Here are some long overdue photos of our day trip to Venice. There was a damp chill that pervaded most layers, so we alternated the walking and sightseeing with warm cafe stops and mediocre restaurant meals. And that made the day all the better (the warm stops) - for our small but tall gang of Canadian imports. Ashley, Adam and Dan came up from Ljubljana (where Dan and Adam are volleyballing) and the four of us (Brinkmans + Shanti) drove from Gretchen and John's place in Vicenza. It was the first Venice trip for everyone (I think) but me, and it was just as captivating (or what
is the word?) as the first time. Yes, a lot colder and ooooh I was a bit heavier but thank goodness we decided to leave the stroller in the car and even
more of a thank goodness for the Ergo Carrier and its on-the-hip carry position. Hendrik was such a good little dude and only fussed a few times; and, like most guys and their fussy times, it was quickly solved with food.
St Mark's is beautiful, but so overwrought with pigeons that it doesn't grab the honours of favourite stop of the day. Okay, the church itself - inside and out - is stunning, but it, just like every other street and alley and canal of Venezia, gave way to questions questions questions questions: when was it built? Who suffered and who triumphed for the ornate, costly displays? Are there gymnasiums in Venice? How was the city built? Really, I should just look to Wikipedia for answers, and stop asking you. My favourite part of the day was... hmm. Okay, it was this: close to 5:00 we were wandering looking for dinner and, finding everything closed, decided on drinks at a fancy hotel. So there we sat in the lounge of what must have been a four star spot and drank gin and tonics (just one) and ate warm pistachios. Hendrik was googlie and cute and even - for the first time caught on tape! - walked, just a little bit. That was my favourite part. We hit the road after dinner and made it home in time to call my sister Karin and wish her a happy birthday, and then I fell asleep in one one-zillionth of a second... I was
tired.
Our visit with John and Gretchen was great too, but I feel a little sheepish about the fact that we didn't take any pictures with them; instead, we took pictures of
the food we ate with them. They took us to one of their favourite dinner spots (
Nogarazza) and I am telling you it did NOT disappoint. The food in Venice the next day probably seemed all the more mediocre after the incredible meal we had here, and Gretchen was right when she said that someone would probably have to roll us out to the car. We had a proscuitto plus meaty bruschetta type thing to start, and then there was home-made gnocchi - the best I've ever had hands down - for Steve (with shrimp and cherry tomatoes) and the Bettens (pumpkin melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi; Shanti and I were happy to take care of the leftovers), and then for the main course some of us had steak and others had duck. And okay, I'm not a big steak person and I rarely order it so really, this comment shouldn't carry any weight at all, but I'm pretty sure it was the best steak I've ever had. Covered in peppercorn sauce and (again) melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I think this is a meal I will drive two hours to eat. We've done it before for ice-cream (when we lived in Calabria we drove from Corigliano Calabro to Pizzo to eat their world famous tartuffo) and I'll do it again for steak. And gnocchi. And whatever that appetizer was. OH so good! And I know that I should have mentioned this before all of the food talk business, but it was the first night that we left Hendrik with a babysitter which is kind of a big deal! Gretchen - bless her heart - organized the babysitter, picked her up, drove her home - all so that we could have a nice night out and eat an insanely fabulous meal. It was perfection. We arrived home some time after 11:00 and the babysitter informed us that there had not been one single peep out of little Hendrik. Like I said, it was perfection.
Shanti left this morning :( but really, that deserves a blog unto itself, so for now that's it - more coming soon...
Our visit with John and Gretchen was great too, but I feel a little sheepish about the fact that we didn't take any pictures with them; instead, we took pictures of the food we ate with them. They took us to one of their favourite dinner spots (Nogarazza) and I am telling you it did NOT disappoint. The food in Venice the next day probably seemed all the more mediocre after the incredible meal we had here, and Gretchen was right when she said that someone would probably have to roll us out to the car. We had a proscuitto plus meaty bruschetta type thing to start, and then there was home-made gnocchi - the best I've ever had hands down - for Steve (with shrimp and cherry tomatoes) and the Bettens (pumpkin melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi; Shanti and I were happy to take care of the leftovers), and then for the main course some of us had steak and others had duck. And okay, I'm not a big steak person and I rarely order it so really, this comment shouldn't carry any weight at all, but I'm pretty sure it was the best steak I've ever had. Covered in peppercorn sauce and (again) melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I think this is a meal I will drive two hours to eat. We've done it before for ice-cream (when we lived in Calabria we drove from Corigliano Calabro to Pizzo to eat their world famous tartuffo) and I'll do it again for steak. And gnocchi. And whatever that appetizer was. OH so good! And I know that I should have mentioned this before all of the food talk business, but it was the first night that we left Hendrik with a babysitter which is kind of a big deal! Gretchen - bless her heart - organized the babysitter, picked her up, drove her home - all so that we could have a nice night out and eat an insanely fabulous meal. It was perfection. We arrived home some time after 11:00 and the babysitter informed us that there had not been one single peep out of little Hendrik. Like I said, it was perfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment