Italy- Venice

We had no specific plans for Venice- just to walk around getting lost in the maze of narrow, winding alleyways.  It was a beautiful city of canals and bridges, although not a terribly practical city.  It's water-damaged, rundown buildings give it a real charm unlike any other city but you have to wonder how much longer it can continue given the lack of upkeep (partly due to its protected state) and also the fact that hardly anyone actually lives there any more- it is almost like a big theme park that exists solely for tourists.

Bridge of Sighs

Piazza San Marco

Marble pillars of St Mark's basilica

After a day of wandering, we found a popular little outdoor bar where we stopped for an aperitif and a sandwich to nibble.  The drink of choice was a spritz- a dry. sparkling prosecco wine with some aperol spirits which gives it a distinctive orange colour.

Spritz at the bar Al Merca

Then it was off to dinner where we had the best meal of our entire trip- fresh pasta, fresh seafood and a nice espresso.

Balsamic orecchiette with ham

Balsamic shrimp

Mussels and pasta

Liver and onions with toasted potato bread

The next day started with a visit to the food market which was full of fresh fruit and of course, seafood.  We went past the square which we had stopped for a drink the previous night to find it mostly underwater.  

We wandered some more, walked over the Rialto Bridge and did a bit of souvenir shopping.  Unfortunately it was quite overcast and rainy, and the wind was chilling, but it was still really nice to walk around.  We also took a ride along the Grand Canal on the vaporetto- not just a poor man's version of a gondolier ride, but also warmer, drier and sheltered from the wind.  We also had an MP3 audio guide on my iPhone so we could listen to a description of the buildings and galleries that we sailed past.

Always time for more coffee

Rialto Bridge

Pizza for dinner