DAY 4: The 'real' Venice, the effects of flooding and drinking like Hemingway

JM and his girls.

Quote of the day: "I got to sit next to some hot Brits." -- HM after she got off a long Vaporetto (water bus) ride next to some arriving students on holiday. And yes, she did her best to sneak a picture.

Our "street."

VM: Today we endeavored to get to know the “real” Venice. After a late start as everyone slept in (exactly what we were expecting today!), we trekked to buy Vaporetto tickets (the local water bus) only to find out they were striking today.  But luckily, the lady in the booth cheerily informed us “it’s only from 10am to 1pm!” So off on foot we headed again.

We had a lovely lunch with delicious bruschetta and gnocchi & made our way to the San Marco Square again to check out the Basilica of San Marco.  It is incredibly beautiful and ornate but our favorite part was climbing these incredibly STEEP stairs to the “loggia” where we had a breathtaking view of the plaza below. We also got an up-close view of the “cavallis” (the horses) who guard the

Who knew these weren't the real McCoy?!

Basilica. Dating back to the 1200s, these were believed to be war booty from Constantinople. As they were being damaged after so many years in the elements, they restored the horses, brought them inside to display in the museum and put some replicas in their place.  We wouldn’t have known the difference.

View from the Basilica's loggia.

Clowning around with a Venetian street performer.

Neo and Eno, two new doggie friends who had the friendliest
owner we met in all of Venice.

Afterwards, we met up with our private tour guide Rita Santori (http://www.alternativevenice.org). She was an incredible wealth of information and for two hours took us winding through the streets, alleyways and bridges of the “real” Venice, one far from the tourist spots. One point that struck us was the incredible number of churches. Rita taught us that before they had connecting pedestrian bridges, each Venetian Island used to be its own community and thus they each had their own church, which was at the center of all the community’s activities. 

One other fascinating point was the frequency in which Venice gets flooded – 200 days a year. Rita explained that it’s not typically catastrophic flooding like what we think of, but simply rising tidal water in city that is slowly but surely sinking. For this reason, the city keeps ready platforms at all major areas. In times of floods, the sanitation workers lay down the “boardwalks” for dry passage. We got a small taste of this when we returned to the Plaza San Marco to see it lit in the evening, the tide was up and the water was seeping through the drains.

Portable boardwalks are ready for excessive flooding.

Flooding is typical in front of the Basilica.

Another factoid we got from Rita was the origins of the name the Bridge of Sighs. This famous Venetian bridge connects the Doge's Palace with what was once was the prison.  As the prisoners had to come back and forth to face their judging, they had small windows looking out at the beautiful Grand Canal below.  Lord Byron imagined that they would "sigh" longingly as they viewed their final view of Venice before going to their cells. Hence the name -- Bridge of Sighs.

The Bridge of Sighs in the evening.

All in all, Rita imparted many interesting facts about Venice, its history and its architecture. While HM later informed me it was a tour “more for grown-ups,” the girls were later reciting facts they learned along the way.

Acqua Alta was a treat.

Climbing a wall made of books.

I believe the tour highlight was a stop at a quirky secondhand bookshop called Acqua Alta. Clearly, the owner has a GREAT sense of humor because his store and his books regularly gets flooded. Rather than fight it, he embraces it – he even built a staircase using old books at the back of the shop for kids to climb and gaze out at the canal. All his books are displayed in a large gondola or in bathtubs. The place is utterly fun and charming.  And best of all, it was all overseen by a lovely tomcat.

Much better spot to read than Starbuck's...

And much better company!

We parted from Rita at a yummy gelateria she recommended and finally got to make it on the Vaporetto. We made our way to the train station to figure out about transportation to Florence tomorrow (Tuesday). We learned that government run stuff here is no better than government run stuff at home. After having no luck with TrenItalia, we decided it was better to book the private “bullet” train that was only a 2-hour ride in a private compartment.  Yes, the McCartys will pay for convenience and peace.

Cantinone Storico was worth repeating.

Dessert entertainment.

We ended our Venetian dining journey back where we began – with a delicious dinner at the restaurant our landlady had recommended the first night – Cantinone Storico. Once again, the food was superb and the service was stellar. We even were treated to tableside flambéing when we ordered the Crema Catalana with Grand Marnier. All I can say was -- YUM!

The yummy end result.

The family indulged me for one last outing on the Vaporetto across the Grand Canal to Harry’s Bar. A favorite haunt of Ernest Hemingway, it was where the bellini was invented. It is peach puree with Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine). Knowing they would be similar to a weak Mimosa, we even let Hannah indulge in one. JM and I can now say we’ve drunk in two of Hemingway’s favorite watering holes – Harry’s in Venice and Sloppy Joe’s in Key West (not the current location, but the REAL Sloppy Joe’s which any Keys buff knows is called Captain Tony’s today.)

Just had to do it!

Totally touristy, but it had to be done.

She felt very "grown-up."

Tomorrow we’re off to Firenze!

HM:  Today the McCarty familia accomplished another 10,000+ steps and man, am I tired! Our day started later because jet lag had hit us all hard. So, after awaking and getting dressed we were finally out the door by 11am. 

Girls with Rita, our fabulous tour guide.

We enjoyed a quick bite to eat at a local pizzeria, where VM and I shared delicious plate of gnocchi!! After we walked around and toured Saint Mark's Cathedral we met up with a private tour guide at 2pm (or as I now prefer, 14:00 [it's so much cooler!]). The tour at 2 took us all around and through the more "inner city" area of Venice. In other words, were the pesky tourist weren't! (Now, you must understand I do not consider myself nor my family a pesky tourist. I consider us normal tourist.) 

After snaking through the labyrinth of streets, learning the names of certain streets, and viewing church after church after church. (What can I say, they were very holy people), we came to this AWESOME little book store that only sold second-hand books and cool old posters (which I purchased two of). What is really neat about this store is the owner created a set of stairs out of books up wall in the back courtyard. When you climb the wall of stairs you get a gorgeous arial view of a canal full of gondolas, or as JM likes pronouncing it gon-DOE-las (even the Venetians correct him.) 

Quick shoutout to Aba, after my familia had gone inside the book store I was left in the backyard examining the books-made-staircase alone with a cute Italian boy. As I walked back inside he called out to me, "Ciao Bella" which, not gonna lie, made my day! 

Finally we went to a special request from VM, Harry's Bar where JM enjoyed a Bellini (a cocktail invented by Harry's Bar) and VM sipped on an Aperol Spritz, a popular Italian cocktail made with mom's favorite - Prosecco, (no, not a mimosa). 

Venice has left a gorgeous impression and I hope to come back someday! All in all, today was pretty phenomenal and I can't wait to see what adventures we have ahead of us!

EM:  There's a ton of fat pigeons in Venice. Their gelato is amazing. I like seeing the doggies all around here.  I liked the gondola ride where the guy took us around and would sing.

We will miss Webby, who barked good morning and
good evening as we came and went!

We will miss beautiful Venice!