We visited one day with Vincenzo. We ran into his friend, who invited us to her apartment for cool drinks. When our bellies start to grumble, we moved to a more local place for pasta, spinach ravioli and pizza. The meal was so divine that we will be dreaming about for months to come. The gelato that followed was heavenly. But the time we were finished, the sun had set, allowing us to glimpse Venice under a nighttime scene that was almost ethereal. Venice has an energy unlike any other city. It felt magical and mystical, like there were hidden secrets beneath the surface. The only other city that has felt that way to me was NOLA.
The first day was long. The girls are not used to extended periods out in such crowded locations. But they mostly handled it in strides. Our train ride was delayed. We ended up on the midnight train back to Padua. The train was packed. We almost had to stand some folks moved from their seats (the seats are in groups of 4). We realized why quickly (the one remaining gentleman did not seem to know how to bath). We were forced to move too. From our new seats, we watched several others sit down and then leave. The girls were beyond tired and I was initially worried about a meltdown. But it was so funny watching this, we ended up laughing so hard, we had tears rolling down our faces.
Our second visit to Venice, a few days later, got off to rather bumpy start. Travel can be like that. Delays, moods, 90 degree weather, they can all cause things to be a little rough. But we pulled it together and ended up having another magical day. Initially we thought we missed out on the palace visit and gondola ride (we were late), but it ended up to all be perfect. We decided to make our way and see if we could still make it. It was a long walk, so we got to wander through the city . We passed by buildings and alleys and saw things beyond description. The energy of that place, even in our focused walking to find our way, we were in awe of it all.
We ended up seeing the extravagant palace, when the ticket agent let us enter, five hours later. We were all gob smacked the magnificence of it all. We were delayed on our gondola ride but that ticket agent was also kind enough to rebook us for a later departure. We decided to look for food since we had time. We stopped in a shop along the way. The two Italian shopkeepers , who were kind and sweet, gave us a restaurant tip. "Go through the arch, turn down the next alley, go to the end. There you will see a restaurant. It is not as touristy." Off we went and oh my, we had the scrumptious meal. We all knew then and there what all the hype about Italian food was about. We made sure to return to thank these Italian fairy godmothers. Before the gondola ride there more mouthwatering gelato and we did some shopping for friends and family (and ourselves) back home.
When we were finally able to do our gondola ride, we met a young pregnant couple who would be on the same ride. Not long into the journey, she asked if I was a healer. She was intuitive and sensed some things about me. I ended up giving a spontaneous reading to them about their unborn baby. They were both thrilled to hear what I had to say and it confirmed what they had been feeling. Having those experiences with the girls present is extremely important to me. I want them to be open to things unseen, to their own intuition and the magic of things unfolding in the moment. We also met a family from upstate New York, while waiting in line who, invited us for lunch when we next visit. It seems the one woman may have been the the teacher for my best friends son. Unbelievable how small the world is. Had we been on time, we'd of not had those experiences. Letting go of plans and going with the flow is not always easy but important to remember to try to do.
It was a long but special day; we got back to our place tired and hot but happy and grateful that we got to wander the streets of this extraordinary and memorable city.
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