Unable to lose myself

Photos are here.

My second day was pretty much spent trying to get lost. I hopped to the other side of the Grand Canal and walked and walked without a point to my walking, and ended up at the Frari Church. A woodcarving by Donatello, an impressive painting by Titian, Titian himself (well, his ginormous tomb)... all of it in a VERY old church that had timbers spanning the arches. Pretty amazing.

I don't have photos of any of these churches because Italy is apparently pretty conscious about conserving their stuff, unlike other places.

I took the vaporetto out to the eastern end of the city, which is pretty much a huge garden park. Then a vaporetto back a different way with the intention of losing myself in the streets. Didn't happen. I can always get back to the canal. I guess it's hard not to, though.

I tried a place I'd seen the night before for dinner and it was a real let down. The night before, dinner had been leisurely and had taken probably an hour and a half. Each course came out in a rapid fire at this place. Bleh. Oh well.

I walked toward St. Mark's (again, because it's awesome), and in yet another attempt to get lost, I headed down a little alley and heard a man calling out behind me, "no, no... noo." It dead-ended and I turned around to see him half chuckling at the stupid tourist (didn't tell him what I was trying to do). As I walked by him, I said, "Basta Chianti..." meaning I "enough Chianti" as if I was drunk... and he chuckled and said something about that's what happens when you're in Venice, but I didn't turn around again.

Gondoliers singing and paddling (no, I didn't take a ride... the cheapest are about $120 for 40 minutes), candlelit restaurants at the water's edge, a romantic's paradise. When one of the dueling orchestras is playing "Bolero," you know you're far from Oregon... and when the orchestras in St. Mark's Square are playing "Memory" from Cats, you know it's time to leave.

Venice is every bit the fizzy pastel sunsetland portrayed in the watercolor prints sold in the cheesy tourist shops. But it's when the last bit of pink is draining from the velvety clouds that the city gets incredible.

I went and had a good night's sleep.