Milan Day 3 / Venice Day 1
I guess today doesn't really even count as a day in Milan, but I started out there, so I'm throwing it in for good measure. I woke up at 9:00 and packed up, and then went down to breakfast where I had the exact same thing for breakfast as I had yesterday. (I'm a creature of habit.) The elevator wasn't working, so I climbed 7 flights of stairs back up from breakfast. I think the fact that I was vaguely winded shows just how out of shape I am. Maybe it's a good thing we didn't try to ascend to the Duomo's roof on foot yesterday...
At 11:00, we caught the train for Venice. It was a fairly unremarkable trip, except for the fact that I encountered great difficulty while trying to navigate through the incredibly narrow walkway down the middle of the car. I curled up with yet more HP, and eventually I settled in for a nap for the last hour or so. Once we got off the train, we boarded a waterbus which was to take us to the stop called "Valaresso" (so said the itinerary). But, as it turned out, Valaresso is the same as St. Marco, which was the actual name of the stop. We ended up getting off one stop past that because mom was looking for Valaresso, but we eventually made it to the hotel.
This is probably the most interesting hotel in which I've ever stayed, at least room-wise. For one, the rooms all have names; our room is Pulcinella. Lining the entryway of the room are three different recipes (for what, I can't remember at the moment, and I'm too lazy to get up and look). In the bedroom/lounge area, there is a wall painting of two characters dressed in white, wearing black masks with hooked noses, and tugging on a large rope. According to the concierge who showed us the room, one of them is supposed to be Pulcinella himself. On the adjoining wall, there is another painting which gives a lengthy description of Pulcinella's character and history. The rest of the area is quite nice, but I am most intrigued by the fact that the room has a name, because I'm interested in small stuff like that.
After retiring for a bit, mom and I left for dinner around 9:00. We were to go to a restaurant called Anima Bella, but just as we've been doing in Milan, we got lost on the way there. I'm not sure if it's the maps' faults or simply the notion that mom has poor navigational skills, but either way, I'd say it took us about 20 minutes to cover what should have been a 5-10 minute walk. I get irritated by how often we get lost, but I think that if I were in mom's position, I'd be just as bad of a navigator. I should cut her more slack. On the way back from dinner, we looked in a couple of store windows (Murano glasswork and Venetian masks are so much fun to look at...and I just happen to like shiny and colorful things in general). I found some things that I want to look at tomorrow, so we're probably going to revisit a few of them. Maybe it's the fact that Venice is a city on water, but already, it seems much more promising (read: interesting) than Milan.
At 11:00, we caught the train for Venice. It was a fairly unremarkable trip, except for the fact that I encountered great difficulty while trying to navigate through the incredibly narrow walkway down the middle of the car. I curled up with yet more HP, and eventually I settled in for a nap for the last hour or so. Once we got off the train, we boarded a waterbus which was to take us to the stop called "Valaresso" (so said the itinerary). But, as it turned out, Valaresso is the same as St. Marco, which was the actual name of the stop. We ended up getting off one stop past that because mom was looking for Valaresso, but we eventually made it to the hotel.
This is probably the most interesting hotel in which I've ever stayed, at least room-wise. For one, the rooms all have names; our room is Pulcinella. Lining the entryway of the room are three different recipes (for what, I can't remember at the moment, and I'm too lazy to get up and look). In the bedroom/lounge area, there is a wall painting of two characters dressed in white, wearing black masks with hooked noses, and tugging on a large rope. According to the concierge who showed us the room, one of them is supposed to be Pulcinella himself. On the adjoining wall, there is another painting which gives a lengthy description of Pulcinella's character and history. The rest of the area is quite nice, but I am most intrigued by the fact that the room has a name, because I'm interested in small stuff like that.
After retiring for a bit, mom and I left for dinner around 9:00. We were to go to a restaurant called Anima Bella, but just as we've been doing in Milan, we got lost on the way there. I'm not sure if it's the maps' faults or simply the notion that mom has poor navigational skills, but either way, I'd say it took us about 20 minutes to cover what should have been a 5-10 minute walk. I get irritated by how often we get lost, but I think that if I were in mom's position, I'd be just as bad of a navigator. I should cut her more slack. On the way back from dinner, we looked in a couple of store windows (Murano glasswork and Venetian masks are so much fun to look at...and I just happen to like shiny and colorful things in general). I found some things that I want to look at tomorrow, so we're probably going to revisit a few of them. Maybe it's the fact that Venice is a city on water, but already, it seems much more promising (read: interesting) than Milan.