Rain or Shine Venice is Fine

The weather report for the day was rain. Our hotel, Palazzetto Madonna, was made of several buildings surrounding a cute courtyard. Our suite was located by walking through the hotel out the back into the courtyard and then up some stairs into the side building. So when it was drizzling in the morning we put on our raincoats to head down to the hotel breakfast. The hotel had an nice breakfast buffet with lots of sweet and savory options. They also had some made to order items. I was able to get an omelette every morning. Kuah tried a few of the options but in the end decided keeping it light was best. I was especially proud of myself for not being tempted by all the sweets. I knew there would be more to come throughout the day.

The first place we headed to was the Leonardo da Vinci The Exhibition in Venice which was being held at the church of St. Barnaba. Here they had set up small versions of many of his inventions, some of which allowed for hands on play. It had examples of his mechanics, war, flight and architecture. The constructions of the machines was entirely done by hand with special attention paid to the materials they used to best represent what he would’ve done.

From the museum we headed out to explore the streets more. Although we covered a lot of the same areas we had seen the day before we wandered more up and down the little side streets. It was just a light rain so it kept things from being crowded but was still comfortable. I was glad I had gotten waterproof hiking boots to keep my feet dry. Kuah’s shoes weren’t waterproof but the rain wasn’t hard enough to soak his feet. The weather was perfect for our light rain coats and jeans. It’s much harder to be out in the rain when it’s too hot to wear a raincoat.

After a few hours of wandering we ended up in St. Marks Square and stopped at Cafe Florian for a hot drink and light lunch. Cafe Florian is one of the oldest coffeehouses in the world. It was opened in 1720 under the name Alla Venezia Trionfante, or Triumphant Venice. But soon everyone started calling it Florian’s after the owner, Floriano Francesconi. To drink I enjoyed a nice rich hot chocolate and Kuah got an Irish coffee. It’s nice that they also brought us out some water. We shared a tuna and taggiasche olives sandwich. I had never thought to put olives in a tuna sandwich before but I enjoyed it.

With all of it’s history Florian’s is a popular tourist spot. We were lucky as we went on a rainy weekday off season we got right in and were seated at a table by the window. The view of St. Marks Square was an added bonus. It was funny to read a lot of the reviews of people complaining about the wait, the prices and the food quality. This isn’t a place you go to for Michelin fare but rather a place to soak in the history. And for that is was perfect.

After lunch we wandered by Rio de Palazzo o de Canonica to see the Bridge of Sighs. Legend has it that when prisoners were taken over this bridge to enter the prison they would stop look out and sigh with sadness as that would be their last look of Venice. Of course there are many stories of what went on in the dungeon but those aren’t as quaint.

From there we continued to wander the streets stopping in shops. So many times we were tempted to buy things but we did a good job not spending money on things we didn’t really need. We got a couple of great tea towels that are now being used in our kitchen. We also bought a rubber duck to add to our collection. After wandering for a while I needed to use the rest room. So we stopped in at a small coffee shop. I got tea and Kuah got a cappuccino and cicchetti a traditional Venetian snack.  Soon after we were settled it started to rain harder and the coffee shop filled up. For once my small bladder had perfect timing!

You may be wondering why I didn’t get any cicchetti along with Kuah. That is because earlier we had stopped by Suso and shared a gelato. I chose quore di cacao which is a traditional milk chocolate with cocoa nibs and their signature flavor suso which is double caramel with a fusion of classic toffee. Surprisingly, I liked the suso flavor the best. I made Kuah share it with me to ensure I didn’t eat too much.

When the rain let up it was time to wander more. We saw a farmers market and more side streets. One thing that made me glad I wasn’t staying in Venice too long was all of the sweet shops we passed along the way. It would be hard to stay here long without wanting to try all of the different sweets.

After more wandering it was time for an early dinner. The internet on our phones wasn’t working well so we just picked a restaurant and went in. I ordered a minestrone soup and a fish. Kuah got a side of vegetables and a seafood pasta. Kuah really enjoyed his pasta dish. The sauce brought our the flavor of the seafood. I had planned on ordering the salmon but the waiter recommended a lighter fish which they had gotten at the fish market that morning. Once cooked it was de-boned table side and served with grilled zucchini. My soup was warm and the perfect food for a rainy day. The fish was fresh and delicious.

After dinner we were able to see the reviews online. I was thankful that we hadn’t read them before as they weren’t so good. I think sometimes when it gets busy the service isn’t as attentive as it was for us. It also had a lot of complaints about the salmon so I was glad I had went with the waiter’s suggestion, which was delicious. We slowly wandered home after dinner and then relaxed in our room.

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