In the morning, we went back to St. Mark’s Square (on purpose this time) to get some pictures in the daylight. That’s when I got attacked by pigeons.
Just kidding. I got attacked on purpose. They have these little stands set up in the square where you get a little pouch of pigeon food for 1 euro. As soon as the pigeons see the pouch, they go bonkers and land all over you.
During the day, St. Mark’s Square is a tourist hellhole. So we didn’t stay long. Just long enough to get some pictures and gelato.
We tried to go to Burano, but like the dumb Americans we are, got off at the wrong stop by accident. A place called Punta Sabbioni. From what I can tell, Punta Sabbioni is pretty much a park and ride for commuters who take the waterbus to work. And the next boat to Burano wasn’t coming for another hour.
But Punta Sabbioni has a pizza place. And that’s good enough for me.
So we ordered two slices of mushroom pizza. At least, we thought we ordered two slices of mushroom pizza. But apparently we ordered two mushroom pizzas instead. Oops.
Regardless, the pizza was really good, and we ended up polishing off most of it.
An hour later, the boat finally showed up and we made it to Burano. It was SO worth the wait. Visiting Burano is like stepping into a painting. It’s this quaint little island where all of the buildings are painted in the most vivid palette.
It was also great because it was a little less touristy. Felt more like we were getting to see some every day life. (Especially in comparison to the St. Mark’s tourist explosion.) We stayed for hours, just taking pictures.
If you can believe it, these have been narrowed down a ton.
(I thought this picture looked like someone got caught upside down and fell out of their pants)
Interesting observation of the day – courtesy of my dad. We haven’t seen a single Styrofoam coffee cup.
FOOD UPDATE:
Had a pretty lousy sandwich for a quick snack in St. Mark’s square.
It was prosciutto cotto pomodoro mozzarella insalata. (kind of a caprese with prosciutto). But the tiramisu gelato at Gelato da Passegio more than made up for it.
Dinner was at Lafondamenta, a restaurant not far from our hotel. Definitely one of the better meals of the trip. Antipasto was Soprasetta with romaine lettuce, radicchio, grape tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
It was very good, despite the fact that it is salami made from pig’s head. (Oh come on. Like you’ve never eaten a hot dog). Primi was Lasagna al Fruitti di Mare.
I’m running out of adjectives. It was absolutely amazing. The homemade lasagna noodles melted in your mouth (or my mouth I guess. But it would have melted in your mouth too, if you had eaten it.) It had an Alfredo sauce and was filled with tender calamari, mussels and maybe shrimp. One of the best dishes of the trip. Secondi was grilled whole Bronzini with asparagus.
The Bronzini was really good – the skin was crisp and golden on both sides and the fish was moist and perfect on the inside. But Italy is 0 fer 2 on Asparagus. Overcooked and stringy again. Maybe that’s just how they like it here. I prefer mine a little al dente. Dessert was a terrific semifreddo, drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with crispy graham cracker-y cookie crumbles.
Walk a mile in my underpants 