A Very Long Venetian Day

The day started as I described before, with the walk to work and the local café with the excellent cappuccini. After writing the previous post, I grabbed my sunglasses and walked outside. I walked until I got as lost as I could get and then took out a map. I was exploring the other side of the Grand Canal (which I snapped above). There really wasn't anything exciting or noteworthy that happened on the walk other than that I got a really nice look at the city. Tired, I returned to the office where Kyle works. Shortly thereafter the office went to lunch at the place they always have lunch, just down the road on a busy street. We each had a spritz and a toasted sandwich as we watched Venetians and tourists walk by. Pictured are my hosts, Kyle and Fabio.In the late afternoon Kyle took me to a rowing club called Settemari (Seven Seas) where he has been learning to row a traditional Venetian boat called a "caorlina". It is not a thing for tourists but for locals to enjoy. Besides none of the others there knew more than a few words of anything but Italian. Kyle taught me a few useful words when we arrived. Pictured is the boathouse.I climbed into the boat nervously though it was not because I have a fear of rowing or water or anything like that. I was nervous because I knew that whatever transpired over the following couple of hours, I was sure to screw up. Besides, I had never rowed standing up. However, with five other rowers I didn't expect my contribution to me critical. I was wrong about that. There really was no stopping to enjoy the view or a swim. Pictured above is me after we reached the mainland and got out of the boat to restock the water and get some beer. The bad news was that the bar was closed. So instead of getting a nice rest, we immediately climbed back in the boat and rowed back. The boat I was in is the one closest to me in the picture. I am sweaty because we had just rowed 4.6 km non-stop in the summer Sun. I felt like a wimp because everyone else seemed to not be sweating as much. Also, I could barely stand because my legs felt as though they would collapse at any moment. The return trip was difficult, but my rowing technique improved a little. The others said I did fine for my first time. In any event I paid close attention to the pointers the instructor gave when we were on shore. Ultimately, I was glad to have had the exercise and the truly Venetian experience.
But the day did not end with that.

Kyle and I walked for another five or so kilometers looking for a good restaurant. I try not to take too many pictures when I am out and about but I snapped this one quickly as we walked.
The restaurant we found was right next to the location of the next event we had planned to attend: an outdoor concert of a jazzy Venetian ska band called Ska J. We ate a bunch of delicious food and had a couple Italian beers. When the show picked up, we moved to where we would have a better view. We snapped a couple of photos of each other.

On the walk home, I took another picture of the Grand Canal from the other side of its biggest bridge.
We stopped off at San Marco's Square where we listened to the bell of its enormous clock tower sound with its characteristically rich and eerie notes unique to the midnight chime. When we got back to the apartment I took a very cold and refreshing shower, fell into bed and slept very well again. In just this one day I had walked about 20 km and rowed 9. Rowing class meets again on Thursday and so I plan to take it easy for today to save up my energy. However, there are some fun plans for this evening. More about that tomorrow :)