Wednesday
31st September
Venice
Some
days can just go from bad to worse. During our visit to the
Archaeological Museum off St Marks Square, Nic noticed a very
interesting Roman relief; a sculpture of a bull being stabbed by a
big fella (who also has his fingers unceremoniously up the nose of
the tortured beast), at the same time he is being bitten by a snake,
meanwhile a dog is going in for a big bite at the site of the stab
wound, and to top it off, a scorpion is biting his balls. Talk about
kicking someone when they are down!
We
spent most of the day visiting the final three museums of St Marks
Square: the Correr, the Archaeological and the Biblioteca Nazionale.
This was followed by a visit to a little cafe that provided,
arguably, the best coffee of the trip so far. We're falling for
espresso.
Tonight
we took the boat bus along the grand canal to view the lights of the
city .... ahhh romantic Venice. (wheeen the moon hits your
eye like a big pizza pie, it's amore!)
Dinner
was also a a highlight. On our wandering though the streets we
stumbled into a small restaurant filled with mostly locals and only a
few tourists. We ended up with another best meal of the trip. A
simple octopus salad between us to start followed by the best lasagna
ever tasted and a grilled seafood platter to die for. All washed down
with a bottle of Pino Grigio. The wait staff also added a little
sangria to begin and some home made grappa (fire water) to finish.
We happily stumbled home to our hotel just off the square.
Venice
has been a real treat and a place to wander for hours. Certainly not
the gayest city in the world (although all the designer stores are
here to suggest otherwise) but nevertheless, a real beauty and a
memorable entre to Italy.
