The morning was dedicated to hanging out for the last hours and final laughs with Brenda and Linda.  With Elisa, our landlady, we walked them downstairs and waited for the water taxi.  Lots of hugs and they were gone to London and then home.  Elisa stayed and talked with us for a long while afterwards.  It was nice to get to know more about her and her family.

A once-a-week cleaning service comes with this apartment and so we wanted to be out for that time.  I brought my chef’s knife with me and, I think from keeping it wrapped up in my apron, it’s really lost its edge.  I asked at our cheese and salumi guy where to take it and got very complicated directions.  Really I could only remember Campo San Canciano and then right.  Elisa filled me in more specifically where it was.  The store has no name but she said to look for knives in the window and that it is the only place in Venice that still does this service.  We found it and realized we have walked by it hundreds of times without noticing.  They will sharpen it and I can pick it up on Monday. All good.

From there, we went to the butcher on Calle Lunga Santa Maria Formosa to get a chicken to cook for our anniversary dinner, Sunday night.

Random canal shot taken near there:

It was very crowded in the shop and I only saw whole chickens but managed to ask to have it cut into 8 pieces.  Did I want the head?  (OMG) No grazie!  I quickly saw that it and the feet were still attached.  An adventure a minute!  We stopped at the fruit and vegetable market, too.  We went to the baker and I saw Elisa there.

Not wanting to continue our errands with a cold raw chicken in tow, we took it back up to our apartment and set out again.

We took a stroll through some back streets toward the big COOP store on Strada Nova and ran into Nan.  (small town!) and had a nice chat with her.

After the groceries, we stopped at Rizzo for a quick take out snack.

just about the only fall colors in Venice

on Strada Nova near ca d’Oro

Food was not good (salami sandwich and a spinach torta salata), but it was quick and we took it down a quiet dead end and sat on the steps into the canal to eat.

After that small lunch on a beautiful sunny day there’s only one thing to do.  Gelato!  We got it at Ca d’Oro and sat in Campo Santi Apostoli to eat it trying to use up some time to let the cleaning person finish.  We stopped again at the Campo at the Gesuiti church to watch some cute kids and dogs playing, and then went home.

We kept taking about going out before dinner but we were just too lazy and comfortable at home.

Dinner was the last of the soup and leftovers.

We started watching a movie about, what else, food, but I fell asleep.