Venice

Friday, September 22, 2006

Another perfect day yesterday. Weather was lovely, sunny and warm all day.
We walked to Piazza San Marco and visited the cathedral. We then sat in the square and had an outrageously priced cappuccino after which we visited the Doges Palace and did the walk over the Bridge of Sighs.

Lunch was a slice of pizza eaten as walked looking for shoes for Una. She eventually settled on a pair of white Nike sneakers, which to this point appear to be making her walking more comfortable. We shall see how they stand up to Rome...stay tuned. After the shopping we decided to walk to the rail station. On the walk we stopped in to the Chiesa Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frati to admire the church. No sooner had we sat down than the bell rings and out marches the priest and we are having Mass. We managed to escape after the gospel and before the sermon and more importantly before the collectioni....

Apparently, notwithstanding 1st class rail passes, you have to reserve seats on the train for which you pay Venice to Rome 15 euros each. After lining up for an eternity we discovered that the 2 early trains are fully booked and we have to take the 1:30 train arriving in Rome at 7:00pm, for which no reservation is required!

So we walked back to our area of the canal and had supper, again sitting out on the patio, followed by Gelatos (ice creams) before heading back home.

This morning the B&B owner showed up to prepare breakfast. Apparently he and a partner rent 3 or 4 properties and operate them as B&B's. The owner of the property which we were originally booked in to broke his contract (lease) and he had to relocate guests. This place we are now in he has only rented for 4 months for 3,500 euros a month. The property is for sale at an asking price of 850,000 euros....that's $1.3 million Canadian! In any event, after some discussion I agreed that while this B&B does not have the amenities or the elegance of the property advertised on the internet, there can be no doubt that the location is superior and the view from the window is magnificent. Add that to the fact that we are the only people here...we actually have a whole apartment to ourselves...and I think we got a bargain at 120 euros a night.

Arrivederci from Venice....see you all in Roma!