Travel is like this–some days you are “in the flow” and everything goes perfectly and some days things are a little bumpier. All part of it. Just like life.
I woke up feeling a little less than eager because I had stayed up past 2am watching the game. (Forza Italia!!)
So we decided to just go for a long walk. As we left the apartment we were both noticing how quiet the streets were. It was cool and breezy, too. We had coffee at Del Doge and walked over Rialto. I got the idea of going into the Querini to see the Carlo Scarpa floor/lobby. I thought we could just see that part. Wrong. Before I knew it I was paying 16euros (she said 8 and I thought that was for both of us but she only gave me back 4 for my 20) for us to go into the full museum. Now, at the risk of sounding like a complete spoiled brat, I have to say, I was not in the mood for it, at all. We looked at the modern part and went upstairs. So much priceless art and my bad attitude. I really did enjoy some of it but mostly we rushed through and left. This photo is from the lobby:

After that I was getting a little hungry and tired so we started heading back home. By now the hoards were out and navigating the Rialto area was annoying me. (Yes, spoiled child, again) We just finally plopped sown at the Birraria and shared a pizza and relaxed. I have really grown fond of Campo San Polo. While it’s not the most beautiful place in Venice it has a calm, real life, feeling down at this end.
We came home and I took a long nap. In the afternoon, we set out again to do the walk we had planned in the morning–over the Rialto, onto Strada Nova, through Cannaregio and back over the Scalzi to home. We stopped at a free exhibit connected to the Biennale in a partially restored palazzo. Some of the rooms are just empty and it had a kind of unsafe feeling to me. There were some displays in some of the rooms but I found the ceilings most interesting:



We enjoyed the views from the terraces, too.
At home I had big cooking plans. I’ve got to say, we had a great meal. Drank a delicious Lugana wine we had gotten at Mille Vini (how did we drink the whole bottle???). And I had beautiful pancetta from Aliani which I cooked first–then cooked a bunch of mushrooms and onion in that pan and tossed it all with the pasta. The shape of the pasta was “mezze maniche” half sleeves, and they were like short rigatoni. And I cooked the bietola greens, like chard with skinny stems.


Here’s one more shot out our kitchen window. This one is for Ruth: