SUR LA FRONTIERE

It is 4:00 am. Do not let anyone persuade you that train travel is romantic. It is cramped, smelly and dirty. This is the second time I have attempted first-class overnight train travel (the first being with Alexi in July 2006), and while the concept is great on paper, the reality falls short of our royal Maggie Smith images gleaned from books, film and television. I must admit having grabbed 4 hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep so far, about what I expected, and there is a faint hope of 1-2 more hours. On the other hand, Andrea detests flying, it is better than trying to sleep in a train chair next to strangers, and we will reach our destination in just as much time and without losing daylight as if we had taken a day train. Andrea is sleeping unsoundly in the bunk below me, and it is weird that as unappealing as I have described our train trip, how quickly one adjusts and finds comfort and rewards after the initial shock wears off.

Wednesday, May 30 was our final day in Venice, and we came up with at least several reasons to return: gondola ride, return to the Accademia to see Veronese's "Christ in the House of Levi" (it is undergoing restoration and was only partially viewable), the Peggy Gugenheim collection, the museum of textiles and costumes, the Gritti Palace museum, the Jewish ghetto, more shopping...

While we may have come up slightly short on attractions visited, we certainly accomplished a key goal; to rest, relax and recuperate from our attacks on Rome and Florence. Andrea again expressed her delight in Venice and newfound love for a city she questioned visiting. Of course, Hotel Palazzo Stern helped with its beautiful large room overlooking the Grand Canal and its charming interior spaces; staircases, study/book nooks, mosaic tile floors, lamps, typical Venetian furniture...They even had Venetian blinds on the windows!

No surprise, but we got a very late start to our day. While Andrea got ready and packed, I returned to the fish market and floating produce stand to snap some photos. I continue to be amazed at how everyday chores we think nothing of on land are done differently (and in a very "every day way") in Venice by the Venetians. On land, a truck delivers boxes of merchandise to the back of a shop directly into a store room. In Venice, that same chore has a few added steps of labor dictated by the transfer onto and off of relatively small delivery boats. Trash? Specialized trash boats ply the water to pick up rubbish bins thst must be wheeled to the waterway.

I also visited Ca Rezzonico, a palace next door to Palazzo Stern. It demonstrates how a noble Venetian family lived in the 1500-1800s period of the Venetian Republic. Tiepolo and Colonna painted four of the frescoed ceiling vaults, and the examples of furniture, painting, flooring...were exquisite examples of the Baroque period. I zipped through very quickly, not even making it to the second piano (floor) so that I might collect Andrea and mush on with our day.

We rushed through the Doge's Palace, and I personally could have spent at least another hour there, which is how Andrea felt about St. Mark's basilica. It was 5:00 pm by the time we arrived at the Accademia, primarily to see the above mentioned Veronese, but also to see the Titians, Tiepolos, Giorgiones and Bellinis, several about which Andrea teaches.

At 6:15, we left to pick up some sandwiches and drinks to take on the train. We retrieved our bags at the hotel, hopped on another vaporetto and arrived at Santa Lucia train station with 30 minutes to spare.

Looking forward, we expect our first day in Paris to be a little weird; lack of sound sleep will inevitably color the day. Alors, toute a l'heure!

PS-Andrea submitted a correction to my Burano blog; the snippet of lace she purchased is not from the 1800s, but the 1600s! How can something so delicate be so durable?