Today we do more laundry while drinking our coffee before heading out. We eat leftover pizza for breakfast and make a plan to have a more leisurely day. We buy a 24-hour pass to ride the water taxi and head to an ATM connected to a bank that has a partnership with our bank at home to obtain some euros.
The water taxi ride provides a nice breeze and a little relief from the heat. We get on and off as we see things we’d like to take a closer look at and when we find a nice place for lunch. The best little surprise is getting off to explore one of the little islands that are situated close to Venice, called Lido.
Lido has a sweet little vibe. There are streets, cars, gardens and hotels. There are no crowds to make our way through and we come upon a beach with little huts that can be rented for the day. Upon doing our research, we learn that it’s much less expensive to stay here and some tourists prefer it because in Venice, if you have a large amount of luggage, and since there are no cars, you will be hauling it to your hotel from your drop-off point, as we did! We can see that it would be lovely to stay here and take day trips to Venice to see the sights.
We get back from our water taxi excursion to shower and change before going to Baroque and Opera at Scuola Grande di San Teodoro. Though we don’t understand the words, it is a powerful concert with a touch of humor woven throughout, which is universal and therefore it doesn’t get by us. The performers are engaged with the audience, giving us little waves, rolling their eyes and giving us cute little precocious smiles at perfectly timed moments. There are three opera singers and nine musicians. They are wearing gorgeous,18th century costumes that are perfectly tailored to fit each performer. I try to capture the beauty in pictures as we are in the front row, but the pictures do not do justice. The theater is said to be the most prestigious concert hall in Venice. It really is beautiful with a long staircase to get to the main hall. We are giddy with the excitement of seeing such a performance after it is over.
Our last stop of the day is for dinner. It’s 10:15 in Venice and the streets are still crowded. We stop at a quaint looking restaurant and the gentleman at the door kindly tells us that unfortunately, they are unable to seat us. Something about his friendly demeanor makes me comfortable in slightly touching his sleeved arm as I say, “We understand. It’s getting late and you will be closing soon.” He says, “Hang on…you have touched my heart with your kindness. Let me go check with the kitchen!” He comes back about ten seconds later and says, “Yes! We are in luck!” and leads us to a table in the air-conditioning. We enjoy delicious pizza and wine before heading back to our hotel for our last sleep in Venice.