of maps, one I bought from our friends at Amazon.com and one that our friends here at the hotel gave us. But they are printed with very small letters, and difficult for an old orienteer to read. However, we came equipped with Elena 2, the GPS on my phone. I programmed in the Pisani Palace so we can get back from wherever we go, and I told her to take us to the Rialto. After stumbling around a bit, and making one unnecessary circle, I figured it out and we got there and back in good stead.
Along the way we stopped at the Church of St. Stephen, a second smaller chapel dedicated to the Archangel Michael, and a Music Museum. Venice has collected an incredible selection of old musical instruments and they are on display in several places (we actually saw two music museums). There was a viola that dated before 1600 and a collection of clarinets which are over 300 years old, and much more besides – including some very antique keyboard instruments.
On the way back we chanced upon one of the sites that I had wanted to see, and what a beautiful stop it was. We spent several hours touring the Teatro La Fenice – the Phoenix Theater. It is one of the premier theaters in Venice, and for seven years was the home of Maria Callas, one of opera’s great divas. It has burned down at least twice, hence the name Phoenix – the mythical creature who rises from its own ashes. We toured many rooms and sat in the Royal Box. A great architectural treat.
Once again we had dinner on a square – this time in Campo Santo Stefano. A leisurely meal, the kind that I enjoy. And it was neat watching the people go by as we were sitting outside eating. A little boy of two or three was pushing himself through on a small scooter and another boy was just playing in the square. An American couple seated behind us were having a spirited discussion, and he kept telling her, “But you are denying the logic of what I am saying!” I quoted Dr. McCoy in Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan – “Logic! Logic! You’re talking about universal Armageddon!” They didn’t hear me. I was surprised when Mom talked about the folly of speaking logically to a woman.
For some unknown reason, I cannot get the pictures off my phone to show you tonight. Yesterday all I did was email them to myself, and today the emails just que up. Oh well. Sorry.
Well, before I turn the keyboard over to her, I will tell all of you who enquired after my leg cramps that I went to a local drugstore and bought compression socks. One bout like last night is enough, thank you very much.
Well, TTFN
Well, before I tell you about today , I will tell you a humorous story from last night. When we had gotten back to the room, I was resting on the couch. I heard the sound of someone taking a bath in a bathtub with great sounds of splashing. Upon commenting to David he said it wasn’t a man taking a bath but the waves of the canal hitting the building outside beneath the window. I laughed because I really thought I was hearing someone bathe.
Now to stories about flying. The flights from Charlotte and Chicago were fine. I even managed to sleep on both. The one from Chicago began with a small infant crying loudly for over 40 minutes. He even started before the plane had moved. But he did finally get quiet and slept the rest of the 9 hour trip.
The boat ride from the airport was very interesting. It was a speed boat and he was traveling at a high rate of speed. Flying over the waves made by the many other ships coming toward us . It was an interesting ride. When we arrived at the hotel the boat pulled up to the edge of the canal and the hotel let out a ramp. The boatman pulled out a pair of steps and up we went and across the ramp. How interesting. They passed all the heavy luggage up and then I thought they might lift me up and over too.
It is a nice room. It is what was at one time a very large house. There are at least three floors, including a salon on top where they have a restaurant and we get our breakfast. There are over 10 rented rooms. Each room has a name and a key with a large tassel attached to it. So You hopefully won’t lose it. You turn your key into the desk anytime you go out. When you go out the second entrance to the house if you turn left you will walk into the canal so you turn right and wander through several turns and passages and you come out at a large building on the right that is the music conservatory. We can hear students practicing music all day. We have heard the piano, flute and others.
Contrary to my better halfs comments, I did not sleep straight through. I awoke at 3 and played on my kindle for an hour before returning to the bed and sleeping to 8. Breakfast was good. Too many options to tell but I had eggs, toast, yogurt, dried fruit granola mix and cheese. Orange juice to drink. I am going to ask for hot chocolate tomorrow. I don’t know whether they have it or not. They even have a juicer set up with fresh oranges and you can make yourself fresh squeezed oj. They also have a honeycomb set up and fresh honey draining out of it.
Yes we did wander around! But it was all enjoyable. We had over 14000 steps that is over 5 and a half miles. The temperature at 10:30 was 61. It didn’t get much warmer than that. He had on a couple of layers but I just had on my t shirt. I may take my sweater tomorrow. Most of the times the very narrow streets are crowded. There are very many small bridges to cross as you wander through the streets as there are many side canals. There no cars or vehicles of any type. Things are transported either on boats on the canal or on hand trucks pushed up and down the streets and bridges. We even saw an amazon package on one of the hand trucks. The Rialto bridge is just a bridge. It is big but not massive. Everywhere in the area around the bridge and going to the bridge are shops. You see anything you could imagine and stuff you would never imagine. Lots of clothes, shoes, pottery, glassware and more. One store has a window of powder for making all different colors of paints. I saw several stores where you could buy sealing wax and seal markers and many had quill like pens with old ink type tips. Lots of leather pocket book stores. Last night we saw Louis Vauton, Gucci, and many high end stores that I couldn’t even begin to look in. There are pizza stores by the slice, gelato and sweet rolls everywhere.
The theater today was amazing. We spent about 2 hours walking up and down steps looking at it and listening to a little recorder talk about it. It had burned down in 1836 and 1996 if I remember correctly. Each time it was rebuilt as much as they could to exactly the same way. There are still some parts that were not burned from the 1996 that were still left and used.
We actually saw two small churches that contained the musicals instruments. Some as old as 400 years. The wooden clarinets and oboes from the 1600 and 1700 hundreds were amazing. In the one church they had a workshop set up where you could see how they would have built the stringed instruments along with examples of the original tools and parts. One of the churches is still a church being used for a church.
Well, there is much more to tell. Tomorrow will be interesting because there is a one day strike of all gondola and boats. There will be no riding either. They are supposed to run an early route of the boats that carry people to and from work and then a late one at the end of the day. But there will be no rides for tourists. We want to go and see what the canal is going to be like. I shall report more on this tomorrow.
For now I will end my tale. Love you all. Girls be careful at the ladies retreat and have a fun time.
Mom, Granny and Bonnie
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
PISANI PALACE
October 23, 2019
If my calculations are correct, we’ve been on the go for 31 hours. If my calculations are not correct, we’ve been on the go for a long time.
Uber by Ivy picked us up around 9:15, did a slow drive through the airport parking lot, open the doors, threw our luggage out and we tucked and rolled and headed for check-in. Well, not really.
We flew American Airlines from Augusta to Charlotte to Chicago to Venice, met our drive to take us to the water taxi and thence to the Pisani Palace. We checked in and took a nap. Then Lisa on the front desk gave us Venice 101 and we set out. That was about 3 o’clock local (we are 6 hours ahead of you). Wandered. Ate at an outdoor café by the water. Had gelato. Bought one souvenir. Dropped said souvenir off at the hotel and set out for Piazza San Marco (St. Mark Square). Lisa said wait until after 5 and it was around 7.
You can see from the pictures the beautiful night time scene. There is a church there, the Doge’s palace and a museum. We will go back later to see them.
Heading back I got the mother of all leg cramps. No, it was the grandmother of all leg cramps. I could not walk. I could not stand. So I sat on the steps on the square and rubbed the injured body part. While I was suffering and Bonnie was rubbing, Sarah and John from Syracuse NY came over and said, “Can we help?” Great couple doing several cities in Italy. Good Samaritans.
They walked with us back to our hotel – we are about a mile from the Piazza – to be sure we made it back. Sarah said, “I’d want someone to help one of my parents if they were in need.” We invited them in to the restaurant here for a coffee or other evening beverage, but they had bought a bottle of wine and were going to sit on the roof of their hotel and enjoy the evening. They allowed as how if they weren’t leaving tomorrow afternoon they would like to hang out with us. As I said, great kids!
Well, we are dragging bottom. Mom has fallen asleep once while I’ve been typing, and my eyes are getting heavy.
TTFN
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