“Never in June”. That’s what everyone said about the weather. Not only did it rain, non-stop, the entire day but also it was chilly. I don’t think we ever got out of the 50’s but the centigrade conversion is confusing to me. In the morning I was really happy to be “stuck” inside. We didn’t even get dressed—just stayed in bed and read, did the internet, laundry and talked, totally lazy. Around noon we decided there was a break in the rain so we would go get groceries and coffee. By the time we got dressed, it was raining again. We went down to the bar and had coffee and came right back up. Finally, around 3:00 we decided to go for it, even in the rain; it was just a drizzle by then, and when we got to the COOP it had closed at 1:30. We would have to eat dinner out. Walking through the streets, there are abandoned, broken umbrellas everywhere—it’s really been a storm.
Italy played New Zealand at 4:00 (to a dismal draw) and Bob and Pat braved the rain to come here and watch with us. After the game, we went for a largely rain-free walk, into Castello. It thrills me to see P&B being comfortable here, saying “buona sera” and “grazie”; they are doing great! The canals are all getting higher. It’s not exactly “aqua alta” but the water is high:

We decided to eat at Trattoria Giardinetto, near Palazzo Ruzzini and recommended by the staff there. I had a lot of trouble ordering—nothing really appealed to me. Ken wanted some mussels and we had them with a flavorful garlic and white wine broth. They were top notch. Then I had ordered ravioli with tomato sauce—in Venice? Just dumb. It was not so good. Pat and Ken had tagliolini with Bolognese sauce and theirs was OK. Bob’s roast chicken and fried potatoes was the best dish of the night.
Ken and I walked home super fast because—can you guess? It was raining again.