Today called for light rain all day in Venice, but I was determined to get out and about. Pieter and I went out first in search of Zara, which was rumored (through Google) to be located not far from our ship’s dock. First of all, trying to use a map in Venice is just about insane enough – most streets are 2 blocks long and there are just as many river streets as regular streets, so we had quite an undertaking on our hands. After some careful navigating, we made it to the street address – to find NO Zara! They moved apparently and Google doesn’t know that yet. So, we ended up just walking around, umbrella-less, mind you, in a new district that I hadn’t seen yet. I mean, it wasn’t all that different from the rest of Venice, but it was the hotels district, so it was very touristy and had lots of interesting looking small hotels.
We found a great store – Tezenia – which had some great casual clothes and I picked up a nice tshirt and underwear for really cheap. Then we headed to eat lunch somewhere with indoor seating (not too common in Venice) because we were soaking wet! We had the worst service, but the best food so far, so it was all good for me! The caprese salad was amazing….the best mozzarella I’ve had by far and the artichoke pizza had the best crust and cheese I’ve had yet! Definitely worth the rain to get to eat there!
I had found one other café online that was supposed to be some sort of gay spot, so we went on another adventure to find Paradiso Perdute (Paradise Lost, which I thought was such a great name). We walked into this really great, almost country-style restaurant with old dark wood and a giant bar with all of the day’s specialties out on platters for viewing. There was a young and friendly relocated British woman who I’m pretty sure ran the place as well. She served us cappuccinos and this incredible strawberry tartlette…mmm…. It wasn’t really that gay, so the search continues…. There are tons walking around Venice and they’ve gotta go somewhere for some fellowship!
After we were overstuffed with amazing food, we braved the rainy weather once again to find that the streets were beginning to FLOOD! I guess that’s part of the risk of living in a city that has canals as streets. It doesn’t take very much either, as the water level is almost at sidewalk level to begin with. It was creeping up the steps that serve as docks and the entryways to people’s waterfront homes. I was curious, but also wanted to get out of there before there were any real issues! (I heard later that day that St. Mark’s Square was actually flooded, in parts, up to a foot! Glad I wasn’t there!)
On the way back to the ship, I really wanted to walk through the Jewish Ghetto, which was a neighborhood where Jews were confined to during WWII and eventually deported from Venice to the concentration camps. There are giant walls with a main gate, a memorial, synagogue and various other cultural and historical centers around the area. I’d like to go back when it’s not crappy outside to really check it out.
We got back after another rainy day in Venice, ready to tackle some Harry Potter movies in the marathon queue after a stop at the Crew DVD rental library, where we stocked up on Little Britain, Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Running with Scissors and Guys and Dolls. FUN!
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