RIALTO BRIDGE, THE GRAND CANAL, A GONDOLA RIDE AND A VIEW FROM THE T FONDACO DEI TEDESCHA!

(Friday, 8-20-2021)

Waking up in Italy is pretty AMAZING!  When we open the shutters to the main room of our flat, this is our view!  These windows are literally five feet away!  

Yesterday morning, Mike caught a picture of our neighbor lady after she was out watering her plants!  “Buongiorno,” she called to us!!!

When we walk out the door to our flat and look right, the canal is right there!

Walking along the “streets” of Venice is confusing but quite remarkable!  Here is a chocolate shop we passed by—Patte and Mike are behind the dripping chocolate!  Pretty cool!

And then on to the infamous Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal!

We tested a shot of the local drink called “Spritz” made of Prosecco and Campari!  It’s a beautiful coral colored drink, but really bitter!

Mike and John sat at a restaurant and enjoyed a beer while Patte and I browsed through some of the shops along the Grand Canal.  Our waiter there was adorable, had a phenomenal personality and spoke five languages fluently!  The more locals we talk to, the more we find that are fluent in several languages!  If any of you out there are looking for an interpreter, come recruit in Venice!  

We boarded a beautiful gondola with an awesome driver!  He took us through many a narrow canal as well as the Grand Canal!  He answered all of our questions—ask Mike and John for details!!!  I just remember how amazing it was to see how he navigated boats coming at us as well as those docked on the sides!  And those canals were SO SO NARROW!

 

Here’s a view of the Rialto Bridge from the Grand Canal!

We passed by this beautiful restaurant—John recognized it from Instagram!

After we had a chance to put our feet up for a few minutes back at the flat, we walked to the T Fondaco Dei Tedescha where John had made reservations for us to view Venice from its’ rooftop!  We entered a room where we waited our turn to go upstairs at our allotted time.  There were clocks displayed around the room.  John found a sign that explained them!  We went in at 6:00PM.

The views from up there were AMAZING!  Red tile roof after red tile roof, canals, steeples, mountains!  WOW!  And we came down at 6:15PM sharp! 

A friend of ours (thanks Lynne!) recommended a restaurant called Taverna Al Remer, which was just a short walk from the T Fonaco Dei Tedescha!  (We are getting better at navigating Venice!)  Our dinner was superb, the waiter was delightful, and the view was outstanding!  Our outside table was the empty one in the front by the steps!

The following food porn I post solely for the Diedam clan!  And yes, the food and drink was WONDERFUL!  It appears we ordered enough food for an army, but seriously, these were by no means American sized portions! (Thank goodness!)

CIAO FOR NOW!

And thanks for stopping by!