Sunny!  And clear and gorgeous–but still chilly by my standards.  Our view was all the way to the Dolomites, still snow capped. We watched the Sunday boat parade out the windows and got ready to go.

So, we turned right out of our door to continue on the Fondamente and head for the Giardini and Biennale areas.

We were faced with a seemingly never-ending stream of people with plastic coated tags around their necks. And they were everywhere–all over Venice. I talked with one of their guides. They’re from a group called Suezo and they meet in Venice every year for a big walk. Five thousand of them came from all over the Vento to walk an 11 km course including 42 bridges.

They were mostly coming for Giovanni e Paolo so we kept on the Fondamenta and turned in later. But we met them again and again throughout the day–streams of walking people of every age.

I love this little blue shrine:

We headed into some smaller streets in Castello, stopped for a coffee, got a tiny bit lost. Took this alley shot:

and finally were at Arsenale. The stunning views of the water and the city called us and we had a nice sit on a bench to take it in.

As we started walking I noticed the street name Riva dei Sette Martiri (shore of seven Martyrs). I was watching this woman pick a bit of a plant under all of the wisteria:

I really wanted a photo of the house with the purple. She turned and I said hello and asked her what she was taking a cutting of. A long conversation ensued, walking slowly down the Riva. Sonia told me she used to visit that house as a child. She remembered the war and the Germans and the famous shooting of seven innocent Venetians there on the shore. She talked and talked, standing closer and closer, putting her hand on my arm. And I’m sure I missed a lot but it was really sweet. Finally she turned off and said arrivederci. I don’t think I will forget her easily.

We walked through the children’s playground and into the Biennale area–the ticketing booths are gone and it’s just a white rocky space.

We decided to explore more of the back residential area of Castello, there. Colorful laundry was hanging everywhere and I got this piece of gondola coming out of an apartment door (art?) shot on who knows what street:

Also there was this large shrine nearby:

I wanted to go back the way we came but somewhere we made a wrong turn and before we knew it we were at the Greek church. We finally stopped at Rosa Salva in Campo Giovanni e Paolo for spritz and tramezzini. The walk from there was easy and uneventful.

We met Nan for “just a drink” HA! at a new place near us. Trattoria La Bomba has a nice wine bar and cicchetti as well as a dining room. Well, of course, there’s no “just a drink” with Nan and we ended up ordering a bunch of cicchetti and drinking lots of wine. Here’s Nan in her customary pose (on her phone for some Row Venice business)

We came back home and I felt so satisfied with two visit with wonderful women in one day!