My first Palladian villa... La Malcontenta... was considered the most beautiful house in the world in Oct 2001... Well.... It's very interesting and the architecture and frescos noteworthy... all of these famous villas were actually homes on farms, and the farmers quite wealthy in 1500ish... There was an exhibit of how the architecture used special radii and created vortices or something... Well, we have many more to see so I'll keep my opinions close to heart for now.
But I had more fun at the mall in Marghera! Which is why I go on these trips... to educate a fella...
Shouldn't it be Pull A Bear?!!! Something is lost in translation....
After the required siesta this afternoon, Venezia was calling and a boat ride to Guidecca island became a highlight of the day. Getting lost on a Venetian island is easy, fun, and how far can you go on an island... the worst that can happen is you miss your vaporetto (water bus) and have to eat delicious little cannolis while waiting for the next ride!
The pictures never do it justice... Breathtaking... Locals use the Ghetto gondolas to cross the canals, so of course we did that this evening during rush hour... There's no way to know if there is a rush hour with 100,000 tourists all winding their way through 6' wide streets... and all the locals who need to set up shops and stalls to sell the same thing... People from every part of the world here... The Brits and Americans are the loudest... Tight skinny jeans (not always an attractive look on every body!) with lots of cologne seem to be the norm for Mediterranean men, a bunch of graffiti proclaiming protection of Venice from the Mafia.... Yup, no skimping on words... Free Societies rule.
Below is the Bridge of Sighs, where people walked from court to execution... in old times...
Dinner was solid good Italian food at a local Trattoria near our flat in Marghera. Our hostess was a force to be reckoned with whose "little English" surpassed our barely passable Italian. When I waved my hand in submission during the menu presentation (I meant "bring me whatever the chef wants to cook tonight", she took her glasses off, got close, and said "tell me what you want." Like the ticket seller at the Piazza bus station who loudly told a man and his family "How can I help you if you don't know where you want to go!" Fresh pasta w olive oil, cheese, and garlic for me... A Pastacia for Mark which was full of mushrooms and healthy bacon and cream, and a dessert that seemed innocent... Freshly baked meringue with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. The meringue was carefully piped with divots, which when baked, created dozens of crunchy little morsels for texture. Molto Bene!
But things are looking up... More porcelain is appearing in more Toilets...
More tomorrow....
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