VENICE, Italy — May 17, 2022 — We arrived in Venice as dark clouds gathered at the end of an unseasonably hot May day, winding our way up a twisting ramp to the sixth floor of a parking garage on the city’s edge and then dragging our bags up and over a half dozen pedestrian bridges on a twenty-minute trek to reach our AirBnB. We tried to eat at a pizza place that sits just below our rooms on the edge of Campo San Polo, Venice’s largest and prettiest piazza, but were refused an outside table because of the possibility of rain. Grumpy and frustrated, we took our pizza up to the rooms, but quickly cooled off when the clouds opened up, and we sat watching the heavy rain pound down on the beautiful piazza, and sheet lightning flared over Venice late into the night.

That’s been the theme of our time in Venice — unusually warm weather, lots of walking, and some minor annoyances, but always a very cool reward, such a stunning 16th century painting, or a cup of pistachio gelato, or an unforgettable view, around the next corner.

A visit to St. Mark’s Basilica, for instance, required a considerable march across much of Venice, and when we finally arrived and presented our tickets, we were denied entry because Amy’s skirt did not cover her knees. Meanwhile, one male tourist after another trudged past us into the basilica showing their legs. Anyway, a nearby street salesman offered up a fairly garish scarf/wrap in exchange for five euros (such a deal), and we made our way into the basilica. Of course, it was hot in there, and crowded, and the scaffolding in front of the building took some of the shine off the bronze horses that overlook St. Mark’s Square. It wasn’t a great experience, and we came back out in the blazing sun slightly disappointed, but then, yet again, Venice delivered a welcome respite.

We hired a water taxi, one of those sleek, beautifully maintained wooden boats, to take us on a ride from St. Mark’s up the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge, and then back down the Grand Canal and into the maze of narrow side channels that lead into the San Polo neighborhood. It was a fabulous experience, one of the highlights of our trip, just cruising up the main canal lined with fading palazzos, dodging the gondolas and overloaded water buses. The taxi driver gabbed on his phone the entire time, while we stood in the back of the boat, the breeze in our faces, and watched Venice go by and by. We were dropped off only a few yards from the Campo San Polo, our home away from home. That was cool.