Back in January of 2018, I was at Vicky’s condo in Naples, Florida, spending the week with her as at the time, I was living in the Panhandle. We sat in the living room, discussing plans for our upcoming trip to the UK in order to undertake some Wellington research at several archives in the south of England. Naturally, there would be a few weekends during the weeks we’d be away, meaning that the archives would be closed and we’d be free to do other things.
“Have you been to Beaulieu?” Vicky asked me.
“No. Put it on the list. Have you been to Osborne House? We could easily get there from Southampton.”
“Oh, great idea. I’ve never been. That’ll be fun!” For a while we were both silent, each of us checking our social media. After a bit, Vicky said, “You know, I’d love to go back to Venice. It’s been years since Ed and I went and I’d really like to see it again.”
“I’ve never been to Venice,” I said. And then we both looked up from our devices, our eyes met and it was a true Lucy and Ethel moment. In the space of the next couple of hours, we’d booked our hotel, flights and sketched out a working itinerary.
And so it came about that once we’d completed our Wellington research in England, we flew across the Channel and on to Venice.
Upon arrival, Vicky and I walked for what felt like miles through the terminal to the water taxi departure point. I have to say, my first glimpses of Venice were not particularly impressive.
But things looked up once we’d arrived at our home for the next week, the Hotel Ai Cavalieri.
After check-in, we were shown to our room, which was quite large, well appointed and very red.
“Is it me, or do you feel like we’ve landed in a brothel, too?” I asked.
“It’s a lot of red. Look, even the chandeliers are red.”
“Everything is red. Every thing.”
Except for the bathroom.
Feeling in need of a drink, Vicky and I headed to the terrace bar and, as we were in Venice, ordered two glasses of prosecco. Which were served to us along with nuts, crisps and canapes. Very civilized, indeed.
Eventually, we roused ourselves and headed out into Venice in order to explore our neighborhood.
A bit later, we found a restaurant that had been recommended to us by our concierge.
Vicky opted for the seafood risotto.
And I had the linguine with lobster. Both dishes were wonderful, the wine was excellent and the service was spot on. A really intimate spot with a neighborhood feel and freshly prepared food.
Finding your way around Venice by day is tricky enough, by night it’s almost impossible as everywhere looks the same as everywhere else. Literally. If you leave your hotel (any hotel) and make a left or a right (it doesn’t matter which) you will shortly come to a bridge over a canal. Crossing this, you will shortly come to a square which features shops, restaurants and the obligatory church. There will inevitably be a confusing number of streets, or alleyways, leading off of the square. Choose one (doesn’t matter which) and it will lead you to a canal which, once you cross the bridge, will bring you to another square that will look exactly like the square you just left. And so it goes. Eventually, Vicky and I did make it back to our hotel, and our red room, but of course, each time we ventured out, finding our way home again proved to be a challenge. Once, we left our hotel and walked for about twenty minutes, convinced we had Venice licked, only to find ourselves right back at our own front door. The adventure continues . . . .
