Up early for an Italian brekkie. Croissants, cereal and hams. At breakfast we were stalked by a mosquito which made me realize, we are surrounded by the biggest mosquito breeding ground and we should get some aero guard. Chris was developing a head cold so we needed so medicine too. This should be interesting...
After breakfast we laced our boots, checked the map and headed off in search of Piazza San Marco.
It was so peaceful in the early morning. Everywhere there's plenty of flowers in window sils and boats lining the canals.
We found a pharmacy and thankfully the man behind the counter spoke English. After figuring out the cold and flu medication we continued on our trek for San Marco. Strolling through the streets, going over bridges and looking at all the little stalls, not relying on the map, we soon realized we were well and truly lost. Out comes the map, check the flow of tourists in the street and off we were again....not long...I think we're still lost. We had come to the grand canal, over looking the main island. How did we manage that??!? Out comes the map again. Get the bearings...turn map in direction of walking and viola! Off again. This time the map stayed in hand and was checked regularly.
We came across an optometrist with fantastic glasses with "masks" built into them. Very cool but unfortunately they wouldn't let us take photos.
Finally we found our way to San Marco square. It's Huge!! There was a massive amount of construction happening which was disappointing but there were still heaps of open air cafe's, one with a 5 piece orchestra playing. We stayed and listened for a while then started back towards our hotel in a different direction.
Getting lost on the way back we stumbled across an accordion player who was playing typical Italian songs.
Back near our hotel it was time for ice cream on the stairs of a monument closed for renovations.
Gondola ride! We organized a gondola to take us up the Grand Canal and through the small canals for about 45mins. It was nice and peaceful in the side streets. Good to see the scenery from a different perspective.
Back on dry land and time to find linner (lunch dinner). We found a small restaurant 'Pizzeria ae Oche' for some more Italian cuisine and their free wifi.
Back to the hotel, tired. It doesn't get dark until 9:30pm here which makes it hard to keep track of time. Time to close the blinds, that's Venetian blinds and off to bed.
Buona notte.