Day 6 The WORST morning EVER!!
Moving day. We were super organized for our move to Verona....so organized that we decided to leave at 7:30 AM for our 8:50 AM train thinking that we could breakfast at the station and just relax while waiting for the train. We paraded out with our bags with me being the last out, closing the door, walking through the foyer to join my travel buddies outside. The big outside door closed and I realized.....OMG....I LEFT MY PURSE ON THE TABLE!!!!! We were now locked outside the apartment with my purse containing the train tickets not to mention all the other valuables in my purse. I freaked out like I haven't freaked out in a very long time with Annette and Anabel being oh so calm and calming and reassuring despite that this was a DISASTER!! I called the apartment manager who had met us on our arrival. She didn't live in Venice and wouldn't be arriving for 1 1/2 hours because she had another check in to do. The house cleaner would also not be arriving until 9:30 or 10. Annette and Anabel decided to go get coffee. I stayed behind to fret and pace. The apartment door wasn't locked, just closed so if we could only get into the foyer perhaps we could access the apartment. I began ringing the doorbells of the multiple apartments in the building despite that we had never seen another human being in the building. I alternated ringing and pacing for the next 20 or so minutes hoping beyond hope that someone would answer, if for no other reason than it was beginning to rain and we were outside. A and A returned with coffee and croissants and soothing, ineffectual words. I rang doorbells some more and suddenly the door flew open and a wild man wearing skimpy black underwear was standing there screaming, "BASTA, BASTA" (enough) followed by a torrent of what I assumed was violent cursing in Italian while I tried to explain (in Italian) what had happened. He stormed back to his apartment but we were inside the foyer where it was dry and a bit warmer. And the apartment door??? We realized that the knobs on Italian doors don't turn. They are just handles for pushing or pulling so we were still not able to retrieve my purse. We gave in to the idea that there was nothing more we could do but wait for the cleaning lady and hope that the wild man hadn't gone back to his apartment for a weapon.
The cleaning lady arrived, we retrieved the purse, walked to the vaporetto stop in the rain and boarded a vaporetto for the train station where we purchased tickets for a train leaving at 10:50 arriving in Verona at 12.
We had a perfectly pleasant train ride and taxi ride from the station to the apartment where we were met by the manager and my will to live was beginning to return. Our apartment was gorgeous! And spacious!
We were thrilled with it! We settled in a bit then went out to find a place for a (very) late lunch.
We found a restaurant within 200 feet of our building that looked promising and proceeded to have a fantastic lunch. Annette and I shared an appetizer of baked oysters with a topping that included cream and truffles...delicious.
We all had various excellent pasta dishes in addition to sides of grilled veggies and a salad of onion and tomatoes (MUCH better than it sounds).
We also had an excellent local white wine, of course. Then there was a dessert of panna cotta with blueberry sauce.
We found our grocery store just across the river not far from the apartment where we got essentials for the kitchen. It's a picturesque little walk.
By now it was late in the afternoon so we organized ourselves in our new lodgings and spent a quiet evening catching up with family and relaxing.
Moving day. We were super organized for our move to Verona....so organized that we decided to leave at 7:30 AM for our 8:50 AM train thinking that we could breakfast at the station and just relax while waiting for the train. We paraded out with our bags with me being the last out, closing the door, walking through the foyer to join my travel buddies outside. The big outside door closed and I realized.....OMG....I LEFT MY PURSE ON THE TABLE!!!!! We were now locked outside the apartment with my purse containing the train tickets not to mention all the other valuables in my purse. I freaked out like I haven't freaked out in a very long time with Annette and Anabel being oh so calm and calming and reassuring despite that this was a DISASTER!! I called the apartment manager who had met us on our arrival. She didn't live in Venice and wouldn't be arriving for 1 1/2 hours because she had another check in to do. The house cleaner would also not be arriving until 9:30 or 10. Annette and Anabel decided to go get coffee. I stayed behind to fret and pace. The apartment door wasn't locked, just closed so if we could only get into the foyer perhaps we could access the apartment. I began ringing the doorbells of the multiple apartments in the building despite that we had never seen another human being in the building. I alternated ringing and pacing for the next 20 or so minutes hoping beyond hope that someone would answer, if for no other reason than it was beginning to rain and we were outside. A and A returned with coffee and croissants and soothing, ineffectual words. I rang doorbells some more and suddenly the door flew open and a wild man wearing skimpy black underwear was standing there screaming, "BASTA, BASTA" (enough) followed by a torrent of what I assumed was violent cursing in Italian while I tried to explain (in Italian) what had happened. He stormed back to his apartment but we were inside the foyer where it was dry and a bit warmer. And the apartment door??? We realized that the knobs on Italian doors don't turn. They are just handles for pushing or pulling so we were still not able to retrieve my purse. We gave in to the idea that there was nothing more we could do but wait for the cleaning lady and hope that the wild man hadn't gone back to his apartment for a weapon.
The cleaning lady arrived, we retrieved the purse, walked to the vaporetto stop in the rain and boarded a vaporetto for the train station where we purchased tickets for a train leaving at 10:50 arriving in Verona at 12.
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| Very nice kitchen |
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| One of two bedrooms |
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| Living-dining room |
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| Living room |
We found a restaurant within 200 feet of our building that looked promising and proceeded to have a fantastic lunch. Annette and I shared an appetizer of baked oysters with a topping that included cream and truffles...delicious.
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| Tomato onion salad |
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| Grilled veggies |
We found our grocery store just across the river not far from the apartment where we got essentials for the kitchen. It's a picturesque little walk.
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| Threatening skies but we escaped rain |
By now it was late in the afternoon so we organized ourselves in our new lodgings and spent a quiet evening catching up with family and relaxing.
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