We want to see the Peggy Guggenheim Museum today and maybe do more of the city walk we started the other day. The day shapes itself, just the way we like it. 

//Stefan Note: waiting for our bus

We barely miss the boat, but we enjoy the wait. Today feels calm.

//Stefan Note: LL’s favorite thing is double checking the map to make sure i know where we are going.  Also if you come to Venice take a pic of the map; you can’t find it anywhere.

Once we reach the neighborhood near the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, we decide to grab a quick bite to eat before going to the museum. The sandwiches are very disappointing, but Oly is happy as we sit on a bench in a square. Then we pass by a cool place that just does pasta to go, in Chinese food containers. We get some, and it’s awesome. Highly recommend this place, Venice Pasta Academy. 

We walk along beautiful canals until we reach a small opening in a wall, marked Peggy Guggenheim Museum. We step through the door into a small enclosed yard. I already love this place.

//Stefan note: One of the coolest things in the museum were pictures of how the house looked when peggy lived here.  Art was nice but some of it odd.

This museum is really exceptional. It’s in Peggy Guggenheim’s home, which is a masterpiece on its own. Almost every room displays a photo of what the room looked like in the 60s, when it was still her home. The rooms are filled with an impressive collection of modern art. I love it. Lillian is also into it, but Oly just wants to run around like a crazy person.

The house backs up to the Grand Canal, and we hang out there a few minutes to try to enjoy it. The kids are in the mood to wrestle, so I want to get out of here before someone or something gets hurt.

We walk to the tip of this particular island where there’s another (another!!) amazing church. It really is unbelievable.

We do a bit of jewelry shopping. There are some nice shops over here that seem more artisan (who really knows). Lillian picks out a necklace. Then when she finds another type she wants, we decide we’ll “share” the two. They’re Murano glass and very pretty. She loves the minutes of girl time and insists on more. Now we only have a few days in each place we will stay, so it’s much more difficult to commit the time to spend away from Stefan and Oly. Lillian suggests we go to dinner just us, and Stefan quickly objects. I don’t think he and Oly have as much fun without us around.

Oly once again falls asleep in Stefan’s arms, so we stop for a snack at a covered place on a plaza. These places feel very touristy, but the service and drinks are pretty good. 

And we pass another amazing church.

We walk to the Ponte Vecchio that is covered with shops, similar to the bridge in Florence, but not nearly as long. Once we pass over, we have to walk through several blocks of the same madness.

In a few minutes we hit the market stalls. Buy bananas and each kid eats two. Perfect snack on the go!

Rather than paying for an overpriced gondola ride (80-100 Euros for 30 minutes), we take the gondola that crosses the Grand Canal for 4 Euros. It’s a quick ride, but exhilarating nonetheless. I love imagining people who take this route to work each day.

//Stefan note: pro tips for the cheapos, como yo

//Stefan notes: oly super pumped to see one more church

It’s a little early for all the restaurants, so we meander a bit. We walk past a Basilica. The kids play a game on a bridge, counting the boats that pass underneath.

We walk to a dinner spot, Osteria Ale Do Marie, that is in an area clearly less touristy and more of a real neighborhood. We arrive 2 minutes after they open, so we’re the first ones there. We are seated in the back garden. The two men running the place are amazing. The server helps us select a wine, but the chef is the one to bring out the bottle. While opening the bottle, the chef told us that we had to order meat to do this bottle of wine justice. He will make us an amazing steak. How can we say no to that?!

The chef does this amazing ceremony of swirling the wine in a glass, pouring it into another glass, swirling it, then pouring it into a third. None of this is for our benefit. He’s in his own world. He smells, approves and hands the glass to Stefan. The wine is great. He pours us each a glass and then a small amount in the third glass for him. We all salud and he carries his glass back to the kitchen where we see him share it with the other kitchen staff. It’s by far the most lovely wine-opening experience I’ve ever had.

Our steak and the kids gnocchi are very good. But by far the service is the best thing here. And the ambiance on the back garden is calm and amazing. Every seat is full out here, while the inside remains empty. Summer nights, I suppose.

We walk home, criss-crossing the tiny streets until we make our way to the water. We pass the citadel, which looks really neat at night.

Then we do the inevitable: stop and get the kids gelato. The walk home is beautiful, and I realize I’ve fallen in love with this city.