Before I forget–I am LOVING the comments. Keep ’em coming!
We woke up to rain which progressed into a morning of real thunderstorms; for just a moment we thought we wee back in Tallahassee. Soon the skies cleared and the rest of the day was clear and beautiful. We have been extremely lucky with the weather, so far—Spring in Venice—I’ll take it!
We had to go to the grocery store and went to the COOP near us in Cannaregio and got some sandwich stuff and new paper goods etc.
After putting the stuff back into the apartment we went for a nice long walk through the northern, mostly residential, part of Castello. We saw one of these clever corner devices I had read about in “Venice is a Fish”:
It’s an anti urination structure—use your imagination…

We also saw this tower with the lush roof top garden below. We basically made a big loop into the area and came back home.

For lunch we had porchetta, speck and montasio sandwichs on really nice rolls. I have learned to ask for “pane crocante” (crunchy bread) so we get a nice crust on it. We had a peaceful few hours and then set out for Dorsoduro where our friend, Nan, was singing in a free concert. We walked over the Rialto bridge and into Dorsoduro and found ourselves in Campo San Barnaba. There were lots of good choices for places for a quick supper. We chose La Bitta where we had the best meal of our trip.
(While I am typing this Elena is playing her cello downstairs in the campo—it gives me such a comfortable feeling…)
For dinner we shared first a raw artichoke salad—baby artichokes are shaved with parmigiano cheese and a little fresh black pepper and oil and are served over a bed of mixed lettuce. So fresh and wonderful!
For pasta we had tagliolini with sausage and peppers—the sausages were in small chunks with basically a red pepper sauce with just enough cream to make it luxurious in the mouth. I loved how they served it on an oval platter with a small mound of coarsely grated cheese beside it. Next we had roast duck with Peverada sauce—the sauce supposedly has an Arabian influence, including the duck and chicken livers with some wine, making a very rich sauce. I had time for a quick coffee and the waitress sent us on our way to the concert.
The location was the Sala del Palazzo Armeno di Ca’ Zenobio, an historic place which they sometimes rent out to do weddings. The room itself set the elegant mood:


Nan and the other singers were of varying levels and talents. The songs were mostly well known opera. We thought Nan was the best, of course!
After the concert we met Sandi and Jerry for a glass of wine (Prosecco for me, horrible grappa for Ken) at the bar at the bottom of the Rialto. We sat and talked til after midnight (Yes, friends, I WAS awake). It was a beautiful night to sit with friends on the Grand Canal.