Day 2 - Venice, Dorsoduro

The boys were running riot this morning and obviously had too much energy, so once we got off the bus in Venice we went straight to a playground so they could burn some off.  It gave them a chance to have a run around and us a chance to sit down and relax.

When they'd calmed down a bit, we decided to follow the guide book and went off to the Dorsoduro area, which showed a completely different side to Venice.  It was much quieter, with more open areas, so it was more relaxing than the frantic hustle and bustle that we'd seen yesterday.

Anywhere's a chair

While we were there, we visited the Palazzo Zenobio, which was well worth it for only 4 euros for the four of us.  Inside was a chilled garden and it was nice to see some grass for a change instead of all the pavements and water we'd got used to.  Inside were more surprises, with a baroque ballroom leading off to side rooms with art on display by New York artist  Marion Greenstone.  I'd never heard of her before, but her stuff from the mid sixties was pretty cool, and with Lou Reed playing in the background it was like we'd been transported from Venice to New York.  I found this website with some of the paintings we saw, which is worth a look: www.mariongreenstone.com.

After some lunch we decided to catch a Traghetto ( a gondola taxi) across the Grand Canal and walk back around to Rialto.  It wasn't long before three party members were desperate for the loo, though, and after a long trek to find toilets we ended up not far from where we'd started before the Traghetto.

After that it was definitely time for ice cream and a rest.  Luke got his liquorice flavoured ice cream he'd been looking for and we all got a chance to rest our feet.

We took a nice walk back to take in the sights again before dinner.  Or at least Lucy and I did - the boys just chatted about ideas they had for computer games they want to invent and didn't seem to notice anything around them.   When we asked later what they'd seen, they said 'We saw walls!'

The Grand Canal

We had a nice dinner next to the water, then it was time for our bus ride back to Mestre for the last time.  I was looking out the window, taking in the view as the bus crossed the long road across the water between Venice and the mainland.  It really makes it clear how the city is just and isolated island that just stubbornly refused to sink.

Done a little packing tonight already so we're set to go tomorrow, off to Pompei.

Luke's joke of the day:
What do you call a dead parrot?

A polly gone!!!