Second Full Moon Over Venice

Miles from Home - 5420.52
Firsts / Highlights - Deeper exploration of Venice, Muarno, Vaparetto through Grand Canal
Miles Ridden - 0 miles
Vertical Feet - 0 ft
Route - No route today.
People - Brad Frazier


This post is from June 4-6, 2009.


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Here is a real sign that I have been in Italy for more than a typical vacation. You may remember that last time I was in Venice, I wrote a post called The Circus Has Arrived with a picture of a (nearly) full moon rising over the city. That was just before the start of the Giro. As Brad and I were eating dinner in Venice last night, I looked up and saw a full moon. I am quite certain that I have never before experienced 2 full moons on the same trip, much less in Venice.

The trip to Venice started a little rough when we arrived to find our hotel room reservation had been canceled. There was something going on in the city that caused nearly every alternate room to be filled. We found one on the Lido (a ferry ride away), but it was 400 euro / night ($560). That obviously wouldn't work, so we ended up getting a room in Mestre - 2 stops away by train.

That could have been a tense situation, but fortunately, Brad and I were able to get assistance from the Travel Center back in Steamboat. It was a good test of travel flexibility, and fortunately, I think we passed.

Most of our time in Venice was spent wandering and getting lost... just as you should. We ran into an interesting contemporary art exhibit from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, but we didn't do too many structured attractions.



Our random wanderings brought us to the same plaza both evenings (Campo Santa Margherita). It had a great vibe with people hanging out, kids playing football and dancing and lots of cafes. There was a performance art exhibit going on that I didn't quite understand, but it involved bees. When I went over to investigate, a woman approached me and kept saying, "man bee" and handing me a jumpsuit. She wanted me to join a dozen other people to dress up in a yellow jumpsuit, wear a a black helmet and circle around the plaza buzzing while she and a few other people danced. That would normally be my queue to leave, but since we were so close to Rome I remembered the old saying about "doing as Romans do", so I did it. Fortunately, Brad didn't think to grab his camera, so I don't think there is any direct evidence.

For those of you who won't let it go, here is a picture of my bald head taken at the art exhibit.