Ciao Venezia, Ya-sas Athens

Our last full day in Venice we spent our morning having a picnic in Campo de Celeste in the sun. We mangia'd on prosciutto, parmesan, goat cheese, crackers, and Fragolino, a strawberry flavored sparkling wine reminiscent of Boone's Farm (if you are unfamiliar, just think wine cooler).

Breakfast of Champions

We then tried again at the Gallery de Accademia, and success! we witnessed lots of dramatic, scandalous, horrifying,and beautiful works of art.

That's the last time I play darts with Stevie Wonder.

Our last night consisted of one last visit to La Merca to get the spritz taste out of our system, and then Venetian crudi (sushi!) at Naranzaria. Yum.

The next morning early we flew out of Marco Polo airport in Venice to arrive in Athens! Only a quick metro ride to Monastiraki, where our hotel is situated. Our hotel is a welcome site for sore eyes- it's lovely, quaint, quiet, and the bed is oh-so-comfy.

Our hotel room

The view from our hotel room

We climb a hill and enjoy a traditional Greek dinner of olives, feta, baked lamb with potatoes, and even an aperitif of ouzo, which was almost tolerable!

Trevor's beard is getting longer...

Dinner was lovely. The weather was less than ideal, so we hid in our hotel hoping for sun the next day.

When Bettie first asked Trevor about Venice, all he had to say was "I remember pigeons in St. Mark's Square. And a weird store with mannequins dressed in drag. That's about it." Day one brought us to the pigeons in St. Mark's. Day three brought us the mannequins in drag.
Each of the jackets on sale in the store had a price tag of 1500 Euro, roughly $2200.

Day three we traversed the crowds to visit Peggy Guggenheim's home with her ridiculously huge collection of art. Jackson Pollock, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, and tons of Picasso- it was all there.




Each room had a photo showing you what it looked like when Peggy was still alive, each photo with a different pooch. This became a bit eery as when you go out into her garden, she is buried there with about 8 of her "babies" as the stone monument puts it. We attempted to visit two other art museums, to be turned away twice. Once due to strike and another due to renovations. Clearly this called for some gelato to remedy the situation.



We also visited a beautiful chocolaterie. We then shopped for cheese, prosciutto, and olives for our picnic the next day, and rested up before heading out again to La Merca, probably Bettie's favorite bar ever.

We then wandered in circles until coming upon a quiet little restaurant, and had ourselves some mussels, clams, cuttlefish in squid ink (the sauce is pure black ink, and is weirdly savory and delicious).

On our way home, we happened upon a sort of warehouse looking place with curious noises leaking out. We opened the door and found ourselves thrown into the lives of the young Venetian left wing bleeding heart political opposer faction- complete with a bar, a band, anti-government posters, and tons of young hip Venetians. This was cool, and free-form impromptu jazz sessions are understandable and enjoyable despite language barriers.

Exhausted, we gave in to the energy of the crowd and headed home.

Venice, Day Doo-ay

Ahhh... Food, alcohol, and churches
Also glass.

We started day two on a boat to the Murano island where all of the glass blowing and craftmanship happens as apparently it was a safety hazard on the island of Venice.  The island of Murano was beautiful, quiet, and elegant as each and every shop was a showcase for a different glass artist's talent.  We happened upon a gallery that opened its studio to visitors and allowed us to witness a demonstration of the art of glass blowing.
The artist created multiple horse statues out of molten glass within the short time we visited the gallery.

Then  we headed back to the main island of Venice for some more artistic viewings.  Thanks to my dear friend Michelle, we were inspired to see Tintoretto's work displayed at Scuola Grande di San Rocco, basically a really old meeting place where this guy Tintoretto painted the walls and ceiling with magnificent works depicting old and new testament material. 

The fun part is they give you mirrors to more comfortably see the ceiling. Afterwards, we checked out the Leonardo da Vinci museum next door, which had working demonstrations of dozens of his inventions. After this Bettie was determined to have some "cichetti" and a "spritz" so that we did- we ate some Venetian hor d'oerves, including crudi (Venetian sushi!) and enjoyed a beverage that is the trendy new thing to young Venetians.

Then, on officially our third try to see if a certain bar was open, Huzzah! it was! La Merca is literally no more than a hole in a wall hiding around a corner from the gaudy and crowded Rialto bridge, and is open a mere three hours on days when the owners feel like it.

We were ever so lucky to get there before the crowd, and enjoy yet another spritz as the Venetian younglings began to crowd in.  Trevor made friends with a Venetian pooch and all was good with the world, although we apologize profusely to Olive in Chicago if she felt jealous.  Onwards to another highly recommended haunt, translating to "the witch", serving amazing pizzas with toppings such as pepperoni, cream, peas, tomatoes, sardines, etc etc, maybe not all on the same pizza or in that order.

Awesome.  

Au revoir Paris, ciao Venezia!

We finished up our final night in Paris with one last trip to the Eiffel Tower.

This text mentions Chicago. Can a French-speaker tell us what it means?

There are two ways to ascend the tower. You can take your babypurse out of your babydiaper and pay to take the babyelevator, or you can take your manwallet out of your manpants and manpay to take the manstairs. We climbed the stairs up to the "second floor", about 500 feet up, just as the sun set. Unfortunately, we couldn't go any higher via the stairs, so we decided to stop our ascent there.

At this point we were really only about 20 feet up. Also, this photo was NOT taken at the Mexico City olympics.

We caught a beautiful view of every landmark we had toured over the previous four days, as well as many that we missed.

As a finale to our final night in the city, the thousands of strobes on the tower began flickering in an extraordinary light show... the "bling" the bum had mentoned to us two nights before.

Bettie... I think that tower is flashing us.

Tuesday, we cleaned our apartment, did some laundry, did one last tour of the area, and headed to Charles de Gaulle.

Laundry never seemed like so much fun.

The flight was mostly uneventful. There are no seating assignments on EasyJet, so it was confusing to see everyone line up for boarding an hour before takeoff. We landed in Venice at 8:30 pm, caught the Alilaguna water taxi to the island, and found our way along a frightening, narrow, seaside walkway to our new room.

B'Day, mate.

Pietro, our host, gave us a map and showed us the locations of many fine restaurants and other locations around the city. We set out to find dinner. On our way, we encountered a befuddled old man who reminded us of Woody Allen.  Weirdly enough, he was in fact a Bostonian who was teaching English in a prep school in Saudi Arabia. He had been wandering the alleys of Venice for hours, and we used our newfound map to help him find hs home. Then we found a place that was still serving food, ate, and then returned to our room to crash.

And Six- Bongiorno Venezia!

We began exploring Venice by finding a spot for Bettie to get her coffee fix.  We then ventured to the Piazza del San Marco, in Napoleon's opinion Europes "finest drawing room" or something like that.

So many tourists. Stupid tourists. Especially those American ones. Why can't they.... oh. Wait...

It was lovely, but also an explosion of tourists from all over the globe.  Unfortunately, they were also doing renovations on each and every landmark, which definitely marred the scenery.

Ahhh the famous Grand Canal of Venice. Really makes you want to.... buy... a... Toyota....

 

 

 

 

 

So much scaffolding.

Undeterred, we toured the Basilica San Marco, then headed over to the Rialto, one of three main bridges across the Grand Canal.  Then we used a vaporetto, which is like a crossing guard for the grand canal, but its in a wobbly tiny boat.  This cost us measly 50 cents, and nearly a dunk in the grand canal. Fun!

In Soviet Russia Republic Italy, Gondolier tip YOU!

We then wandered aimlessly, indulged in gelato, and finally gave in the to Venice map gods and desperately headed home.

Edward Gelatohands

We had been conquered by the tiny alleys, weird street names, and impossible to maneuver passageways that make up Venice.  Humbled, we made an offering to the Venetian map gods, and carefully treked to a dinner spot recommended by our host, Peitro.  This was lovely, as it was close, served us a selection of traditional Venetian "cinchettie" or hordoerves of creamed cuttlefish, shrimp, anchovies, octopus, and something that probably was in the family of crawfish (likely a paleolithic trilobyte, according to the knowledge of Trevor).

What IS that thing?

  We were in heaven.  Along with a bottle of prosecco and homemade real Italian pizza, this soothed our tired soles. We returned to our room, grabbed the laptop, bought a bottle of wine and wrote this blog entry. And then we returned to our room for sleep and ... oh god.... we're future-blogging.

 

Un cochon merde ave mon tete!

Our goal today was to conquer the Louvre. The entire experience was overwhelming, spectacular, and crowded!

After literally elbowing our way through cranky crowds to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, we more calmly wandered the halls filled with the works of the French, Italian and Spanish masters.


We then took a quick glimpse at the Royal Palace, and made our way to Buttes Chaumont. On the way Trevor was the unhappy recipient of pidgeon poop, and he bravely approached a Parisian woman with a large purse. The conversation went something like this: "Excuse moi, mademoiselle, ummmmm.... un cochon, ummm, mierde, avec mon tete!!!! Tissue?".



Complete with gestures and a disgusting stain on his shirt, this was surprisingly effective and Trevor may have picked the only Parisian woman sans bebe carrying baby wipes! She saved the day. On to Butte Chaumont! This large park has a manmade grotto complete with waterfall, island in a manmade lake, and a gazebo overlooking the city from the highest point.




Plenty of Parisians were sunning and picnicking in the nice weather. All of the trees are in bloom, and the tulips are nearly past their peak- such a welcome site after an interminable winter in Chicago!

Best. Cheese. Platter. EVER.

Paris Day 3:


The day began with a trip to the Rodin museum. We were awestruck by the beauty of the museum mansion and gardens, and enjoyed sculptures such as the Thinker, the Kiss, and the Gates of Hell. The latter was a composition made by combining dozens of his previous works into two huge bronze doors.

"No difference between flammable and inflamable? That can't be right. What about invincible and vincible? Can one be vinced?"

That isn't Bettie in the foreground.

Two lovers. And the sculpture ain't bad either.

AFter the Rodin museum we headed to the Musee d'Orsey, a train station converted into an impressionist showcase of Manet, Monet, van Gogh, and many other artists. Photos were not allowed anywhere, but we did manage to sneak a couple shots of the roof to the beautiful station.

After Orsey, we went to the Crypt of Notre Dame and to St. Chapelle, which has some absolutely beautiful gold leaf and stained glass.

Chappelle's chapel... Chapelle's chapel... Ow!

The Arc d'Triomphe came next. We struggled up one flight of stairs after the next to make it up to the roof, but it was worth it.

So many stairs. So... many... stairs....

You could see every landmark of Paris and enjoy the sun, which we've had so little of in Chicago.

A radio tower? We don't know. A circus ride, maybe?

Finally, we had dinner at Astier, a traditional French restaurant with a nice view and THE MOST RIDICULOUS CHEESE PLATE EVER.

Bettie asks that you excuse her red wine teeth. DON'T LOOK AT HER RED WINE TEETH.

This is the last time we let Trevor write captions.

Paris, Jour Deux

The antique market

Day 2 in Paris began with a walking tour through Montemarte, and area with a long history of being inhabited by artists of all sorts. We wandered through an open air market for vintage furniture, jewelry, clothes etc, walked through the tourist crowds to Sacre Couer, a Catholic church built on the highest point of Paris.

 

The dome of Sacre Coeur from the inside.

The road up to Sacre Coeur was filled with tourists, shops, swindlers, and restaurants

After many, many winding stairs we arrive at the top, and could see the entire layout of Paris.

The view from Sacre Coeur. Sacre bleu!

People sunning themselves on the hill in front of Sacre Coeur

Afterwards, we recharged with crepes and nutella, and a bit later had beer and mussels. 

Moules tres bien!

We viewed a few of the old cabarets, including the most famous Moulin Rouge, windmill and all.

The Agile Rabbit, a famous nightclub

Gitchy gitchy ya ya ta ta.

  Much later that evening, around midnight, we visited the Eiffel Tower.  We were lucky to witness the "bling bling" as one Parisian put it of the lights on the tower at the turn of the hour.  It was ridiculously romantic, despite the homeless Parisian peeing into a bush nearby.  He was polite to us about it, at least!

The peeing hobo described the flashy lights as "Bling bling"

Caught in the act

!