More pizza, pasta, and San Marcos in Venice
Up at 630 after a night of thunder and lightning with just a touch of rain. The lightning was so cool, just what we wanted to see. Good thing Andy decided to put up the rain cover, it was so hot we weren't going to do it. We actually took a shower this morning and it was totally worth it. We were so dry and dirty from being in the ocean and hiking yesterday we decided to make ourselves nice and clean for Venice. I quick espresso at the local cafe and we were on our way.
There's a direct road to Venice, you don't have to take a boat (we didn't know that) which makes it ever so convenient. We arrived by 9 and got lost in the maze that is Venice. No breakfast, I'm saving myself for lunch, but yes to some cappuccinos. We sat, enjoyed our caffeine, and took in the warm weather and the locals passing by (most tourists weren't there yet). More wandering around, more pictures, more dead ends, I couldn't believe I was actually here. Up and over canals, Andy took pictures of doors, I tried to see in people's homes.
Finally we needed to find our way to San Marcos Cathedral so we asked for directions in an art gallery. We were so turned around, and we weren't buying a map. We followed the tourists to Piazza San Marcos through the winding streets. The piazza is huge, perhaps with old parliament buildings on the sides, thousands of tourists everywhere, and a huge line for the Cathedral. I had to pay €1 for material to cover my shoulders, other girls had to cover their legs. The Cathedral was like none I have seen before. So many types of stone and marble used for the walls and columns. The cathedral inside and out had mosaics everywhere, the ceiling walls and floor. We could only walk on certain areas of the floor because it was rolling from all the years of wear and the ground settling. The mosaics on the floor were like kaleidoscopes of designs.
It was time for lunch so we got far away from the tourists and find a cute restaurant with a secret garden in the back. We were starving and so excited to eat! We ordered two (then two more) glasses of Pinot Grigio, it was perfect, not sweet a little buttery. Our app was melon and prosciutto, they piled the prosciutto on heavy and it was perfectly cured, so this is what real prosciutto tastes like. We then split the mushroom, artichoke and prosciutto pizza and the home made pasta with duck. I love how the waiters tell you the food is sized for one person. Andy and I can eat and we had a hard time finishing everything (but we did). It's hard to explain my happiness!
We were getting tired and still sore from our hike in Iceland but we needed to do a little shopping. Andy got me a necklace and we found two masks from the guy who made the masks for Eyes Wide Shut. One is a leather mask with a long nose, the other is a plain one that we are going to paint when we get home. It was 3 and time to find the parking garage. Luckily we were close and actually knew where we were after a long day of being lost. Venice was amazing, so glad we made it here.
Back in the car, a quick detour around Lake Como to see what all the fuss is about, and we stopped just before Lugano for one last pizza. It's a small town (in Switzerland but Italian influence just across the Italy border) with nothing more than a bright casino but there's a beautiful lake which we had the pleasure of viewing during our last Italian meal. I've had my fill of pizza in the last three meals. Now time for some hearty German meals. We made it o Switzerland and managed to find a littl campsite to crash for the tonight.