... actually it was more of a Crappy Wednesday than a Wacky Wednesday. One day, I'll look back on this all and laugh. At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
Where to begin? I woke up in Venice this morning to rain. Which wouldn't have been such a big deal, but for the fact that somewhere along the way, I seem to have misplaced my umbrella. Plus, due to the whole boat thing, dragging suitcases and bags on and off them with an often large difference in levels between said boats and land, I brought the bare minimum with me, leaving the rest in my car. The bare minimum, unfortunately, didn't include my spray jacket or jumpers, etc.
Anyway, I only had a few hours before heading off to Milan, so I layered up as much as I could, and headed out, first stop to buy an umbrella. As luck would have it, not three steps from my hotel door did I run into one of those men that seems to sell just what you need. So I parted with my 10 euro, and got an umbrella. And, as the luck of today would have it, it was the type that prefers to be inside out, than the right way.
My first stop was the San Sebastian church, where it is said Veronese took shelter after fleeing Verona on murder accusations. He was so grateful, he decorated the church. I don't know if this was true or not, but either way, the entire church is Veronese, so I had to have a look. Of course, after trudging all the way there in the rain, I arrived only to find most of the works are temporarily out of sight, as they are restoring them. There were still a few to see though, along with the main pieces around the alter, so all was not lost. I even snuck some photos.
At least when I headed back toward San Marco, the rain stopped, so I could put away my not very effective umbrella. Next stop, the Ferrari Store. Not well stocked, but oh well.
I headed back to the main square to my last stop, which was the San Marco Basilica. Only to find that this section of Venice was now under about a foot of water. There were only two options - the first was head back to my hotel, on the same level ground as the Ferrari store - or when in Rome (or Venice, as the case may be) - take off your shoes and socks, roll up your pants, and carry on. The water wasn't too freezing, and since after a while you couldn't feel your toes anyway, it didn't much matter. Anyway, it was still a novelty at this point and everyone was in the same boat anyway!
No pun intended there. The boats weren't stupid enough to venture out.
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| San Marco... canal? |
The Basilica, I'd been told, was very beautiful inside, and the roof glitters with jewels. Of course, the lighting inside is so terrible that you're lucky to see the ceiling at all, let alone the glitters, so let's just say I was thankful entry was free.
Of course, at this point I realised that although it was all good and well for me to traipse around Venice barefoot, my suitcase couldn't, and I had no way of getting it from my hotel to any of the Vaporetto docks without getting it dunked, so unless I wanted to stay an extra night in Venice, the only way out was private water taxi.
So I parted with my 70 euro - exhorbitant for the relatively short trip and abrupt, grumpy service, but worth it for the convenience, I have to say. On a normal day though, the Vaporetto is nicer anyway, because you actually get to see more along the way, and have photo opportunities. And at 6.50 euro...
The drive to Milan was boring and uneventful - yes, this means I didn't get lost once! Until I had to drop my car off at Milan Central Railway Station. Now, Europcar boast having easy to find, and well signposted drop off points, but drive around the station though I might, for over half an hour (in peak hour traffic), there was no signage anywhere. Tom, my usually faithful GPS, had no idea either - even though they have their drop off points programmed into the GPS, the best directions it could give me was to the front of the railway station. So, illegally parked, grumpy and starving, after several phone calls, I got the Station office. Who said they'd come down to me. An hour and another phone call later, they finally did.
On the upside, I never did have to pay for that (late) GPS...
By this time I was thorougly exhausted, grumpy and dying of hunger, so I decided to catch a taxi back to my hotel - thankfully I'd already dropped off my luggage - instead of trying to negotiate the subway.
And managed to get the one taxi driver in Milan who didn't know his way around.
At least he stopped the meter half way through, after making the second of several trips around the same block. All taxi drivers have GPS. Of course, he didn't know how to use it... "These are all good and well, but for taxi drivers, it's all in the memory!!!"
Dinner, at long last - still craving red meat, I went to an Argentinian restaurant nearby. Which completely saved my day. My steak was not only several inches thick, it was still mooing. Good, hot bread, veggies and red wine, and of course, dessert, and I felt much better!
Of course a thunder storm had started in the meantime and I got soaked to the bone running back to my hotel, but at least a hot shower was waiting for me! (Even if the shower is mounted a belly button height, and you have to hold it, or sit down, to have a shower...)
But tomorrow is Thursday, and I'm off to the GP - and hopefully, there will be no more shoe on the wall (wet and soggy as they now all are)...
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