Sunny Venice, Torcello and Burano and vaporetto cruising

A sunny morning was a pleasure to wake up to after the drenching yesterday. I headed out for provisions early, taking advantage of the excellent local shops on our street. The bakery was my first stop, all hot inside from baking breads and goodies. I purchased three types of breads and some morning pastries. Then at the meat and cheese shop, I was able to figure out the right type of prosciutto for Alex by using my marginal, but very useful, Italian skills. All stocked up for an at-home breakfast, we feasted and enjoyed the sun coming in the kitchen window (our only view to the outside in our flat).

After getting all set to go, we were out the door maybe five minutes when Alex decided that he was having a rough leg pain day and he wanted to stay closer to the flat. We separated for the day and I jumped on the vaporetto to hang out on some of Venice's islands.

Burano is simply beautiful. Each little house is painted a different color making the streets look like rows of paint swatches. It's a small town and definitely a tourist destination, but I was still able to find little pockets of isolation and serenity. I was here with my mom four years ago, and during my walk on the island, I was thinking of her the entire time. 

Torcello was next on my agenda, a lesser visited and much less touristy destination. It has a few restaurants, a shop or two one hotel and a church and it is beautiful. Hemingway spent time on the island, depressed and writing one of his least acclaimed books, Across the River and into the Trees. I visited the hotel where he stayed, Locanda Cipriani. Apparently many celebrities have visited, as evidenced by the walls covered with pictures of the famous, including many members of Britian's royal family. And the decor looked as if it hadn't changed in 50 years. What a place. I'd love to stay on Torcello for a night or two on my next visit to Italy.

Island hopping done, I jumped on the vaporetto for the hour long ride back to Venice proper. Alas, my directional challenges came with me and instead of landing in Venice, I wound up on Lido, Venice's beach and casino destination. It's where the Venice film festival is held each year. It was late and I was tired, so instead of taking advantage of the accident, I jumped on the next vaporetto headed for home. And lucky me! I scored one of the best seats on the boat, right in the front. Good thing, too, because from Lido, my ride would be over an hour. It was simply lovely. The views were unbeatable, and I kept reminding myself that I was on public transportation, not some kind of expensive cruise. I was sad at the end of the tour, er trip, but perked up seeing Alex walking towards me.

We were determined to try this crepe place that was supposed to have the best crepes in Italy, and it was located right across the canal from us. It has really weird business hours, and today it was open from 2PM to 6PM. We arrived at 5:30 and discovered that the small place was run by one person, who took the orders and made the crepes on the spot. The line was short, thank goodness, but we still waited a good 20 minutes before getting our crepes. They were completely worth the wait. I had the Superman crepe, filled with sweet goodness and Alex had a Salmon crepe. We followed up our crepe appitizer with pasta dinner and headed home for rest.

Wondering if my pal cold is still around? It is. I'm trying the ignore tactic again.