Rainy Italia
Trip Start
Jan 19, 2007
1
11
91
Trip End
Jul 03, 2007
Venice and Siena, Italy
Friday, March 2, 2007
Venice - all that's magical and romantic about the world, right? Well, we hadn't killed each other yet, but close. Luckily, I had a train ride to cheer me up. The hotel was nice. Then we set out to find dinner. If any of you ever have any crazy ideas about going to Venice and having a nice dinner, put those ideas away right now. Forever. We found a restaurant and Chad ordered some safe pasta. I, of course, being a lover of seafood and being on (or very near) the sea, ordered some nice mare insalate mista (this would normally be mixed seafood pasta). It was what we call: parts is parts. Lots of eyeballs, scales, and fins. I should have listened when the Rick Steves said Venice is full of bad food. It is.
Chad and I now have a theory. There are so few Venetians anymore (most live outside the city and come in to work) that the good restaurants are elsewhere. Everyone in Venice is a tourist, which means restaurants do no depend on repeat customers. They can have terrible service and worse food and unknowing clueless tourists will still flock in if you have checkered tablecloths and decent ambiance. When the diners find out its subpar, they will go elsewhere the next night. And after that they are on to their next destination in Florence or Rome or Naples where the food is MUCH better.
Long story short, Venice is not the culinary capital of Italy. We spent the next day wandering around the city in the rain and enjoying the canals and sights.
Siena:
A fact known only to my mom, my favorite crayon as a kid on Camp Creek was Burnt Siena. I didn't necessarily like the actual shade, just saying the name. A lot. Every day. Sadly, the day we went to Siena, the crayon namesake was more like...well...gray. Not my favorite crayon color.
It didn't start out that great. We got off the train and immediately...got on a bus going into suburban Siena. Where it stopped and the bus driver took his lunch break. And then took us...back to the train station. We then just walked up the hill to the city and Chad got picked up on by some blond girl.
We did actually make it to the Siena Duoma, with its amazing floor. And we didn't break up after this particular day trip. And I still like the crayon name "burnt siena." Miracles abound!
(C) You are right on re Venice. What seemed so magical to me on my first visit in college, today seems like Disney, with most of the reality gone replaced by tourism and tourists. We did have a nice walk on the other side of the grand canal wandering around looking for a real restaurant for lunch. We ended up at some Pirate's Ship, argghh, on a square that specialized in surly service and peg legs. I now think that maybe Venice looks best in photos, cause it really is a BEAUTIFUL place, when you're not there.
Siena on the other hand has something genuine that Venice lacks. Can't put my finger on it, but it's a magical place. And the Cathedral really is one of the best in all Europe - Sorry Florence. I know that's a sore point. Even Michaelangelo was awestruck by the Sienese Cathedral. It is a Dan Brown dream. When do I get to go back???
