Another side of Venice

Wednesday

This morning we went to a local self service Laundromat to replenish our supply of clean clothes.  It was across a bridge and into a relatively residential section – who knew that those existed in Venice ?  We were next to a school yard (behind a wall) and could hear children playing while we waited.  Nice.  Lots of young tourists there but also some locals.  And the coffee shop in the area had ‘local’ prices instead of ‘tourist’ prices so that was nice.

A tour guide did take a group of people through and he talked about the price of housing in Venice.  Apparently it costs 1.1 million euros to buy a small two bedroom condo in Venice.  It is cheaper, of course, to by on Murano or one of the other outlying islands.

Once everything was clean and (mostly) dry, we headed out to the Accedemia section of Venice.  I like this much more than St. Mark’s Square area.  Slightly fewer people.  The shops have more art and less kitsch in them.  We went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and enjoyed it immensely.  Lots of very interesting modern art.  Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Mondrian, others whose names escape me right now. 

We had lunch at the museum shop.  The prices were what you would expect for a museum restaurant – high but not ridiculous.  And the food was really good.

This section of Venice appeals to me a lot which is good because we are returning to that area for dinner and a concert tonight.

We are, slowly, starting to figure out the bus system.  The busses arrive very regularly so they are easy to catch – it’s just hard to know where they will take you J The buses run both clockwise and counter-clockwise on the Grand Canal. So catching the right one makes a huge difference in how long it takes you to get somewhere.  There is no trivial way to figure out which bus will go which direction but we are starting to get it. 

It is still outrageously hot here.  33 Celsius yesterday and today.  I don’t know what that is in Fahrenheit but it feels like it over 90 degrees.  And humid.  When the sun hits you, it’s like you are in an oven.  And, of course, all of the stone absorbs that heat and reflects it back at you, too.  Pretty uncomfortable.  We are drinking tons of water and I  can’t remember ever being more tan – with occasional spots of sunburn to vary the mix!  I am praying that Florence will not be so hot.  Bills says he is looking forward to hearing me complain about cold for awhile.