Getting lost in Venice

We had a little sleep-in, but as we had not had time last night to do a grocery shop, we had no breakfast supplies. So we headed out and wandered around, which was the intention of the day anyway! It was quite chilly, but with a glorious blue sky.

View from our apartment

We found a cafe that was open for breakfast and we had our tea and coffee, as well as toast with butter and jam! Quite an indulgence really, but it was expensive as all of Venice is - it cost us over 20 Euros!

We then just strolled through the lanes and across bridges over canals. The tourists were finally coming out and the place got busier. It is November, but Venice still seems quite busy. The gondoliers were offering a discount before lunch, but even at 70 euros for 20 to 30 minutes, down from 90, we were not tempted. We have more fun watching others people in the gondolas!

We did some shopping, for Murano Glass. I bought a lovely “statement” necklace on our last visit in 2014 and I wanted some earrings to go with it. We also bought some glass Christmas ornaments. We stopped for a quick coffee and loo break for Ian, then found our way to St Marks square. Lots of tour groups around, especially in main areas like this. 

We decided to visit the cathedral. As we got there we saw a familiar Silversea excursion paddle and people with “whispers” around their necks - obviously from a Silversea ship. We spoke to a couple and it seems that Silver Moon is in port. We talked about how much we miss our butler! While we were in the queue to enter the cathedral, another’s couple asked if we were with Silversea as I was carrying my Silversea tote. They were boarding Silver Moon tomorrow and asked us for our impressions of Silversea!

The cathedral was very impressive, lots of mosaics and elaborate marble floors. 

We wandered along the water’s edge and saw the Bridge of Sighs.

The bridge of sighs

More canals and gondolas

We started to head back towards the Rialto, stopping for another coffee break. We went to a supermarket and bought some breakfast supplies. We took them back to our apartment, then headed out to find somewhere for lunch. We found a nice little place where we both had a bowl of pasta - Ian had lasagne and I had spaghetti with meatballs - not massive servings, but just perfect after a cold walk!

We made our way back to the apartment for a rest, then headed out later for drinks and cicchetti (like Venetian tapas). The cicchetti were quite filling!

At the Rialto bridge

We then wandered around some more and found a lovely spot for dinner. We had a bottle of Chianti to go with our food. I had a caprese salad (made with a huge, runny burrata - too much), then Ian had veal liver and onion with polenta and a salad, while I had a vegetable risotto - both meals were delicious. Of course the was the complimentary limoncello at the end!