Palmabella's Passions

Thursday morning, we set out for a walk to San Pietro di Castello. This is an island which forms part of the Castello sestiere, and is joined to the rest of Venice by two bridges. The church has stood on the site from the 7th century. From 1452-1807, this was the Cathedral of Venice. After damage in WW1, it has been restored and is now a UNESCO world heritage site.

The Campo was deserted. As we walked through the quiet streets, it felt like a completely different city than where the throngs of tourists swarm. Beautiful little canals and clean streets, only the local residents were around.

We stopped for drinks and tramezzini, fabulous little triangle sandwiches on white bread, with the crusts cut off (I could LIVE on these!)

Then we split up for an hour to explore on our own. I took off the the Giardini Pubblici. Who knew that there was this huge area of park and gardens in Venice? I spent about 25 minutes wandering the cool shaded areas where art exhibits for the Biennale is held every two years. It was a lovely place for a quiet walk.

The group re-gathered for, yes, another beverage, and Megan and I showed off our sun hats.

By 1:00, I headed back to the apartment to make a dessert for tomorrow's Good-bye Dinner. The vaparetto wasn't crowded, so I took a window seat, and snapped a few shots along the way:

I made dessert, and took a little nap, then "perked" with an afternoon caffe latte. I was excited to return to La Cantina for another fabulous dinner with our charming host, Andrea!

What do seven happy, hungry people look like?

Never a lull in the conversation, OR an empty glass!

We began with the antipasti platter. Oh my! This would have been a great dinner by itself, but we were all hungry and it WAS our last dinner out!

More vino, a pause, and then came the amazing seafood!

We THOUGHT we couldn't eat another bite, but we managed to polish off the crispy roast pork and lamb chops with no problem!

Limoncello, grappa or coffee, and the end of another wonderful Grape Hops day!