Venice at Last

Oddly, there were no disasters on our Egyptair flight from Cairo to Milan. We arrived on time and picked up our rental car, which turned out to be a behemoth that was so electronic we couldn't figure out, in a 3 hour drive, how to turn down the radio. It did have a workable GPS, though, which got us to the Venice airport in a timely manner. We probably picked up several speeding tickets on the way, but we will deal with not paying those at a future date. We dropped off the car (really this seems complicated, but it was WAY easier than taking a train to the central Milan station and picking up the train to Venice, and no more expensive) and caught the water taxi our rental agency sent for us. And as has apparently become a family tradition, we drank a beer to toast Venice as we motored down the Grand Canal.

View from our balcony

Our rental agent met us at the taxi dropoff and took us to this lovely apartment, tucked away in a very quiet side street though it is in the touristy San Marco district. It has a balcony overlooking a quiet canal -- my one demand -- and everything else one could want (except a second bathroom, but not complaining). I'd made a dinner reservation at a nearby restaurant, so we settled in and walked there and had a wonderful meal served by a delightful waiter who had spent time on Arthur Avenue and eaten at some of our favorite restaurants.

We slept ridiculously long but woke up in time to head out to the Rialto Fish Market in a windy downpour. The market was fabulous, full of fishes we couldn't identify and some we could. Phil of course had a long list of possible dishes he could make for the Feast of the Many Fishes on Christmas Day, and we found what we needed and made our purchases, then slogged happily back in the rain to do many kilos of laundry.

I'd made a reservation for Christmas Eve as well, as the internet suggested most places would be closed on the eve and also on Christmas Day and on St. Stephen's, the Italian version of Boxing Day. This, it turned out, was not at all true, but our restaurant was excellent and we ate well, though it was a mile away and the rain was raining. Ben somehow directed us there quickly and without getting lost. We decided not to venture out into the deluge for midnight Mass at St. Marks, though, and toasted Christmas with prosecco at home.

We toasted Christmas again in the morning with mimosas, and Phil made pancetta and eggs while we shared the presents we'd watched one another buy in Egypt -- rings for me, a statue of Anubis (Phil's fave god) and an ancient Egypt cookbook for Phil, and a hieroglyphed plaque with Anubis preparing a mummy for Ben. 

We walked  several miles -- the rain had at last stopped -- to prepare for the feasting ahead, and then the chef began. We started with shrimp in a cream sauce with garlic and cherry tomatoes, moved on to white fish wrapped in prosciutto and roasted, fried calamari, scallops on the half shell with pancetta and garlic. Then fresh sardines sauteed and served with lemon zest and shallots and basil. We had to take a break and walk another couple of miles before the main course, gamberetti with angel hair pasta in a garlic/wine/cream sauce with pancetta and cherry tomatoes, but we somehow managed to eat everything. 

St. Stephen's Day brought the sun. Venice in rain is beautiful, but Venice in sunshine is stunning. There were many people out -- most of the tourists seem to be Italians. We split up, all of us looking for Christmas Markets the internet swore were ongoing but had actually all ended. Phil and I went to San Rocco, a church dedicated to the saint who was cured of plague by a blessed dog who licked his buboes. It was full of Tintorettos depicting the saint's life. Then we found St. Stephen's Church entirely by accident -- also full of Tintorettos we had never seen, including a remarkable Last Supper. St. Stephen's Church on St. Stephen's Day!  A very happy accident.

I had made another dinner reservation, the internet having told me that it would be hard to find a place open on St. Stephen's. This of course was not true, but the restaurant was lovely and the food was good. Either it's hard to find bad food in Venice or we are easy to please -- I just make sure not to pick places where the menu is in four languages. It has worked out so far!