We got a late start today, as Tali still is quite jet-lagged - she woke up at 2 in the morning, and didn't get back to sleep for more than four hours! So by the time we did even a brief meditation and got ready to leave, it was already about 1:30pm.
Nevertheless, our plan today was to spend the day on the island of Burano, and possibly also Torcello or Murano. We walked out of he apartment into St. Marks, and couldn't resist photographing some of the fabulous costumes we saw people wearing, so by the time we made it to the ticket booth for the ferry, it was already a bit after 2:00pm.
For some reason, we blindly decided to go ahead with the ferry ride to Burano today, despite the fact that the trip takes more than an hour each way, and we have a concert to go to tonight at 8:30. We got on the ferry at 2:15, and we were to change ferries after about 45 minutes' travel. We got off our ferry, and quickly went to the toilet, but by the time we returned, the ferry to Burrano had already come and gone!
The next one wouldn't arrive for another hour, so we decided to scrap our plan, and immediately head back to St. Marks. Close to 4:00pm, we were back in the square, photographing people wearing great costumes, all over again!
We began a leisurely stroll towards San Vidal Church in San Marco sestiere, where the concert was to take place, with the idea of finding some where to eat along the way. We headed towards a Hosteria I had read about, that was in a very quiet, local neighborhood with very few tourists. We managed to find the restaurant after a bit of searching, but they didn't open for dinner until 8pm, and we'd arrived here at 4:30! There was an excellent coffee shop right nearby, so we did have a spot to sit and talk while we decided what to do.
We headed on towards the church, now planning to stop somewhere else along the way for dinner. Unfortunately, our casual choice for dinner turned out to be only mediocre by Venetian standards, but that was still all right for us. We walked over to the concert after dinner, and enjoyed the performance of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", by Interpreti Veneziani, a string ensemble of very professional local musicians, even though it felt a bit like just another day at the office for these talented players.
Our attempts to do something special for Valentine's Day hadn't worked out totally as we planned, but it was a good lesson about how easy it is to feel disappointed when we hold on to plans and expectations, as if they possess some magic potion for happiness. The present is fluid and changing constantly, and it's better not to put too much store in any rigid mindset or plan - whether during our travels, or just in our day-to-day lives at home.
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