A Busy Day Getting Organized

Slept for over 9 hours last night! One of our conerns was how we would find the 'state of sleeping' here! We actually have multiple beds (using 2 of the 4 pushed together), as the apartment is made up of two connecting studios. The matresses are firm and the pillows are better than we expected ....... all making for a good night's rest (that plus exhaustion!) We woke up and made coffee, then had a light breakfast. The room comes with coffee, rusks, jam, juice ....... and Andrea brought almond butter. It's a bit funny with the two connected units. There are two kitchenettes and two bathrooms. We decided that we would each take a bathroom and probably only use one kitchenette.One of the studio spaces we use as our sleeping 'room' and the other as more of a work space. 

The rooms are small, but have lots of Ikea shelving and storage. The furniture is relatively new, as the island had signifcant flooding in 2019 ...... and we can see faint traces in the plaster of a water line about a foot up the walls in our room. We think this is also the reason for new wood flooring! Overall, very comfortable ........ simple and straightforward. Nothing is allowed on the walls so there is a pristine, white quality to the space. Maybe the best feature is the air-conditioning, as it has been warm, sunny and a bit humid ...... mid-summer weather. 

T.his is our central charging and power center!

One of our first priorities was to go to one of the three central transportation centers to get a special pass for the vaporetto service, as it is critical to getting around Venice ....... particularly given our location on a separate, fairly small island. The boat service is quite frequent, as there is service coming in both directions every 12 minutes. We did a little exploring around the Foundation grounds and then grabbed a vaporeto heading to Piazzale Roma, wher the ACTV central office is. It took about 30 minutes, but we lucked out and there were almost no lines at the ticket counter. It took a bit of explaining, but Andrea worked things through with the agent who got us passes for the next three weeks.Needless to say, the boat transportation comes at a very high price. We were able to get tickets as 'regular users' rather than tourists. Normal tourist tickets could run $ 15 / day for each of us ....... $ 30 x 21 days works out to $ 630, and we were able to get them for less than half that price ...... still a bit of an 'ouch!'

With Venezia Activa cards in hand we headed out to explore and do some shopping. We took the vaporetto from Piazzale Roma down to Rialto, about a 15 minute ride down the Grand Canal. The boat was totally packed and more crowded than we expected. Fortunately, the City requires masks on all public transportation, so that helps a bit. 

The day was spectacular which brought the tourists out in throngs. The area around the Rialto Bridge was crazy ....... which is almost always the case. Everyone needs to go here! We really had no choice because we wanted to go to the open markets on the western side of the bridge ....... and the vaporetto stop is on the east of the Grand Canal. It was sort of fun, just not a place you want to linger. 

We arrived at the produce and fish markets with about 20 minutes to spare before they closed at noon. We found a great produce stand and bought vergetables, fruit and blackberries. We then found an alimentary (market) closeby and were able to find a range of staples such as water, oil, spaghetti, bread, paper goods and wine. We needed to be careful as we had limited carrying capability!

We decided to stop at one of the many informal dining places around the markets, fortunately finding one with a large outdoor seating area right on the Grand Canal. The Mercato area is nice because it is not fully penetrated by the tourist crowds.  

We had a great lunch ....... although Andrea's fresh salad was probably the right choice for the day. We shared an order of marinated sardines cooked with onions, and then I had an amazing tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms (which are fresh this time of year). It was fantastic, but I could have taken a nap on the spot, particularly with our aperol spritz accompaniment.  

After lunch we launched into our next destination, a walk through Piazza San Marco, then connecting to the vaporetto stop a little ways beyond. The negotiation of passageways from Rialto to San Marco has always been quite an experience ....... requiring the navigation of multiple turns and collision opportunities with a high density of people doing the same thing. Again, it is a fun experience, but not a casual walk through the City, particularly with two bags of groceries and a backpack (including a couple of bottles of wine!). When we finally made it to San Marco and rounded the last turn, what did we see but large 'puddles' of water throughout the plaza. The early onset of some minimal 'acqua alta' had required the city to bring out the bridges across the piazza.

We elected to maneuver through the area more cautiously! On the other side we worked our way through the souvenir stalls and finally got to the vaporetto stop. We were on the boat in less than five minutes, and five minutes later were back 'home' at Isola San Giorgio ......... what a trek! Exhausted, it was a great time for a mid-afternoon nap! 

Around 6:00, after another shower and a cup of tea in the room, we took some wine and snacks up to a small roof terrace not far from our room. We should also note here that although there was a conference here for 4 days before we arrived (meaning lots of attendees in the rooms - 40 we heard), the Residenza and grounds are wonderfully quiet. In fact, we are wondering if there are any more than 5 people here currently. We sat on the terrace in the silence augmented only by the sound of distant boats, birds in the gardens and the ringing of bells in the campanile. It has all been quite magical.  

After lounging on the terrace, we came back down to figure something out for dinner. The challenge  here is that the kitchenette has a sink and a refrigerator ....... and a microwave / grille. We had never heard of this device, but were given a link to some recipes from the 'master of the campus', Carlo. This was our first night of exploring new cooking techniques. We ended up with a very nice meal of fresh salad with lemon juice, olive oil, tomatoes and parmesan cheese ...... then whole wheat spaghetti with a sauce of tomatoes, onions and fresh rosemary from the hedges outside. It was quite amazing!