Late last week we reserved tickets to go to the Olivetti Exhibit in Piazza San Marco. It is a wonderful 'period' piece of mid-century modern interior and product design orchestrated by Carlo Scarpa. We have mentioned him previously......quite the prodigious artist and architect who has had a meaningful impact on 20th century Italian design.
We may have had some rain last night, but once again the clouds were breaking as we had breakfast. By the time we headed out for the vaporetto, it was clear and sunny. I hate to say any more about the weather as we are pushing our luck a bit......14th day inVenice and we have had sun every day. There have been showers and a larger storm.......but always at night. The forecast suggests it may be getting cloudier, but we can't complain! The weather has been better than we ever could have hoped for......wonderful cool, sunny September days.
Back to the issue on planning. We had a reservation for the Exhibit at 11:30. We got to Piazza San Marco to find out that the 'acqua' was rising again. This situation was not quite as crazy as we saw in our first week, but it was requiring some of the raised walkways to be put out again. We maneuvered our way over to the northern side of Piazza San Marco only to find that the water there was even worse.......in fact we could not make it to the entrance to Olivetti without going through 6" deep water.......so plans needed to change!
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| still getting some acqua alta.......steps at San Giorgio |
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| our daily vaporetto |
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| want to wait in a line to go into the Doge's Palace? not a chance |
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| acqua alta in Piazza San Marco and the Piazetta |
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| Andrea's favorite doorway in the Biblioteca |
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| The water is a bit frightening.......but it won't get much worse than this and there is a playful atmosphere |
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| The Olivetti exhibit we were going to see is about 100' down this arcade |
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fun, but expensive........we did our obligatory visit decades ago!
The Grand Canal from San Marco to Accademia.....and Campo San Stefano
Now looking for a revised plan for the day, we decided to head 'up river' and explore inland in the area in the eastern side of Sestieri starting around Campo San Stefano. This is the area just back from the Grand Canal where we rented an apartment 10 years ago. We decided it would be fun to re-explore a bit.
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| As noted in an earlier blog, this is where we had previously rented and apartment for New Year's week |
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| The 'bridge' walkway leading to the apartment |
TIME FOR A COFFEE BREAK
AND NOW TIME FOR PRANZO!
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| Back to San Marco.......lots of people in bare feet enjoying the Cafe life at Quadri's |
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| Back to San Giorgio for a rest and a wonderful early evening sunset |
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Dinner at Il Ridotto.......the restaurant is at the back of this piazza.......totally amazing place.....Michelin 1-star
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| lemon mousse tartaletta with amberjack......then creamed bacala in a black quid ink crust |
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| sole with braised endive and bergomot spray |
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| Turbot with greens and citrus jam |
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| pumpkin risotto with balsamic glaze |
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| some kind of amazing creme brulee that I can't even attempt to describe |
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A similar indescribable chocolate concoction.......truly exceptional
AND THEN CAME THE STORM!
We came out of Il Ridotto to a steady rain. All the restaurants in the small piazza had closed and patrons had scurried inside. We emerged into the rain......which was actually not too heavy.......at the same time as another couple about our age who were speaking english. We all decided to wait under the awning of the restaurant for the rain to let up. It is probably worth noting here that Andrea suggested I grab the umbrella on the way out of the apartment, but Mr. Stubborn said the forecast was only 22% rain tonight. I think this is the price we pay for bragging about the 14 days with sun every day......although I will say the day was stunning and sunny. This wet stuff only happens at night!
Back to the other couple. It turns out they were from Kent. We struck up an interesting conversation (Mrs. Crowell in the lead) about common interests and travel, etc. Andrea mentioned how much we loved the gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent.......and guess what, they live about 5 miles away in the next town. Anyway, it was a really fun conversation for about 20 minutes......who would have imagined. As it seemed like the rain was letting up we headed in our separate paths. About 2 minutes later it started to rain more heavily. Rather than getting totally soaked, we decided to pop into the Danieli Hotel, right on the way to the vaporetto, for an after dinner drink. We had only been inside once, many years ago, and to our recollection, not much had changed. It is truly a grand, old world institution. Apparently, the Four Seasons resort chain has purchased the Danieli at Bill Gates specific direction and interest......he is a major shareholder!
Anyway, a lemoncello and a martini later, under the accompaniment of a great piano player in the Dandolo Bar, we emerged back out on to the Fondamenta.......just in time for even heavier rain and some rather prolific lightening and thunder. We got under the cover of the vaporetto stop.....but were not even sure the boats would run with lightening and thunder in the area. No need to worry, however, as we only waited about 5 minutes and the boat showed up. They seemed more confident than we did.......nothing like taking a ride across the lagoon in a heavy, 100% metal tank of a boat.
Arriving on Isola San Giorgio, we were confronted with no options other than to hike the 10 minute walk back to our apartment in the pouring rain. We basically accepted getting totally soaked to the skin, and actually had a little childish fun with it. Once back int he apartment, it was a symphony of hair dryers (we have two!) and coat hangers for the next 15 mintes. Quite an adventure of a day that was certainly not planned!
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| and then came the rain..... |
