Our plan this morning was to get up early and beat the heat, crowds and lines and visit the Doges palace. Everything went like clockwork with some minor interludes of Abi with the camera on route. We basically got straight in, and equipt with audio guides completed a tour taking about 2 hours. It was first built in the 8th century but fire and other mishaps have seen several reconstructions and extensions over time, the current palace being a restored version of the one around 1100’s. Attached to the palace is the first purpose built prison facility in Italy (1640) that took into consideration slightly better conditions for prisoners with more light and air – albeit still a long way to go for today’s standards. We enjoyed the palace tour – some lovely art work on ceilings and walls – gorgeous inner courtyard with fine statues of Mars and Neptune. It was also exciting to walk inside the ‘Bridge of Sighs’ which connects the palace court to the prisons.
After our self guided tour we commenced a foodie crawl that Hugo had copied from a tour that was available (much like my Dolomite tour). This was fun and took us over the Rialto bridge to a market area, and back to home. We tried some Italian style tapa of meatball, creamed salted cod, and croquettes and then the special fat half moon club sandwiches which are unique to Venice. I will let the photos talk on that section.
Picture above taken from inside Bridge of Sighs
This took most of the day so we then headed home for a bit of a rest and refresh again before deciding where to go for dinner. Lili found a well reviewed restaurant that had vegan options so we headed out enjoying the new lanes to a tiny hole in the wall place. The menu did not look the same as the internet but we worked out it was the same place but new owners – which was a shame. Despite that it was still very busy with a steady line forming outside of other people who must of also see the good reviews. I had a seafood pasta which was excellent, Vern had a carbonara as the ‘special’ burger was sold out, and Lili and Hugo had a vege pizza which was only ok. Lili and Hugo are enjoying the ‘spritz’ that everyone drinks here – much the same as we tried at Villa Gabriella.
Cooling off our feet before bed outside our apartment
My blogs on Venice are a lot shorter than others and I thought I should explain that its not that it isn’t the most wonderful place to visit – its that its our second time and this time it was about sharing the experience with Lili and Hugo. We still both love it and are having a great time – but our bigger thrill is watching Lili and Hugo – and sharing the time with them. I also wrote quite extensively in my previous blog 2013, so for more indepth Venice you may like to visit that page.
Travels with Valrock 