Today was a rough day for everyone. This was one of our earliest wake-ups, with an appointment down at the Doge’s Palace at 9am. My body woke me at 4.30 (pretty typical for these last few days) and I checked my texts to discover that R, who had a bit of a fever yesterday, had thrown up overnight, so D & W had taken him to the hospital here in Venice. Only one adult was allowed back with him, so W was sitting in the waiting room, keeping us in the loop. R only has a virus, not covid, which was great news, but when they got back to the Airbnb at around 6.30am, they zonked out immediately, and we didn’t really see them for the rest of the day.
The rest of us got up and out the door, enjoying a quiet morning walk.
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| Another dumb canal. |
We got to Piazza San Marco for our 9am family-friendly tour of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. H was underslept so she grumbled for much of the morning about hurting body parts (one foot, the other foot, her knee, her ear, her nose…). We really enjoyed our family friendly tour of Gli Uffizi in Florence, and we were looking forward to this tour. Unfortunately, the tour was a bust. Our guide with LivTours was knowledgeable about the sites, but she wasn’t able to engage with H to make the tour interesting for her. Even when S and I tried modeling ways to keep H engaged (having her count winged lions, or make faces resembling the carvings), we never really clicked. Plus, our guide had a very thick accent, which made it hard for her and H to communicate clearly. I did a lot of repeating things between the two of them.
Still, the palace and the basilica were beautiful, and I’m glad we got to see them!
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| Meeting our guide. |
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| All gondolas are built asymmetrical to allow for one sided-poling. |
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| One of the largest indoor spaces in Europe! |
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| H had so many questions about the prisons. |
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| View from the Bridge of Sighs. |
After the tour, we grabbed a quick bite at a pizzeria and then headed back to the Airbnb for a siesta. We took our time, grabbing pastries and coffee for D, a magic trick for H, and a mocha for S. Once we got back, we were all pretty pooped, so we all settled in for a siesta. H and I snuggled together from 2-5. She slept 2-4 and I slept 3-5. Once we got up, I had a really hard time waking my body up. I tried water, coffee, a brisk walk. Nothing work. Kept staying tired. I also had a sore throat, though S thought it was b/c I was snoring, and it _did_ go away shortly after I woke up.
Leaving D/W/R to rest, the rest of us walked across town to San Trovaso Restaurant for a new years eve meal, crossing the Ponte dell’Accademia en route.
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| A boat motors down the Grand Canal. |
This restaurant was also very good, though I had lost my appetite and didn’t eat much. We had a mixed seafood antipasta to start. S & H each had a buratta ravioli with mushroom sauce. Mom and I had fried softshell crabs (they were tiny! Super salty!) with a polenta that I thought was too pungent but Mom liked. Dad had a tagliatelle with spider crabs.
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| Lady and the Tramping with a breadstick. |
After dinner and desert, my trio headed back amidst revelers just starting their night (and the requisite drinking and firecrackers to boot). H was bummed that she couldn’t celebrate the actual new year, and when we told her she could when she got older, she was nonplussed.
When we got home, I dropped leftovers off for D & W and chatted with them for a few minutes. Then, off to bed. I was asleep by 10pm and woke the next morning on my own at 6.30 feeling better. But that’s for tomorrow’s post!
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