More Miglia/Venizia

I haven't heard from Ricky but figure if he is able to continue at this pace he will have enough time to finish and get a little sleep along the way. I'm hoping he sleeps before tackling the ups and downs and twists and turns of the Cinque Terre. While it would seem a pity to traverse such a stunning coastline at night, it will probably be lost on them anyway at this point. Mostly the potential for getting lost (although, you know, just keep the water on the left???) or hitting a pothole in the dark. I'm guessing they don't care much about keeping up the roads there. Driving isn't the best way to get around! Also, looks like they don't actually go through all the towns anyway as they seemed to say in the pre-ride talk. That is a good thing.

I made a special effort to find specific shops and neighborhoods today so it was a different kind of walk. I covered a lot of territory and although some of the shops I wanted to see were closed for the August holiday, I saw a lot of very nice places. I laughed out loud at one point because I kept trying to get to Ponte delle Tette over the last few days and always got distracted and missed it. Today, I was looking for a shop and turned a corner to find...Ponte delle Tette! I arrived just as an American-Venetian came up the other side of the canal leading a couple on a private walking tour. We all laughed together about the Venetian street maps and the origins of the bridge's name (which means "tits bridge" because the ladies of that neighborhood sometimes showed off their wares along its railings.)

I crossed paths with this tour guide twice more in three different neighborhoods by early afternoon. The final time, I was sitting on the steps along a side canal drinking a bottle of water and eating a canoli (one cannot live on prosecco alone) and wondering about the newer buildings in this area (Sante Croce.) I asked if he lived in Venice and he said, yes and pointed to a door about ten feet down the sidewalk. "Right there." I asked him about the buildings and he said a couple were from the twenties (which makes them new for Venice) but had been built in the older style. A couple of others gave only a slight nod to the period of the rest of the town and were just new. Those he said were not there when they filmed Katherine Hepburn falling into the canal at that spot in the movie "Summertime." When I winced at the thought of a swim in the canal, he said she always claimed to have had a lifelong eye infection from that day on.

Another highlight of my day was just before noon when I was passing by I Frari on my way toward Dorsoduro when I heard a lovely violin. I turned toward the music and entered the square where a young lady was busking in the plaza. I listened for a few minutes and gave her what change I had, then listened some more and finally decided to sit down at the nearby cafe and have lunch. I listened through a 1/4 litre of prosecco and a pizza and then ordered and espresso, too! I finally went to talk to her as she packed up to leave. "Do you speak English?" I asked. "I am English!" she laughed. I asked if she would be playing anywhere tonight and she said probably in another square over in Academia so I made a mental note and planned to go hear her again later. I'm no expert, but she sounded very good to me.

Finally I ended up back in my neighborhood near San Marco and as I picked up my key at the front desk, I saw a flier for a production they call "Venizia," a play that explains the history of Venice. I had been thinking about going and finally decided to do it. I was sorry not to be able to go hear the English violinist as well but such is life. The desk clerk called for a reservation for me and then I had just enough time to shower, change and check SPOT before heading over to the theater on the far side of Piazza San Marco. Good thing I'd had two lunches, as there was no time for dinner! I'm glad I went. It was very entertaining, though not as well done as the story of Maui in Hawaii last winter. I had pretty much picked up the story over my past reading and my wanderings and tourings here, but it was nice to get it in a nutshell.

Well, my last evening in Venice has come to a close. I leave you with these thoughts.

I have not heard a siren, car horn, (or any car noises at all) since arriving here.
I have heard angry words exchanged only once.
Everything comes and goes by boats on the canals and from there is delivered to or collected from everywhere in town by hand trucks of various sizes. The hand truck people pull their heavy loads up and down stairs, over bridges, around and through mobs of tourists and I have not seen anyone so much as bumped.

I find this all rather amazing...