cold mornings

Although the mornings are still cold, Tim and I have been tracking some new growth and new colours in the garden.  There's not much winter left for us.  Indeed, it's just a couple of weeks before we leave winter behind nearly forever and resume our life in the tropics.

last lunch

For our last lunch in Italy, we did it right.  Hayden spotted this beautiful cafe on a vine-covered terrace - and it had a view right out over the canal.






Plenty of boats for Tim to watch from the safe spot behind the wall.  Perfect!

While Tim was occupied, Hayden enjoyed his deliciously light and creamy seafood lasagna, and I tucked into something I'd always wanted to try in Italy - polenta with squid served in its own ink.  We were both extremely satisfied.

 For Tim we ordered his usual: Pasta Con Niente.


And I'm trying hard not to end this thing, about a lovely lunch during which we were nostalgically reliving our wonderful holiday even before it had officially ended with... a gripe about Tim's eating habits and the expense (!!) of dining out on plain pasta.  Six euros!!  For plain pasta!!! Tim, really...!!

Venice!

One of the excellent things about when a New Zealander falls for an Italian is that really, bureaucratically speaking, they must get married and they must do it in Venice.  After the beautiful wedding of Matt and Valentina in the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore, we stayed on for a couple of days' sightseeing at the end of our trip.

Traipsing around Venice with a curious, willful toddler who can't swim is, of course, terrifying.  But Tim's a great sport when it comes to hanging out with Mummy and Daddy, and - for our part - it didn't take long to start appreciating the place through his eyes. He loved going on the ferries and vaporettos.  He loved spotting boats - particularly the really idiomatic ones like boats with excavators on board, or boats with cranes for unloading stock for the supermarket.  One day Tim and I both stood, fascinated, watching as someone moved into a new apartment: all of the furniture and belongings were piled up on a boat which waited in the canal, while a system of ropes and pulleys was installed to carry everything up the outside of the building (it's a pity my gawking stopped short of photographing, or even videoing it).  It did give me a whole new appreciation for the crazy logistics of the place.  Crazy.  But so, so charming and beautiful.