Our Triumphant Return to Venice

We returned to Venice today. But this time we were joined by Barbara, Emanuele, and one of Barbara's friends. Although we spent 3 days in Venice, this time everything felt new and we were reinvigorated by the facts and stories that Barbara told us about the city.

We met Emanuele at 9:30 at the train station in Padua and we drove to the Venice Mestre station to take the train the rest of the way to Venice Central Station.

Our first stop in Venice was for a group picture on the Ponte Dei Scalzi.

After walking for a few minutes, we experienced the traditional second breakfast at Tonolo.


Barbara said that this is one of the best pastry shops in Venice. The shop was packed with people, all of whom lived in Venice. There was nothing special about the shop from the outside, but the frittelle that I ate from this shop was the best I have had. A frittelle is sort of like a doughnut, but it reminds me more of a fried ball of sweet dough filled with cream.

The next picture opportunity was outside Leo Colovini's game studio. Leo wasn't there, but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to have my picture taken on his door step.

(I know, I look a bit silly)

And here we have a Venetian Fire House.


This square was featured in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade. I mentioned this earlier, but it is so much cooler to visit a place with people who know things about it. You can read from guide books all day, but having a knowledgeable guide with you will make it an unforgettable experience.


Soon enough, it was time for the third breakfast, or the pre-lunch snack. We stopped at a fried food deli and purchased fried sardines and calamari. The treats were served on a stick and they were fried very lightly. I have been disappointed by the calamari that I have eaten so far on this trip, but these were great.


Our actual lunch was at Ae Oche (This means the goose. It is named after women who sit and mindlessly talk and talk about nothing. It would be very rude to call a women this.)


The green pasta you see is "Pesto with Gnocchi" and the other pasta is "Linguini pasta with shrimp and a cohrgette sauce." Goodness! Both of the pastas and sauces were brilliant! I really enjoy pesto sauce with my pastas. Barbara said that she would send me some recipes for pesto sauce and regular meat sauce. I hope to learn to cook better when I return home, and I think that these recipes will be a great help!

This tower is a perfect example of how the ground has settled differently over time. No, this is not the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But it is a leaning tower in Venice.


Barbara and Emanuele also showed us one of the two places in Venice where gondolas are built and repaired.

Here you can see a couple of Gondolas that were recently repaired. Every so often they need to be taken out of the water so that algae can be removed and a fresh coat of paint can be applied.

This is Jeremy at the Ponte dell'Academia (the bridge in the background). This is the only wooden bridge in Venice. It was originally built out of stone, but it was so heavy that it shifted the ground that the Galleria Dell'Academia was sitting on and the palace fell to the ground. After that, they built the bridge out of wood.


This is the house where the executioner lived. Because the executioner was considered tainted, he was not allowed to touch other people. Thus he lived in a house in the middle of a square that did not touch other houses.

It is often joked by the college students that this statue has pooped out these books.


Finally, isn't this sign beautiful? Barbara wrote it! She used to work for the churches in Venice, and one of her projects was to write all of the signs that appear on the outside of the churches.


I need to take one more opportunity (or many many more opportunities actually) to thank Emanuele and Barbara for their tremendous hospitality! They welcomed Jeremy and me into their home, treated us to a fantastic meal, and showed us around Venice. Thank you so much!