Though Padova is only about 30 minutes’ drive from Venice,
we spent most of the morning getting from there to here. Instead of taking the Autostrada, we drove a
route along what’s known as the Riviera di Brenta. The Brenta is the canal that links Padova to
Venice and, back in the day when wealthy Venetians felt they needed to escape
their city, they built enormous villas along the Brenta. Now, there are small towns and cities along
the canal, though some of the villas, in various states of repair, can be
seen. Some are open to the public, but
we passed on that experience.
We were eager to/fearful of turning in the car and finding
out how much our encounter with the wall in Riomaggiore was going to cost. Our imaginations had been in overdrive all
week, wondering what the bottom line would be and, unbeknownst to each other,
we’d each even wondered if we needed to think about how much it would cost to
buy the car! Let’s just say that the
news we got at the Hertz counter left us pleasantly surprised and in a bit
incredulous. Tom is still waiting for
another shoe to drop, but we’re feeling that we made out better than the car
did!
The Hertz office was across the street from the train
station in Mestre, so it was an easy transfer to Venice from there. We took a water bus from the Venice station
to Arsenale, just a few bridges from San Marco on the Grand Canal. Our hostess met us there and led us down a
couple of narrow calli to our very
comfortable apartment. We’re very close
to San Marco, ground zero for Venice tourists, but in a quiet spot in a real
neighborhood.
We had lunch and then set out to spend the afternoon walking
through this amazing city. We had no
destination, no set itinerary, so we just wandered through narrow “streets”,
over countless bridges, and through any number of squares, large and
miniscule. There is only one piazza in
this city, San Marco, any other piazza-like space is referred to as a
campo. We may have been off the beaten
track in other places on this trip, but not here. It seems as if the world has come to Venice
on this warm and sunny day; the city is bursting with tourists!
Once we were walked out, we found a market, bought some
supplies, and headed for our Venetian home.
After dinner, we walked along Grand Canal at San Zaccaria and Riva
Schiavone to San Marco to enjoy the much quieter evening scene and, of course
take some pictures. The piazza was
lovely on this mild night – uncrowded, with music from the Caffé Florian and the
Grand Caffé gently competing from their opposite sides of the square. If your mind conjures up an idyllic scene
when you think of a spring evening in Venice, that’s pretty much what it was
like.
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