Day 9 – May 28, 2025 – Venice, Italy
So apparently, I must have been exhausted as I woke up around 6:30 when the workers showed up, went to the bathroom, and laid back down. I dozed back off and managed to sleep through them sawing through concrete or something for at least another hour. John said he wondered how I was able to sleep but I guess I needed it, lol!
Today was another slow morning as we had nothing planned except to walk around more of the island. We basically stayed in the Cannaregio district but did venture into the Castello district as well. Since there are so many little areas to walk in, it’s hard to remember where we were in 2023 except for the main tourist areas. It was warmer today, though we still wore jeans as it tends to be chillier in the shaded areas and if there is any wind blowing. We both took quite a few pictures and just wandered around.
Since we ate a light breakfast, we found an osteria (Spritzeria Happy Hour) in one of the many squares (Compo Santa Giovianni e Paolo) and decided to have an Aperol spritz and both ordered a salad with chicken. Across from the osteria is the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo and it is one of the largest churches in Venice. After the 15th century the funeral services of all of Venice’s doges were held there, with 25 buried in the church. To the left of the church is the Venice hospital and a medical museum that displays thousands of old medical books as well as some medical tools used back in the day. We probably spent over an hour between the church and the museum.
We started heading back towards the BNB going through different alleyways and checking out all the little stores along the way. I decided I wanted a gelato, so we found a place that sells all-natural gelato, and I got my normal pistachio and John had lemon. Very refreshing after walking all day! We made it back to the BNB and relaxed for a few minutes and freshened up before we headed to dinner.
We made reservations for 6:30 pm at the little place down one of the alleyways near our BNB. They have three fixed price menus and I chose a starter and main course, while John chose all three (his included a starter, first and second). My starter was goat cheese with fruit, nuts, and greens and it was delicious. My first plate was spaghetti with clams. John started with lightly breaded/fried vegetables which consisted of eggplant and zucchini. He followed that up with spaghetti and clams as well and then ended with cod fish prepared three ways along with polenta. We finished up with panna cotta, and it by far is the best we’ve had so far while in Italy! A wonderful meal to end with!
We headed back to the BNB, started doing some packing and just chilled the rest of the night. Our train to Florence, then Siena, leaves at 11:30 so we have time in the morning to finish up the packing. Hoping for a good night’s sleep- Ciao!
