October 1 - A Room with a View in Venezia

 Well, here we are back in Venice. Al and I haven’t been here in three years and guess what?  It hasn’t changed except that some buildings undergoing restorations no longer have scaffolds and nets around them and now others do.

Our flight here was great but the weatherman had some problems with his forecast. It was supposed to be sunny and around 70°; instead it’s overcast, breezy and actually a little chilly.  If this keeps up, the locals will be breaking out their fur coats.

We picked a new place to stay this trip.  We’re at the Bauer Il Palazzo, which is in a great location right on the Grand Canal and just steps away from Piazza San Marco.  I first stayed here with my parents when I was a little kid.  I remembered it as being grand and it still is.  Our room overlooks the hotel’s bar and restaurant terrace and a small side canal but we have a pretty good view of the Grand Canal too.

After unloading our stuff we headed out for a little walk.  We did what one has to do in Venice – wander.  It’s difficult to get truly lost but so much fun to meander down little streets away from the main tourist areas.  Along these alleyways we can get a glimpse of Venetian life with the laundry hanging out windows, flower boxes with blooms cascading down the sides, and doors punctuated with door-knockers, which are sometimes whimsical and sometimes terrifying.

Sorry it's not in the best focus, but you get the idea.

Eventually we did find our way to St. Mark’s Square and we decided to try something we’d never done before in our several trips here.  We decided to have a drink in Harry’s Bar.  This is a legendary watering hole made famous by patrons like Ernest Hemingway who had his own table in a corner.  The founder of Harry’s told a story of one day in 1935 when his waiters served lunch simultaneously to the kings of Spain, Greece and Yugoslavia and the queen of the Netherlands.  Over the decades authors, composers, movie stars and celebrities of all sorts have been regular customers.  What is incredible about that is that the place is plain and almost nondescript both inside and outside.  Oh, and the drinks are incredibly expensive and not especially good.  We found it interesting just to watch the steady stream of people coming in, some just looked around and left.  Two women in particular caught our attention.  They were dressed, how shall I say it tastefully, like two “working girls,” one in the tightest pants I have ever seen and the other in a micro-mini Grecian dress.  Al couldn’t help himself; he had to take a picture of them.  Our waiter told us that they were two regulars of the place.  They just added a little local color.

Anyway, after trying the Bellinis and soaking in the artistic atmosphere, we wandered our way back to our hotel.  Tonight we’re going to a restaurant we stumbled upon several trips ago.  It turns out the restaurant is close to the Bauer which is good because we’re still not fully on European time and we’re bushed again.  But tomorrow is another day.