We were not sorry to leave Rome today. What we saw was very good but most places we went to, there were hundreds of people ahead of us. Of course, we were part of the problem; what took us there took thousands of others as well. We had a squishy metro trip to Rome Station but we had a comfortable and quiet trip of three and a half hours on the Frecciargenta Trenitalia express to Venice. It arrived 30 minutes late, but we have come to expect that.
Annalise is the manager of our B and B in Venice and she provided us with excellent instructions on how to find it. When you approach Venice Santa Lucia Station you feel that you are in Holland because you cross long bridges with water everywhere and when you come out of the busy station there is no road there, just a Grand Canal with ferries full of people going up and down. We had to wait in a queue to buy tickets (15 euros for two) to our ferry stop Santa Maria del Giglio. There were 14 stops before we got off. We walked from the wharf through a street which was 1.5metres wide with four storey houses either side (compare Echidna Gorge) to a large square. Then we crossed two narrow canals on tiny bridges to find our front door in a dark through passage.
Keys and instructions were waiting for us and the apartment is more spacious than usual. It is only on the third floor so it is not a garret this time. There is no lift but all to the good. There is a washing machine in the bathroom so Lyn caught up on our washing this afternoon. We left the apartment tastefully decorated with damp clothes and had a pleasant walk around the "block", leaning on the canal railings watching gondolas negotiate tight corners. We found another large square nearby and looked up to find the "other" leaning tower.
Our apartment appears to be almost directly in the line of lean, so we trust the engineers have control over the soggy footings it rests on. The Church (Chiesa) of San Maurizzio was open and had a free museum of orchestral instruments, mainly strings. We could see into a workshop where violins were being repaired and made. This church also has a Vivaldi Concert every night. He and his father were famous residents of Venice.
There would be a dozen places to eat within a hundred meters of our place so tonight we chose Mario's which is the closest and it was excellent.
Today was hot again so most of our clothes were almost dry by bed time.
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