Tuesday 30, September: Awoke to another beautiful Venetian day. Jim has discovered Starchini & Hutchollo on morning television here (Yes, that is Starski & Hutch!!). We went to the post office (again) and then headed off for some target shopping. We are a little concerned as there seems to be more Acqua Alta tables being stacked in preparation of...well, Acqua Alta. We have a list of traditional mask makers and hoped to locate some of them and check on getting a mask. We went to the Rialto bridge and purchased a hand made leather-bound wedding scrapbook (thank you to our friends at the City of Stockton!!) and a hand made photo album for the wedding pictures (thank you, Ken and Yvonne!!). We also bought some beautiful paintings from a local artist.
Wednesday 1, October: After Starchini & Hutchollo and of course our morning visit to the post office (bear in mind...we have not mailed anything yet, just visited!!), we set off with our bags of dirty clothes in search of a laundry. We learned last time we were in Venice...clothes never dry here, they just grow mold. We actually located the lavanderia without too much trouble (ok, maybe Rick Steves is not an idiot after all). We headed off to visit some of the other Sestieri (the most visited are the Castello and San Marcos as that is where the Rialto and San Marcos are located). Jim finally broke down and bought a map (he refused to buy the €6.50 map...the €2.50 map will work just fine...look where that got us!...what you can't see is that one of these arrows is pointing into the Grand Canal)
We returned to the Rialto bridge so we could visit the shop of the mask maker who made all the masks for "Eyes Wide Shut". While we didn't buy one of his masks it was fun to see pictures of all the stars who have purchased masks from him. We walked all through Sestiere San Polo and couldn't find the mask maker on my list. We did finally find one, but she was closed for lunch. We decided to eat and had a great lunch at a little bar (ate lunch and people watched just like you wanted to do, Mom). After lunch we opted against any of the masks at that store and we headed to the next Sestiere, Santa Croce. In Santa Croce we actually located one of the mask makers on the list and Jim bought a beautiful mask from a mask maker who only spoke French!! Now that was a conversation to listen to! We walked across the new bridge, Il Ponte Calatrava, that was just constructed to cross the Grand Canal (prior to it's construction there were only three bridges that crossed the Grand Canal).
We headed for our next Sestiere, Cannaregio. We were looking for a restaurant that Jim's uncle had eaten at and told us about. Of course, in Venice there are no street names in the addresses, just Sestiere names and a number. We have yet to figure out the numbering system, but after talking to eight different people and getting directions as we went we found the restaurant, Osteria Quarante Ladrone. We had a great meal and a lot of fun. Jim finally got good counsel from Avvocato Giacomo. We decided that was enough walking for one day and took a vaporetto home and enjoyed a beautiful night cruise of the grand canal.
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