Sunday in Venice

Sunday in Venice
We all slept in this morning and had a lazy start to the day. Morning was broken with crashing thunder and pouring rain. Neal made coffee and I had cheese and apricots for breakfast. I even ran in place a little. We spent time reading travel books and deciding what to do with a rainy day.
We left about 11:00 and the rain had stopped although it was obvious it would start again soon. We stopped in our local Campo, otherwise known as a square for coffee and a small pastry in what is known here as a bar. We stood at the bar which makes the food less expensive and the coffee is always 1 Euro because it is set by the government. You will always get coffee, expresso at this price as long as you stand at the bar. When in Venice do as the locals do.
Then we headed to our nearest Vaporeto stop so we would learn where it was and be able to get some use out of our passes. Near that stop is a museum called the Rezzanicio that is palazzo from the decadent 18th century.
What an amazing experience this was. The place is huge and there were very few people there. We strolled through room after room full of exquisite furniture and paintings and Murano chandeliers
. Three glorious floors. People actually lived and partied in this place and really showed off to their friends.
Shayna and I had fun getting to know more about each other. OMG I feel a song coming on.
When we left the museum, an hour and a half later, the wind had picked up and clearly the storm was returning. We headed back towards our Campo and stopped for lunch. Again we had wonderful and healthy food. However the rain came back in force.
A few soaking steps from the restaurant, we were able to purchase two overpriced umbrellas that we certainly needed.
We walked quickly home and over bridges without getting one bit lost. We did, however, get quite wet. There was a lot of laughing and a lot of splashing followed by a lot of dripping. We did find our way home and with dripping pride we climbed the steps to home.
After a nap we were ready for round two of Sunday. We left the apartment around 8:30 just like locals we were headed out for dinner. We found our stop and took our first public boat ride to St. Marks Square.
This is the lowest part of Venice and the water was over a foot deep in many places. People were wearing boots or grocery bags over their shoes. We just walked around the water. We gawked at the amazing buildings including the palace and the Cathedral. There was live music and lots and lots of people. We will avoid being here mid day because the crowds would be too much.
We Café hopped. We were looking for The Florian, the oldest café in Venice but we ended up next store. We had a light supper and listened to music. Shayna and I walked back outside to watch the famous clock do its thing at 10:00 pm. Then we went to the Florian for a dessert drink and we shared a lovely piece of cake and listened to more music.
At about 12:30 we headed home. Yes, I was up that late. We took the wrong boat but we were headed in the right direction. We walked the rest of the way home. We got a little lost but nothing like last night.
We found an amazing street of shops and Shayna found a landmark we recognized so we can find our way back. We got home about 1:30 and all headed straight to bed.
It is hard to imagine so much magic in one day.