The merchants of Venice

I got a lightning notice last night and it shows where our islands are. And I’m too tired to crop the shot. 

We had plans to meet up at The Rialto Market at 9 this morning, so we swung by our little grocery store for brekkie. We got fresh croissants, chocolate for the kids and marmalade for me and they were SO.GOOD! I hate to say this, but these €1 croissants were better than the award winning ones in Paris that were much more than €1. 

So anyways, we walked through the fish market and saw this big boy. 

No gondola ride for us this time. It would be neat, but we’re ok. 

We got some delicious cherries and strawberries and bananas from the marketplace. They don’t like you to touch their fruit, so they get everything for you. 

Venice!

!!

And the other side. We kind of all walked together but split up throughout the market shopping day. D just happened to be with us at this point. 

Adi ❤️ Sephora. 

3 cute girls who love their Burano lace skirts. I love theirs and mine too!

We didn’t actually go in this chocolate shop, but I can smell it from here!

I love candy stores. Candy is pretty and fun and smells good and I love it. 

And then after I made them pose for pictures I didn’t buy them anything. All that for nothing as they said. 

It was a warm day and noticeably more busy as we head into the weekend. 

After our winning €1 croissant breakfast, Matt and I suggested we pick up lunch from the grocery store and eat at papas apartment. And I have to say, it was my favorite meal so far. It hurts my heart to say because I want Paris and Venice to have delicious food, but the most expensive dinner we ate (last night) was my least fav. Our supermarket deli sandwiches today were excellent and the kids were pleased as punch to eat ramen. And we got to hang out with this yahoo. 

We sat around and chatted away the hot and busy Friday afternoon. 

Above - no selfie stick, below - selfie stick and also buh-bye Frey!

I found some artsy shots on my phone as well. 

Very chic. 

We were beating the heat, and also waiting for Alli to arrive. And when she did, Damian and Matt went down to the water bus station to help her up. 

Lu being artsy. So many artists!

And papas shot. 

Once things cooled down we headed for a group excursion to the Bridge of Sighs, but with roughly one million stops. One of them was for this gem. Please do watch out for the seagulls, Damian can tell you why. 

This is such a neat place. We walked so much and are still amazed at how pretty everything is. 

The Bridge of Sighs! This was the bridge to prison, and prisoners would walk across and get one last look at the freedom on the water and sigh. 

And some of the view the prisoners saw. 

I’ve been making people take turns being the big head for the group selfies. 

And then a kind lady asked if we’d like a picture and we did like a picture indeed. 

Johnna had recommended a place called Dal Moro’s Spritzeat and it was close and we were all hungry so we got some Italian fast food. Most of ours were really good, but the chicken Alfredo eaters, and there were 6 of them, were pretty sad. It tasted like ramen, like strong bullion and it wasn’t great. I got a Grecian with a cream cheese sauce and crunchy bacon and Lu got a pesto sauce and both were delicious. You win some you lose some, I guess. It was fast food so no tables so we kind of walked and ate. 

So many tiny alleys 

We tried to call it an early night tonight, but you know. We packed and my brain fried a little trying to figure out finances. Big groups can be tricky! And then poor Jeanne’s flight got delayed till 12:30am and the water taxis don’t run that late so Matt, Damian, Alexis, Alli, and I were all searching for how we could get her here safely and quickly since she’s been traveling for over 24 hours. Damian is a trooper and is going to be there with bus passes so they can hopefully make the last bus at 1:10am. If they miss that then the next one is at 4:30, and the boats are picking us up at 8:00. Praying she gets in early!

I got my jams on and washed my face when Matt asked if I’d like to go for a walk, and there’s only one answer to that. Absolutely, I do. 

We walked to St. Marks square and got to enjoy Pooh in concert and it was so beautiful and a cool night and I don’t even care that I was walking around in my pj’s. It’s actually not the first time I’ve done this. When the Philadelphia temple opened Matt was working but I took the little girls up, along with McCombs and Streeter’s, and after the hottest day ever when I had already bathed everyone we decided to go for ice cream and I was not about to change out of my comfy jams. Maybe a new tradition is forming. 

I love late night walks and new cities and being with Matt. And Italy and delicious cheap food and the convenience of air travel. And so many more things. So grateful