Sunday, June 10, 2018: I have learned that Saturday’s in any town is not the day to go sightseeing. Locals all come into the city as well as the tourists. I was on my own for the day as it was going to be very hot and I wanted to be able to do my own thing.

I had woken late and had a leisurely breakfast before getting ready to leave. I wanted to take the vaporetto (water bus) through the canals as my legs were a bit tired and I figured it would be a cooler way to see things.

I got an all day ticket and after waiting for a while, got onto a boat. It was packed but I was at front of line after missing the first one that came through so found a seat by a window. There are multiple stops all along the canal but I just sat and looked at the buildings and people.

River trafficCrowded vaporetto

I did get off at the Rialto bridge since I had not seen it yet. It was full of people with cameras and others looking up at it with their cameras. I joined the latter group and then walked around. Being by the Rialto it was very busy with lots of tourist stores and restaurants. I quickly tired of that and hopped back on a boat. This time I was standing and felt like a sardine in a can. When I finally got back to my original stop I got off.

Rialto Bridge – It used to be the only one across the Grand CanalCool thing

I wandered around trying to find a place to have a little lunch. It was so hot that I didn’t want anything heavy like pasta, just a salad. I finally stopped at one with an outside area under umbrellas. I wasn’t too sure about it at first and almost left. The menu was pretty heavy but I finally found a couple of salads. It was all in Italian and I couldn’t decipher it, so just told the waiter I wanted a salad. He asked if I wanted the artichoke one so I said yes.

It was very nice, lightly dressed, with a few shrimp and shaved raw artichokes. It was very satisfying. It was joined by a glass of prosecco.

Artichoke saladFreshening up at the water faucet – notice the graffiti. It is everywhere and it doesn’t look like they attempt to remove it

There are water faucets around Venice that run water all day. I had seen people fill their water bottles at them but while eating lunch on this hot day, I also saw people wet their hands and rinse their arms, legs, and heads.

At one point, I could hear a group of men cheering and yelling around the corner. Pretty soon a group of around 10 came into view. All but one were wearing blue button up shirts. The outlier was in some sort of pink, furry outfit with a ball and chain on his ankle and a sign on the back of his ‘hat.’ I assumed it was a bachelor party of some sort, but they seemed to be having a good time and the waiters and other guest at the restaurant were all laughing.

The groom

I went back to the hotel and read through all of the cruise documents and did some other reading. I finally cooled off. It had been in the mid 80s but felt much warmer due to the humidity.

Random picture of a building

Ann and PK arrived back looking hot and sweaty too. They had been shopping all day, so they showed me their purchases, some Murano glass items and clothes. Ann had bought a pair of sandals the day before and they were already broken. The store was closed when they went by so she needed to go back. They wouldn’t refund but she got another pair.

Frankie had made reservations for the whole group, now numbering 11, for dinner at a restaurant on Giudecca, an island across from Venice. We made our way back to the vaporetto and boarded a boat. There were lots of cruise ships in port along with a couple of large private yachts.

View from the restaurant

There was also a cruise ship called The World. I thought it was one of the kind that you purchased an apartment and cruised the world. I just looked it up and it is the world’s largest residential cruise ship, so that was kind of cool to see.

We arrived at our stop and Don, Frankie, Celia, and Barb were sitting at the bar waiting for us. They had not gone back to the hotel after their day of travels.

The restaurant, Ai Cacciatore, was down the way a bit and we were seated on the sidewalk next to the water. When large boats went by and made wakes it washed up over our feet. Rather refreshing and since I was in flip flops, I didn’t care.

The view was great and we had a beautiful sunset so there was a lot of picture taking going on. I was able to use some of the things I learned in my iPhone photography class in Mexico.

Venice SunsetDon and Frankie

We had a good time and good food. The five of us on one end shared a couple of appetizers, a zucchini stuffed with amberjack and a burrata (a type of mozzarella but unlike any you would find in the states) with a tomato sauce on top of a sauce of some sort. The cheese was very soft, rich and good.

Basilica San Marco across the wayZucchini appetizer on purple potato puree

I ordered a pork shank with grilled vegetables and polenta. It was huge but I shared it out around the table. It was very well done and everyone loved it. The polenta was not that great and I love polenta.

Pork shank

We then shared a tiramisu and a affogato parfait that had amaretto and who knows what, but it was good!

We returned to the hotel and I went straight to bed as it was around midnight. We board ship on Sunday and cruise away. Not sure about wifi on the ship so not sure when next post might be.