Second day in Venice

To begin our journaling of this second day in Venice we'll start with the happenings of last night. Our hotel has a 4 star rating and everything we experienced until bedtime was just that. Our king bed was two twin mattresses pushed together and they were rock hard. Sarah and I tried to sleep but each of our backs were hurting after just 5 minutes. The bed was so uncomfortable that I had to go ask the concierge if there was an alternative. He was a very nice and apologetic young man who showed me another room that was available but it had the same bed. We endured the plywood like bed for the night and the hotel manager changed our mattress out the next day while we were out. The bed is slightly better but it is quite clear that they purchased the beds last and their budget was already blown.
When we awoke our backs were stiff but nothing too serious, the discomfort was gone after a quick stretch. Sarah was irritated as this hotel came at a premium and the bed situation truly was the worse we have ever experienced. To add to it, following her shower she plugged in her personal hair dryer using an electrical socket converter and...... bzzzzz!! She was electrocuted and her hairdryer fried! I was in the bedroom and it sounded like she popped a bottle of champagne. She said a flame ignited around the plug as she inserted it the size of a large grapefruit, it left a black mark on her thumb and it was really scary for her. Following the electrical short the hotel hair dryer also failed to operate. So, we went on our way wet hair and all.
Okay, so now that we've complained enough I'm pleased to report that the rest of our day in Venice has been wonderful. We had breakfast at the hotel and then met for our tour near Saint Mark's Square. We did a 3.5 hour boat tour of three nearby islands. Our first stop was at Murano which is famous for its glassmaking. We were given a glass blowing demonstration and time to walk through some of the shops and other 'furnaces'. Then the boat took us to the island of Burano which is known for its lacemaking and bright colored buildings. This was our favorite of the 3 islands to spend walking the streets. The final stop of the tour was at Torcello which only has 15 residents. This is strange because there are many restaurants with large seating capacities, they must strictly accommodate tourists.
Once back to Venice we navigated our way to a sandwich shop called Birreria Forst, another Rick Steves recommendation. This was our cheapest meal of the trip where I got a full sandwich and a beer and Sarah got a half sandwich and a Coke Light, € 16. Here we sat next to an older American couple from Eugene, OR that had just come from the Cinque Terre, where we will be heading tomorrow. They had actually ran into Rick Steves while there and they showed us the picture the woman had taken with him. They have been in Italy since Easter Sunday and have not received any English speaking news channels in their hotel.s We filled them in on many facts surrounding the killing of Bin Laden. They had spoke briefly with some Italians about the news who were also jubilant about it. Also, we learned during our time with them that they just got back from the La Quinta arts festival and that much of her family lives in Sacramento, small world.
Sarah has long been anticipating the purchase of paintings while on this trip. There are many Venetian artists that set up their work just outside of Saint Mark's Square in front of the water. We looked at each of their paintings and set our hearts on one in particular, it is an oil painting on canvas of a classic Venice setting. Sarah got her picture taken with each of the artists we bought paintings from. She loves the personal connection of knowing that we have met the artist that painted the piece that will be in our home for years to come. Our parents and sisters can maybe look forward to a little art surprise when we get home. Thanks goes to Vince and Mary for X-Mas money that was specifically for the purchase of these paintings. We hope to get one more while in Spain.
Following Sarah's nap we departed on a leisurely stroll through the charming Venice streets to the other side of town where we had an 8:30 dinner reservation at a highly recommended trattoria (more formal than an osteria but not as formal as a ristorante). The meal was our favorite of this trip thus far. Once we had already finished our meal we began talking with a French couple seated at the table next to us, they are from Normandy. The husband spoke pretty good English and the wife was just learning. Our conversation carried on for over 2 hours and we exchanged information. They have been to various parts of the U.S. and really love the American way of life and learning more by speaking with us. It was really interesting to get their perspective on Bin Laden, America v. Europe, and life in general. While he spoke English pretty well there were phrases and words that we had trouble communicating and vice versa. It was fun breaking the sentences down so that we could all understand. Despite our slight language barrier we deeply connected with both of them.
Finally, on our walk back to the hotel we got gelato and a Nutella and banana crepe. Perfecto!