The Little Band's First Full Day

Our First Full Day

Finding Our Way

 

Me Trying To Figure Out Where I Am

Route finding is a real treat. When you come from a culture that is obsessed with straight lines and brutalizing the landscape into submission the Venetians’ approach takes you by surprise.

We have an excellent map and my trusty compass. Really this (as I was to learn later) is only important if you are looking for a very specific spot in Venice. It is better to just walk in the general direction of where you want to go and work it out when you get close.

I am afraid that my American obsession of being in control took over here and in some ways detracted from my time in Venice. Still the challenge of knowing where you are in the city was fun for me. It also allowed Barbara and Bob to just wander and know that we would be able to get where we wanted to go.

Campo San Giacomo Di Oro

A Day of Wandering and Wondering

I had read about a good place for lunch on Virtual Tourist so I suggest we wander over there and get some lunch and just see what ever comes our way. My super friendly and flexible companions are ready to try anything.

The Work Bench In Barbara's Favorite Shop

We wander the streets behind the Friari Church till we hit the Campo San Marghera and find the restaurant. It was not a satisfying lunch. The place was busy and we are uncomfortable. Still working out traveling in a strange land kind of stuff.

We ask the wrong things and order the wrong stuff. The construction workers at the next table give me several eye rolls. That did not help much. No worries we will soon become much more comfortable. Still we are fed and happy as we leave.

A “Wasted “Afternoon

A Little Girl Playing Behind The Rialto

We just began to wander towards the Rialto Bridge. I am still not sure of our route but it is just one big happy childlike ramble.

Barbara finds a very nice local artist’s glass shop and buys some very nice things. Not super expensive and the woman was very kind and carefully wrapped things for her.

We wander into the Campo San Giacomo De Oro. After I spend more time in Venice this will become my favorite campo. From there we wander the alleys and eventually end up at the Rialto Bridge.

   

B&B Clown For The Camera

Our First Big Site

What can a person say when they come on a site that has so much written about it? As it turns out, a lot just none of it is very original. Still it is very inspiring to stand where practically every person of any note has stood in the last few hundred years. I can imagine Lord Byron side stroking under my feet on his swim from the Liddo and that is enough for me.

As it turns out some things fit in their place. This bridge is one of those items. It is the right scale, the materials and design are very appealing.

In the states marble as a construction material is used mainly as an ostentatious display inside over blown businesses and homes. Here it is a great durable and beautiful material used in construction for it’s unique qualities. I will see a fair amount of well applied marble while in Italy and it will change my view of it.

We spend the rest of the waning afternoon wandering the alleys behind the Rialto. Sometimes it is fun to just be a tourist. The air is a bit crisp and a light rain falls on and off. We stop for coffee and really just people watch.

The Best Companions One Could Want

The light begins to fade and we go back to the Bridge to catch the sunset. It is the grandest place to see the sunset of all the places in any city I have seen to date. The quality of the light is practically alpine and over the fading beauty of the glory that was once” The Venice of Empire”. It is sublime.

Sunset From The Rialto Bridge

We Make Two Blunders in One

We discover we ate lunch much too early and that dinner is not even an option till after 7:00 or 8:00. To top that we are naively unaware of the Venetian custom to having a drink and a small bite to eat in the early evening. This little respite becomes one of our favorite things on later trips but we bumble on without a clue this time.

Barbara Ponders Her First Ventian Sunset

We go back to the hotel to refit and rearm. Barbara’s bag drama comes to an end when we find her bag on the bed in our room as promised. She is very pleased. Buying whole kit in Venice would be a bit of a financial disaster. No more checking bags!

We End Out Our First Day

We take another toddle and get a nice dinner. Bob learns that Venice is not the place to get an American style pizza. We wander back in the area of San Margehrea. It is crowded with young students. I feel a little old and creaky. We realize that it is almost midnight. After a bit of momentary disorientation we get back to the Marin. We fall into beds and sleep like the dead.

The Farmers’ Market Summer Equinox Blues

The Farmers’ Market Summer Equinox Blues

What is this you ask? This little known experience is common to all market growers. I am not sure what the syndrome is called. I am sure it is the end of summer, common experience for grower friends.

It is made evident by the strained tone coming from the stalls of married growers as they negotiate the Framers’ Market set up. Normally generous and kind spouses get short. They remind me of friends with their second child and are sleep deprived.

 

Eddie and Linda Negotiate Set Up

Our movements are stiffer and we are slower moving than the spring market. With the exception of pumpkins and fall ornamentals there are few new crops to show.

We can see the end of market season from here but it is still quite a ways off. You find yourself skimping on the yoga. You up the analgesics and while trying to judge if you need to add another bottle to your “things to buy in town list”. I find myself lingering over my morning coffee break.

The thing that gets me over it is light. The shadows lengthen and the sun drops toward the south the quality of the light begins to change. The softening of the evening and morning is accompanied with cooler air.

I find a nice place to sit with Dixie in the fading light of the day. We settle still and quiet. The sounds of the woods and fields slowly build around us. We are swallowed in a crescendo of night sound.

Dixie Listening 

Insects sing their last burst of summer energy. The bird sounds move away from mating songs. The goats clunk around in the shed as they settle down. The occasional burr oak acorn or black walnut slaps to the ground.

Dixie and I ride this out till we can see little on the ground and the stars sweep across the sky. I notice that I have not been bitten by a mosquito all evening and the air is absolutely comfortable. So much so that my clothing is superfluous.

Fall Blackbird Move House

I rise and tap my leg to call Dixie to me. As I turn to the house my back is still stiff but now I can feel the end of the market and a break in the routine is close.