Here, air, and everywhere

July 04, 2018

Here, air, and everywhere

Day 31, Saturday, June 30.

The actual last day, except for travel. We plan to get up at 5:00 for some tourist-free photos, but get up at 7:00 instead. A shame. From there, it’s breakfast and a Google stroll to a point of land where the Grand Canal meets the Adriatic Sea. The water is green with a brown under-color and doesn’t smell. We’re still early enough to watch a city boat haul hand cart loads of trash aboard. Stuff departs the same way it comes in: by boat.

A warmer, more humid day, and we take shade where we can find it. The city has many small museums loaded with paintings from 200, 300 or 400 years ago. The Christian ones get tedious fairly soon, but there are also allegorical ones in which various sins (usually ones that can be represented by busty women) are illustrated in loving detail. Gotta say, sins look mighty appealing compared to the dried-out faces of the various saints. Just an observation. As Mark Twain once said, he’d rather go to heaven for the weather, but hell for the company.

And, a link to this final museum - great views, inside a mini Doge's Palace, paintings as described, and.....amazing restored frescos. See Ca Rezzonico

Back at the Moresco, we learn that there’s a grocery store ten minutes away in a direction we have ignored. Dang. As is often the case, we’re slowly beginning to think we know our way around the day before we depart. (Full disclosure: we do not know our way around Venice, but we’re gradually seeing some places over and over. This could turn into knowing one’s way. Eventually. Unlike Amsterdam and Ljubljana, Venice is a welter of changing names and directions, some of which refer to ancient building techniques (“condiment” means “foundation.” Of course, everything’s built on a foundation, so…? “Rio Tera” means that a canal has been filled in and paved over to create a “calle.” Okay, but where does it go? Anywhere.)

What to say about Venice? Well, by this time of year, it’s crowded. Many of the tourists seem to be Italians, notable for having a cell phone in one hand and a cigaret in the other. As always, coming from the U.S., the number and smell of smokers is dismaying. Tobacco may not make up for all the Native Americans killed by the European invasion, but it’s gotta be getting close.

Back to Venice. The general rule is that the more visitors there are in a certain area, the higher the prices will be and the worse the food will be. Big portions of St. Mark’s Square are covered with tables for restaurants serving food at double the price one would pay a few blocks away. The top item, based on signage, is pizza. Number two is gelato, available on every street corner and usually pretty good. High in butterfat, of course, but who came here to be sensible? (Not us.)

We are told that service workers such as waiters, don’t expect tips. If a tip is provided, it usually goes into a pot and is split among the entire crew, which defeats the purpose of rewarding exceptional service. One is encouraged to tip, if warranted, surreptitiously, like it’s a dirty little secret.

As elsewhere, servers in Italy run the gamut from attentive to oblivious. At the Moresco, all that we’ve dealt with have been very attentive and energetic. Of course, this is a small hotel with relatively few guests so staff aren’t stretched thin. “Little touches” seem the norm here, from sparkling wine as a welcome to a boxed breakfast for tomorrow’s departure. We don’t know what it’ll be, but we’re confident it will be nice.

Where would we go back to? The nature of touring is only to get a taste, so almost anywhere provides opportunities for more exploration. And, of course, most places are nice in late spring, but Amsterdam and Ljubljana were Dave’s faves. They tied for best croissants. Amsterdam had more (as yet unseen) places to see; Ljubljana had better ice cream. Who can weigh imponderables such as these? Still, there was a lot to see in Bulgaria, too, though trudging through another castle or church gets to be a drag…

Okay, if you wanna go somewhere, go. There’ll always be things to see and decent food to eat. If there is such a thing as springtime/before the hordes of visitors arrive, go then. Take one of those collapsible umbrellas, but a good hat works almost as well, and don’t sweat about how the weather is or might be. There’s weather everywhere. You can cope. Take walking shoes; not every place has the flat surfaces we’re accustomed to in the U.S. Take plenty of socks; they take forever to dry out.

And men, listen to and obey your spouses. It’s worth it.

And, our final few photos and albums from the trip: