When in Venice!

Arrivaderci!

 

Flew from Dublin to Venice on an easy early morning flight. PS. Don't ever stay in Swords, just north of the Dublin airport, unless you're a rude old hag. 

Had a wonderful anniversary in Venice and certainly the best one yet! Woke up around 8 so we wouldnt miss a beat and were surprised to see that our hotel (Tivoli) had a free breakfast. A few pounds of ham and cheese later,  we were on our way.

Went down to St Marks square to check things out before the crowds hit it. Twas a balmy 29'C by the time we made it there and started sweating along with the other 5.9 million tour groups in the area. Got totally lost,then found, and made our way to our quiet neighborhood for a gondola ride from my newest friends, Salvatore. These boats cost $35k and take a year to make. We thought it'd be cool to float down the Bow in one, so we laid down the deposit yesterday :) Great boat ride and certainly worth the effort!

Headed on a quest after that to check out the Rialto Bridge and find some non-glutenous pizza and minds were blown once we found it. Amazing stuff served by our Asian Italian friends at Osteria All'Ombria!

Then back to our hood for some cappuccino and Graham's first espresso. Since he lacks energy at the best of times, we figured that a little shot of caffeine and 2 packs of sugar would be a good test. Ran a few laps around the campo, played soccer with kids, laid down 100 pushups, and he was calm again. 

Theeeen back to the Tivoli to clean off the sweat and we were off to the garden for some beer and wine. Then to a bar for a quick prosecco, then to another bar for antipasto and a bottle of vino biancco... wait, we're sounding like drunks but remember we just came from Ireland... and then off to dinner... Where they served prosecco by the litre! Mamma Mia what a good find. Had prawns and spaghetti for dinner and it was amooozing. We're still unclear if we are supposed to tip so that's helping the wallet. 

It only made sense to wind the night down with (what, more?) prosecco at another Osteria, so we did. No troubles falling asleep last night, thats for sure. PARENTS Stop reading here! French assholes beside us must have been on their honeymoon or a mattress testing business trip... Otherwise the bolts holding their bed together were rattling on their own, and the headboard was slamming the wall, and the woman was yelling instructions to her... ahem... subordinate, that this blog shall never repeat. The subordinate appeared to fall asleep (pass out?) shortly after the finale, as in maybe 3 seconds after the game ended. Hope he didn't have to sleep all night with the dijon mustard everywhere. 

PARENTS resume reading here! Packed up pretty loudly early this morning, ate 2 more pounds of prosciutto and mozzarella and are now on the train to Milan and then Levanto/Cinque Terre! James - I'm sporting our matching cat face tank tops to see if the beautiful people of Milan will call me fashionable. Drew and anyone else obsessed with cats - I can grab you one if you'd like?

Ciao!

G and a sleeping J