Lost in Venice

​9/29/17 Friday
We woke up a little before 8am to the sounds of the morning rush wafting in through our windows. We showered in a tiny shower that had 4 curtains too many. I made a coffee in the moka machine. We dressed and set out after the coffee was gone. We strolled casually with our eyes open for a good breakfast spot. Eventually, we came to Bar Aperol, which is right near the famous Ponte Rialto bridge. We got a pair of cappuccinos and a pair of chocolate croissants. The croissants were nearly as good as the ones we had at Matteo’s. Almost. We hung out a while, trying to formulate a plan. We didn’t come up with much, but I ordered a slice of margherita pizza. When it arrived, we paid up and walked out.

One of the MANY gondolas in Venice.

​Our plan was just to get lost a while. To help in that regard, we found a bottle of wine in a gelateria. We shared a cone of chocolate gelato, and pushed the cork into the wine bottle. We wandered around sipping wine and looking at stuff. We came across some fabulous structures, and some totally unfabulous tourists. We meandered our way southeast-ish to the park that showed on our map. The park was great because we didn’t pay to get into the art exhibit, which everyone else seemed to be doing, so it was pretty empty. We enjoyed that. However, by the time we had gotten all the way across the city, our feet were a little tired, and we were hot from baking in the sun all morning.

When in Rome...or Venice..drink wine. When you don't have glasses, improvise.

Rob wanted me to stand here to get a picture. It was wicked slippery so I'm really just trying not to fall into the canal.

Rob does his best to match his outfit to surrounding buildings.

Always trying to get in that photobomb.

​We tried to figure out how to get back home so we could get off our feet and into the shade for a bit before dinnertime. We turned back the way we came, which worked for a little while. Eventually, we had to turn off the path which followed the coast, and head into the center of the city to cut through. We had a general idea of the direction we wanted to go, but formulating an exact plan is beyond the scope of this trip. So we zigged and zagged in the best approximation of home that we could come up with. We checked the map periodically to see if we were on track. Each time we checked, we couldn’t pinpoint our actual location, so that was useless. However, mission accomplished; we were completely lost. Eventually, we opted to just pick a direction and walk that way for as long as we could. Surely this would lead us to open water, which would make it much easier to figure out where we actually were. In the end, it worked out. We found ourselves by the docks at Fondamente Nove. This is where we arrived yesterday, so getting home from here was a familiar route, which took about ten minutes. Mandy got a tiramisu flavored gelato for the walk.

Doge's Palace

Saint Mark's Basilica

After we felt good and rested, and made sure it was after 7 (so we would be sure to find food anywhere), we changed and headed back out. Our first order of business was to find boat tickets for the following day. There’s only one line that goes to the airport, so we wanted to be sure we knew what stop we should get on at to get the right boat. After we confirmed that the closest stop to us services the airport, we bought tickets, and then checked the schedule to find the best option. Then we set out in search of dinner. We opted to stick near to our place, so we wouldn’t get lost again. We ended up going to a spot we had passed several times; Restaurante la Colonna. We ate outside. Of course we shared another bottle of wine, a house white. It was pretty good. To eat, I ordered penne with pesto that I liked, although it wasn’t quite as good as the trofie in Cinque Terre. I ordered spaghetti alla carbonara that was very good. The second dish was a calf steak with a creamy gorgonzola sauce that was outstanding. Of course we ordered dessert, too. I ordered tiramisu that was very good. I ordered salame con cioccolato, because I was curious. It was like vanilla and chocolate biscotti covered with chocolate. I thought it was good but I liked Rob's tiramisu better. I very much enjoyed it.
At some point during dinner, one of us had mentioned Boston, and the ladies sitting next to us chimed in. They were both from Maine. We chatted for quite a while with them about their travels, our travels, and dogs. They were quite friendly, though we never got their names. We eventually got our checks, and parted ways, wishing them well on their journey. We wound our way back home and worked on preliminary packing before bed. We left out only what we would need for the morning. Then, we fell asleep.​