Being A Good Ol' Fashioned Tourist (and trying not to choke and die!)

Buona sera, (that's 'good evening' I think...)

As I mentioned, I'm updating with the rest of today's events. 

We've just been out for dinner to a small restaurant a short walk down from our hotel. We originally walked past it- down to take photos of the great yacht 'Limitless' that I mentioned in my previous post. As you can probably imagine, up close (although not that close as they had a guard at the base of the walkway), it looked even more magnificent and of course mind-bogglingly expensive. Here's a photo of the super-yacht:

This is another stunning looking yacht right next to Limitless:

I also took this photo facing back towards our hotel and the sunset: 

We decided that after our lunch, we would just have starters- I fancied some more bruschetta- can't get enough of the stuff! So we headed back in the direction of the hotel and kept our eyes peeled for a restaurant with a view across the Venetian Lagoon, although as it happened we were sort of enticed into a restaurant by a couple of waiters speaking at us in Italian, or rather me, but I left it to Mum to tell them we were English. At that point the waiter had decided for us that we would be having dinner there- a good choice though as it was delicious. I had tomato and mozzarella on a bed of rocket with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Unluckily for me, my mother decided to have mussels... She seemed to enjoy them though, so I put up with the smell ;). Afterwards we had our second gelato (incredible Italian ice-cream) of the day, this time I had mint-choc-chip, the two ice-creams I've had today have potentially been the best I've ever had- they were that good! Italy can REALLY do ice-cream. 

I've realised this is my first real 'grown-up' holiday, which is both scary and exciting, much how I feel about growing-up. I'm loving the no-agenda feel to this trip, just walking and stopping to take photos, looking in small shops or eating gelato(!) is so relaxing. I'm pretty sure being a grown-up doesn't mean I'm completely free to do as I please, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts :). 

I did say I was going to write about today and what we did, so I should probably do that. I owe you the weird lunch story where I almost choked to death. 

So, after changing into more comfortable clothes for the outside Venice world- a.k.a shorts and a tee, we ventured out. First of all, I should explain that there are live-cams around Venice (and other parts of the world) that you can watch, my mum discovered these and so on occasion we've been letting people know we're going to wave at the camera and see if they can see us back home. So we did this first and much to their delight and ours, my nanny and sister could see us waving at them all the way from Italy :). We then took some photos of gondolas, because 'when in Venice, take pictures of gondolas'. Yes, I did just make that up, but it works. You can't not take pictures of gondolas, they're everywhere after all! 

We decided to start walking and just see where we ended up. First of all we crossed a bridge that gave us a perfect view of the Bridge of Sighs:

Then we wandered around some more, walking along the waterfront until we turned down a narrow lane- no short supply of these in Venice. We kept on wandering, across bridges and taking photos and stopping to admire stripy gondoliers and their lucky passengers. After a while we found a small pizza place, it was perfect as we had both said we were craving an Italian pizza on the plane, just a few hours ago. It was small with little square table with chequered cloths, it looked every bit the cute Venetian restaurant tucked away in a narrow lane. 

Mum pointed out the bruschetta on the menu, so we HAD to order it. It was so yummy. For anyone that isn't familiar, it's toasted or grilled Italian bread, rubbed with garlic and served with tomatoes and a hint of basil on top- for anyone that likes those things but hasn't had them together- what are you waiting for?! I could have eaten it over and over, but unfortunately, my final mouthful I was savouring was ruined. I should mention first that the waitress that had been serving us was... either not very good at English (understandable) or just had very bad service skills. All she said when we ordered an item was 'yes'. Then we'd ask for something else and we'd get 'yes.' Then when we got to the final, 'that's everything, thank you', all we got was her walking off. No other form of communication. 

Let me set the scene, a large plate that had the bruschetta on before Mum and I split it in half and moved it onto our own smaller plates. There were just a couple of tomatoes on the large plate- I intended to eat those because they were sweet and generally too good to waste. But I didn't get a chance. The waitress quickly came and swiped up the plate, which for a second I was annoyed about- because I could have eaten those, but then the feeling passed as I still had a mouthful on my plate and that brought happy thoughts. What I didn't expect was the waitress to grab my plate, as my cutlery was still on it, scooping up my last mouthful. I barely got it off the plate in time before the plate was gone. I was just left with my cutlery in the air and a full mouthful of barely-saved bruschetta. It was the weirdest thing. It was the same waitress that only said 'yes' to us. I thought she must have not noticed I was still eating, so I thought it was funny and Mum was looking at me wide-eyed trying not to laugh, until the waitress did the same to her!! She clearly saw we were still scooping up our food, but she grabbed the plates anyway. And then just walked off. We were left with full mouths and our cutlery in the air. If it wasn't so bizarre and funny I would have been embarrassed. We couldn't stop laughing though and that's how I almost choked on my last few tomatoes and piece of bread...I'm glad that didn't happen as it would probably have come 'back up'- and that would be a waste. 

After the traumatic bruschetta experience we did enjoy a really delicious pizza with yummy vegetables, so that made up for it I suppose. 

Afterwards we just did a lot more wandering around and of course taking more photos. We went to the Rialto Bridge and found a gelato shop that had been recommended to us- we also waved again at another live-cam that happens to be on the Grand Canal. I had my first taste of gelato at this shop- I had a scoop of lemon and a scoop of banana and it was delicious, words don't do it justice. And now I'm successfully hooked on gelato and make a point of pointing out every shop we go past that sells it. 

This is a photo taken from the Rialto Bridge:

On our way back towards St. Mark's Square we stumbled upon a gondoler park (what I mean is where people get on and off- is that a 'park'?!), and of course there were lots of gondolers around the area. It made for a good photo opportunity for me, I think the first photo may be my favourite one I've taken so far- it just sums Venice up completely: 

Upon reaching St. Mark's Square, to say I was overwhelmed by the number of pigeons is an understatement! I've been to London so I know what a lot of pigeons looks like- but this was extraordinary- and not helped by the people giving out birdseed so people could get the pigeons to fly onto their arms and hands... Safe to say I rejected that offer- and gave the man a look of death when he went to pour the birdseed on my head... I HATE PIGEONS. 

(When I get a chance I will upload a video of people being swarmed by the pigeons...)

After taking some classic tourist photos we decided to head back to the hotel room, which is when I wrote my first Venice post. 

I know these posts were a bit topsy-turvy, I'll try and be more organised with the format next time!

But for now, its quarter to midnight here and I've been up since 4:00am, so I am going to sleep now. I'll let you know if the bed is as comfy as it is stylish :)

Today, the Big Wide World taught me: To expect the unexpected - you never know when your plate might be swiped from underneath you! And of course, that I am absolutely, completely obsessed with GELATO! More, more, more!

I'll leave you with this panoramic I took:

Night! 

L
xxx

P.S If anyone has any recommendations of places we can't afford to miss- please let me know in the comments. Thanks :) x