Day 37: Venice

It was another magnificent day in Venice.  We headed out in search of the seafood markets. First stop the Rialto Bridge, the biggest bridge in Venice that was relatively quiet as it was still a little early for the locals.  Many of the shops along the route were only just opening up, so we didn't get to see it in full swing.  We happily missed the tourists.  The fish markets were great.  The seafood was cheap in comparison to home and there were lots of different types of pesce including snails, scampi, vongole and mussels by the bag load, and things I'd never seen before.  It wasn't as big as the Sydney markets and quite frankly I think ours are better, but Venice is much smaller than Sydney so its not surprising.  Rick was like a kid in a candy shop and just wanted to buy up and eat up, despite repeatedly telling me he's going on a diet when he gets home.  Given we are only here for two more nights, we sadly made the decision to keep moving and wait for that impressive cook up back in Sydney.  The fruit markets were next door and much the same.  Delicious and tempting, but not to be indulged on today.  We made our way out along one of the walks on the main tourist map they gave us when we checked in.  It took us past impressive churches, piazza's and lots of shops.  There were tourists everywhere but it never felt too crowded or too hot.  Its ridiculously hot in the sun, but the nice thing about Venice is there's always shade to be found as you walk down the narrow streets.  We crossed magical bridges and watched the gondola's float by.  We explored tiny streets through little openings.  We both noted how bad the rising damp and bulging buildings were. There are clamps holding buildings together everywhere, which is a little concerning for the long term and very sad to see this magical city struggling in parts.  We stopped for lunch at at cafe that was more of a sandwich shop.  We thought we would save our pennies for our big night out on seafood.  We much appreciated the air conditioning and toilet stop and it was the first lunch the kids have eaten in a while without complaint.  Bonus. They are sick of Italian food and can't wait for London.  We made our way around to a beautiful church all the way at the end of the island that looks back at St Marks Square.  It was breathtaking. Boats passed, the world went by and I felt like we were in a movie as we sat on the grand steps in front of this church.  A beggar came past and Scarlett gave her a coin she had found on the ground. Got to love that.  Zachie started colouring in and finally stopped complaining for the first time all day.  Hallelujah. In another lifetime, I will come here again via a gondola, dressed in white linen with a picnic basket, bottle of wine, Rick and no kids.  It was the perfect setting to chill out and see Venice at its best. We walked back around to San Marco's square past a classical street performer (violin) and it was beautiful.  St Marks Square was busy although most people were hugging the buildings as the sun was just too intense.  We made our way home and chilled out for an hour or so before we headed back out for dinner.  And that's when things went pear shaped.  The first restaurant we walked to was booked out when we arrived and all too hot anyway.  No problems.  The next few restaurants were a bit dodgy and had no atmosphere.  The list went on, with one restaurant taking 50 minutes to find because the iphone got so terribly lost. And when we did finally find it, it was extortionate, so the hunt continued.  In the end we walked for nearly 2 hours in a circle and I was so over it.  Boohoo.  What a difference to last nights experience. The kids had a gelato and we headed home to bed.  It was devastating and just one of those nights where the stars didn't align.  We haven't had many in 5 weeks, its just a shame it happened in glorious Venizia.  Hopefully things will be better tomorrow night on our last night in Italy (sniff sniff).