Not Aqua Alta but.........

We Left Soave at our usual around, 11:30, elected to drive highway, and arrived here with little excitement. well until er arrived here, anyway. We had elected to bypass the cheaper parking and park in the Roma garage because of the rain, however finding it is a little tricky and we ended pulling in to a garage that was 72 Euro a day! Lord, we managed to get out of that one without paying at all, people get so disgusted with you! Anyway parked (If you park in the Tronchetto: take a photo of your location, and park at the "E: end) found a space quickly, but then walked & walked. We purchased visitor passes, at 30 Euro each it seemed a better value than the 7Euro/trip option. Then we had to take a people mover (or walk in the rain) to the tune of one Euro each, this was new to me, and a charming fellow led un in the direction of the Vaporetto line we needed. We arrived to a charming hotel, Just my idea of what it might be like to live here in one of the long the canal, a charming little courtyard, a opening to a small canal, and rooms, the size of which I have never seen in Europe. The only downside is that the room is terribly noisy, which does not bother me one whit, but kept Jodi awake all night. We got settled in and took off walking, I was hungry. We wandered around this neighborhood, Dosororo looking for a neighbor hood experience where Jodi would also eat. It began raining in earnest again and we fell into a little neighboor hood bar where we ordered a glass of wine and a pizza. I heard a commotion and the italian word for burned and out came out pizza, all brown and bubbly on top, just the way Jodi likes it. We watched the locals come in for a coffee, sambuca, glass of wine toss it down and leave. Others dropped a few coins in the slot machines that littered the room. It rained even harder and in came a lady with a little gray muzzled black dog that Jodi had to fuss over. Finally it let up and we wandered to the Guidecca, an area I knew from before, took some photos, got soe money out of the ATM and generally loitered our way towards Basilica Santa Maria della Salute, a big white church built in thanks for deliverance from the plague in the 1630s.As we approached there was a man sitting on the ground playing a violin and Jodi noticed he had a CD for sale, so a nice souvenir for 10 Euro. We made our way from there to Piazza San Marco. Many of the tourists were gone and it was beautifully peaceful there, with bands playing to the patrons of some of the outdoor cafes surrounding the square. I thought it way too cold to sit, but there were some stalwart folks drinking and listening. We wandered, looked and took it all in, each in her own way. I wanted to wander enough to get off the tourist trap food route, but alas, I failed. We entered a cute little place called Anima Bella, that advertised lasagna on the window, but it was curiously absent when the little lady told us what was available. I was failry tolerant of this until we got a bill for 44 Euro or a bowl of spaghetti with cream sauce and about 1/4 cup of mushroom, Jodi's cheese pizza and a small bottle of Bolla wine. Seriously that bottle of wine imported from Italy would have been less than $6.00 at home. Live and Learn I guess. We wandered back and found our way back to the Piazza where Jodi became fascinated with these little lighted thingies that she bartered with this man for, much to his consternation. We bought a few for Ghianna, et al, and then she tried to barter, trade or make a better deal with the others, finally they were closing ranks and I thought it best to depart!