Fat and Happy

Via Marisa:

San Marco Basilica

We write to you today from Venice, on the last day of our European extravaganza...so sad! Though we can honestly say that while we may return to San Francisco with waists a bit fatter and wallets much thinner, we are oh so much happier. Gelato and fine Italian leather can do that to a person. (Note to Brian: Don't worry, I am the one who bought the leather!)

Last night, we went to dinner at the supposed site of brilliant Venezian cooking enjoyed by the likes of Nick Cage and Harrison Ford. I had made the reservation from the Dubrovnik airport in my pseudo-Italian (actually Spanish), and was amazed that we had actually made it into the books after our garbled pay phone conversation...under the name Marisa Gellar. So much for my foreign language skills. The restaurant was all done up in pink, and the clientele was very old and stuffy. We were the youngest patrons by a good 30 or 40 years, which evidently warranted that the waitstaff could sniff at us and roll its collective eyes at our flip flops. Never mind that we spoke Italian (-ish) and paired the appropriate wine with our meals while the other diners were all Americans who made no attempt to adapt to the local language and ordered Cokes to go with their veal. Our food was pretty darn tasty, though. We started with gnocchi and tagliatelle, and we split a main course of veal--delicious! It was fun to splurge on some gourmet food.

more San Marco

Today we decided that we had get up early to make it to the head of the line in front of the Basilica San Marco...and arose at 9:30. Doh! But by the time we got to Piazza San Marco, it seemed like the cruise ship traffic had cleared out considerably, and lines much were shorter. We met a plucky woman from New Jersey who let us in on the secret that we could flash our tickets from the baggage check at the front entrance and walk right in, ahead of the lines--this was what her guidebook had told her, she swore! Though her claim sounded dubious, we followed her in and walzed right past the line like we owned the place. Even so, her poor hen-pecked husband didn't want to come inside, instead choosing to browse trinkets around the square.

Beyonce, one more time

He made a bad choice. The inside of the basilica was spectacular, with intricate gold mosaic everywhere. Since there are no towers that we won't pay to climb, we went up to the balcony that overlooks the square and took some choice photos (which may or may not include a quick shot of the basilica interior, which may or may not actually be allowed).

Afterwards, we thought we'd enjoy the beautiful weather and the actual space in the piazza and sit down for a little coffee and music at one of the cafes that featured a live band. We ordered espressos and biscotti and basked in the sun, taking in the violin music...and thank goodness for all that basking, because our bill turned out to be like 50 euros! The cafe charged us  five euros each for listening to the music (?!), and a cool eight and a half euros for each coffee (the equivalent of 12 dollars or so). We were more than a little irked, cute as our waiter was. All subsequent food purchases were made outside the piazza, which were totally reasonable. However, we knew the coffee must have been the good kind with the crack in it, because afterwards we were kind hyper, and my eyelid started to twitch again. Espresso is usually part of my morning routine at home, but I must say that Starbucks has never had quite this effect on me.

Marisa's "typical" Euro look

Later, we browsed the shopping areas, and I bought myself a fantastic new bag, and Jenn found a beautiful shawl, and then I bought two spectacular presents for my mom and dad, which cannot be mentioned here because they are faithful readers of our blog. (Trust me, guys, you'll love them!) After more wandering and gelato, we are gearing up for some final errands before hopefully climbing to the top of the tower in the piazza--we think it is the tallest of all the turrets and cathedral stairways we've climbed on our trip, so it will be fitting for our last day. Our flight leaves at 6 am tomorrow morning, so we may or may not just stay up all night so as to sleep on our flight. A gondola ride may or may not be in our future. We'll keep you posted!

shot from San Marco's 3 Euro porch