October 31st, 2008
Uneventful
Yesterday was largely uneventful. At the end I returned to my hotel with the fall of darkness at five, and after taking a much needed shower, found it hard not to get into bed. My body was heavy, and my feet almost numb from the pain of three days of constant walking with twenty-some pounds of gear. I should have chosen better shoes and socks. In any case, I was incredibly tired, and the prospect of wandering around the maze-like streets of Venice in the dark without a torch were not so much tempting, so I crawled under the covers with the intention of resting a few hours until supper. However, a few hours became five, and eleven o’clock seemed a bit late for dinner, so I just turned over and made it a good thirteen. But all criticisms aside, that’s how I spent my birthday, for the most part asleep.
I did, however manage to see three of the biggest landmarks in so many hours, visiting Rialto, St. Mark’s Square, and All’Academia, all by foot. When you stick to the main throng of tourists, it’s hard not to find one of these places, actually. My entire food for the day was also consumed in a period of roughly half an hour: panini genovese, gelato, pizza. As authentic as tourism gets.
Now it’s light (and unfortunately completely overcast), and the delivery staff are already busy in the canal outside my window, delivering all the essentials by boat beer, spirits, and something in a lot of white bags that I’m going to guess is laundry? [Later investigation confirmed this was spot on.]
It says on my reservation email that breakfast is included with my stay. This would be much appreciated having not eaten for seventeen hours, but I’m not sure what time it’s served. I suppose I’ll pop down at eight and if the conditions are right, I’ll stop for a bite.
