It should have been Titian, Hannah Gadsby was right (if that sentence makes no sense, go google Nanette and watch it right now. Go on, I’ll wait)! But from the beginning …

It was how it has always been – the second day is a lot more relaxed, somehow more impactful. There is more time, many things are not brand new anymore. Even Number 3 already had certain preferences and assumptions formed. All in all, just easier – if only … let’s back up:

It is good to start a day knowing there is no rush. Funny enough, more times than not that leads to a smoother take off than with a deadline looming. So was this day. Unfortunately, the Agent of Entropy did not get the memo and continued her work of forming a habit hitting mama in the face with anything within reach around 4am. In the end, I dragged both rebels out with me and we gave Nina an extra half an hour after our 6.30am wakeup buzz to recover as much as she could.

We did recover, as much as possible, and were on a good early bus into town even though Number 3 spent some time observing the morning playtime of our new Swiss neighbor’s dog. Arriving so nice and early, we opted for a pass on the boat and a stroll through Dorsoduro and San Polo. But even before that, having spotted a little bar / café recommendation on the lonely planet app called Adagio, we opted for an additional early morning meal and had a second round of croissants and coffee in this young and relaxed corner café. We were the only tourists here among many locals – it was a real joy observing the comings and goings, the familiarity among neighbors and students on their way to class stopping by for one more little caffeine boost.

The mood was set for some calm and leisurely churchgoing – the looking at 500-years-old artworks kind, not the Sunday kind. There are priceless pieces of Renaissance masters in almost every one of them – and all are available for no or a really small entrance fee (an all church pass would be 12 €, we opted for the 3€ for the three we ended up doing.

So, we marveled a while at Titians and Tintorettos, the Donatellos and Canovas! First at the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari right next to our second breakfast stop. Then, a little walk later at the Chiesa Rettoriale di San Polo. I will mostly let the photos speak for themselves, but one of the artworks stood out for me. It was a newer piece, from the early Baroque. A huge monument to Doge Giovanni Pesaro in white and black marble and bronze. Really foreboding with four larger than life “moors” suffering the upper part on their shoulders. It sort of spoke to me, in its oppressive gloominess.

Right outside, Nina was stopped dead in her tracks. I don’t want to spoil a surprise too much, but she found a present for her mom in the cutest of shops. It had hand-made prints and little sculptures and was definitively preferable as a source of mementos over the myriad of tourist trappy “Murano Glass” shops. Nina was very happy to have found something crafted with care and personality.

Next up, the idea was to go for an early lunch with the option of adding another meal at some point. We hit a small bar selling cicchetti (a bit like Venetian tapas). They were good, especially with a glass of the house red, but a: did not offer much vegetarian variety and b: could not quite match our superb experiences in Spain and Basque Country. Not quite filled up, we hopped on a boat for a bit of a change in scenery.

Gladly, I had read beforehand that the Arsenale is not open for visitors except on special occasions. Seeing some of the fortifications in the Castello district that were the foundation of Venice’s might for many centuries was good enough for me today. The changes in architecture, but also the general vibe was interesting to us, regardless.

Sadly, the spot we chose for second lunch (and Nina’s first real veggie meal) had closed in the meantime – so Nina ordered a pizza and we scouted ahead. We met up in a small park at the lagoon facing side of the island, where men were currently hard at work with finishing touches on art installations for the 2021 Biennale of Venice. More art, but a very different century. But for free and as a backdrop for a quick lunch, who would complain?

A minor disaster manifested at the end of this, unfortunately. I had, against all better judgement, once again put my phone and my all-day bus pass in the same pocket and it must have fallen out when fetching the phone for directions – and it was lost for good this time. When we arrived at the vaporetto stop, things got worse by the fact that the ticket booth was closed at this time, against what the timetable said. With no seller in sight and the bus approaching, I decided to risk it. This dock did not have automated gates like some others, so if push comes to shove, I could faint genuine ignorance :S

In the end, nothing happened, and we managed to make it to the top rated gelateria unbothered. The ice cream was good, but we are in a way cursed with an excellent ice cream parlor in Höchst, so we were still left waiting for that absolute “wow” of a Gelato to convince us to move to Italy 😀

I made my whole family suffer for my mistake (but also tried to avoid another hand-wringing time for Nina) and suggested to walk back to the bus terminal as a good-bye token in Venice. Number 3 trusted me and took it as another adventure. It was not -that- far anyway. 20 minutes as per Google maps. On the way, I had an eye out for bite-sized roadside attractions on the Lonely Planet app. All in all, a very enjoyable send-off for our time here. Even though I managed to develop a blister on the sole of my foot – first time since switching to barefoot shoes. In perfect 3-year-old logic, the highlight of the walk for Number 3 was seeing one mostly whole tomato floating in a canal – he talked about few other things …