Venice Part 2: Pigeons, Parishes, Pizza

Today has been another long day, but I'm still really enjoying wandering with only a general sense of location and the knowledge that there are pizza places everywhere.

This morning we went out to a bakery and bought a huge loaf of bread to nom upon, bought a big ball of fresh mozzarella cheese and ate at the Piazzo de San Marco. It was kind of foggy all day and we got hassled by pigeons while we were eating, but we managed to keep them at bay. They have an incredible sense of knowing when a crumb is accidentally dropped. It will draw at least 8 per crumb.

We then explored the Basilica de San Marco, which was huge and detailed and wonderfully enormous. I could just imagine the priests walking through with candles, their vestments billowing behind them as they walked.

Then we went to an art museum, which was the collection of Peggy Guggenheim. Saw some works by Dali, Picasso and Jackson Pollock, among others. Going to the museum was a nice break from walking out in the cold and I did see a couple of pieces of art I really liked, such as Paduan Landscape by Umberto Boccioni and Solidity of Fog by Luigi Russolo.

Then we travelled to a another church, Santa Maria Della Salute, which was built in honor of the Virgin Mary because it was believed she saved Venice from the plague in 1630. We just saw the huge domes of it in the distance and decided we wanted to go there. I really like that about this city; that you can see something, say 'I want to see that,' and then just go. It's wonderfully easy to walk and explore here.

For dinner we went to a nice, cheap italian restauant, with checkered red tablecloths, dark wooden bar, candles on the table and wine lining the walls. We got two pizzas. Went to the grocery store for some snacks for tomorrow and came back to the hostel.

We have plans again to go out and walk around again, but some people have fallen asleep again. Last night we didn't end up going out, but instead watched an episode and a half of Rome, which was on HBO a couple years ago.

No solid plans yet for tomorrow and we just met a couple German guys staying in the hostel.