Thursday (Venice)…

“Squirrel!!” Yep. That’s how we woke up today. Our last day in Venice. Jeff was attacked by a squirrel in some odd, gelato-induced hallucination. Kinda set the pace for the day 🙂


We set out this morning for another walking day…hitting some sections of the city we like best or hadn’t spent much time in.


We haven’t visited the Ca’ Rezzonico since our first trip together to Venice in 2002 with Curt and Cheryl. After buying our ticket (7€), we ascending the grand staircase to be transported back into 18th century Venice. The enfilade on the piano nobile is quite impressive. The palazzo was redecorated back in the 1930’s when the museum was formed to highlight Venetian 18th century decorative arts. Intermixed within the grand rooms, small touches of contemporary art installations have been added. These give a touch of whimsy and unexpected surprise…an engineered mid-century wood desk, feather mobiles dangling from the ceiling, and giant red-orbed, glass light fixtures in the central hall. A large murano glass chandelier in translucent glass with flower motifs in bright primary colors fooled the eye as a modern piece until we read it was vintage circa 1750’s. It just goes to show that if you wait long enough, everything comes back into fashion. The upper floors showcased the large 18th century painting collection amassed at this museum. The second floor hung them in situ among the private family quarters of the once grand home. The third floor is setup as a modern museum setting. The only thing breaking up the walls were two panaramic windows offering stunning views out to the rooftops and canals below. After taking in our fill of art, we took advantage of a cozy terrace on the Grand Canal in front of the museum to enjoy a little refreshment…two double cappuccinos please!! A quick stop at the bookstore to add to our growing travel guide book collection. An even quicker stroll thru the back garden, and we moved on to walking the bustling midday streets of Venice.


We also spent some time today checking out some of the artisan shops we had scoped out over the past few days. Color printed paper. Iridescent painted porcelain. Evocative drawings of Venice. A whimsical doctor of the plague marionette. Objects that for us, reflect the deep artistic roots of this amazing city.


For dinner, we happened upon a restaurant–Rosa Rosa–that we had visited on our first few trips to Venice. We barely recognized the place…they had re-modeled and gone a bit up-scale. But we knew Rosa Rosa as a pizzeria, and they didn’t disappoint in that department. My pizza inferno with spicy salami and onions packed a nice punch. And Jeff’s pizza with ham, mushroom, and artichoke was quite amazing. We washed these down with a couple of refreshing beers.


As we were settling up our bill, we spotted a couple at the next table putting on high rubber waders. We chuckled, thinking that this seemed an odd precaution to a forecast for light showers. Haha we were quite mistaken.


The Acqua Alta is the term the Venetians use for the extreme high tides that occasionally flood the lower portions of the city. These typically occur in the winter, when strong storms in the Adriatic cause extreme tides. The classic black and white shots of this phenomenon are stereotypical of Venice.


We had never experienced Acqua Alta in any of our previous visits, and there was no indication that one was imminent. But an odd concurrence of high tide, full moon, and nearby storms caused a surge that caught is by surprise. (A city-wide siren earlier in the evening was apparently an Acqua Alta alert.)


As we left Rosa Rosa, we attempted to leave by the front door that we had entered by, but the door was blocked by ankle deep water up the entire street. So we were directed through the back door, which was dry.


With an unusual sense of urgency tinged with slight panic, we tried different routes to return to the apartment, but all led to flooded streets at some point.


So, we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants to our knees, and stepped in. The water was cool but not cold. It covered our ankles in most places. But then a few steps later, we were walking on dry stones, smooth from the millions of feet that had come before.


Once we had taken the plunge, the nervousness was gone, and we set out to explore this odd phenomenon. We passed people eating as the water rose up under their tables. Locals walked briskly by in proper waders, while cluess visitors (like us) either went barefoot or wrapped plastic bags around their legs.


But the mood was strangely routine. The true sight was when we reached San Marco, which is the lowest point in the city at 80cm altitude. (We learned later that the high water point that evening was around 110cm.) San Marco had become a shallow sea, lit up by hundreds of tiny lights from the surrounding buildings, and full of visitors enjoying themselves. A couple kayaked by. A woman pushed her baby stroller by, it’s wheels under water. A quartet played on like the Titanic was going down. Ironically, a light drizzle fell to wet our other ends.


By the time we headed back to the apartment, the tide had peaked and was withdrawing. The Dosoduro was free of flooding, but we saw wet patches where water had been just minutes ago.


What an unexpected way to cap off our trip to Venice. A new and wholly Venitien experience.


Ciao.