A Fun First Day In Venice

After a night-long flight on US Air, we arrived in Venice on Tuesday around 9:15 AM. We shared a water taxi from the airport to the Grand Canal, where we are staying at the Savoia e Jolanda Hotel. Despite the light rain, we walked around the wonderfully atmospheric and historic ‘calle’ or streets of Venice, falling in love again with this magical city that we hadn’t visited in 20-- 25 years. We are located close to St. Mark’s Square. Because there were long lines to the main interior of the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica of San Marco, we decided to do something else. We saw a great Manet exhibit on the second floor of the Doge’s Palace. The main rooms in the most important former government building, the Palace, are on a separate tour. But the Manet show was spectacular, with many famed masterpieces from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, such as the “Olympia” and the “Little Fifer.” After wandering through the streets of our neighborhood near the Riva degli Schiavoni, we rested a couple of hours at the hotel. Then we explored some restaurants mentioned by Jim’s friends on a St. Bart’s website. Three of them were closed—for summer holidays--but we managed to make a reservation at one which will reopen tomorrow. Tonight we lucked out and found a great restaurant called Trattoria al Scalinetto, not too far away from our hotel. The set menu of Venetian specialties included mussels, gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce, spaghetti in onion and anchovy sauce, and a spectacular squid in its ‘ink’ with polenta. We had a mellow Merlot, the house wine made in the Veneto, and finished the meal with small glasses of frozen limoncello. Jim’s photos include sunset on the Grand Canal looking toward the church of the Salute, and the interior of the restaurant. We look forward to more Venetian adventures tomorrow. –Dan