A quiet rainy day in Venice

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Geo: 45.436, 12.3374

Poor old Tom, woke us at 3am to say his tummy was sore...and then proceeded to vomit for a couple of hours, in a spectacular way. In addition to the lack of hot water, and my concern about the impact of the vomit on our $500 bond, it wasn't the best start to the day!

When we woke again at 9am, the rain had clearly set in for the day. Steven went out (to Skype Mark) and brought home breakfast, and then he and Georgia and Matthew headed out to wander the streets. They headed into St Marks, where the water was high outside and looked at the mosaics again, then headed off in the direction of the Arsenale. They ended up at the Hospital - and, as could only occur in Italy, went into an amazing little museum with paintings by Tintoretto etc. It was next to a church, which was very bland compared to the hospital museum. And I stayed home, negotiated with the landlord about the lack of hot water, and supervised Tom, who rested.

They came home with lunch of bread, ham, cheese and lettuce - they had seen a woman buying 3 slices of bread at the shops!! But poor old Tom still wasn't feeling well, and went back to bed without eating.

As the rest settled down for a nap, I headed out into the rain to take some "atmospheric" photos. The drizzle didn't affect the crowds, although I really felt sorry for the people having their "gondola trip of a lifetime" - not the same when the gondolier has to hold an umbrella and the rain is pouring down!

Between Steven and I, we took various kids out at various times during the afternoon, with poor Tom sleeping most of the day. But the cold wet weather wasn't conducive to children and tourism, and we had exhausted our interest in the thousands of shops selling Venetian glass trinkets...and the view from our apartment window is so spectacular anyway that it is no hardship to sit and watch the people tanking photos of our view, and to enjoy this magical place.

Pizza for dinner at the pizzeria downstairs (and for Tom, "pasta bianca comme la Nonna" - something that the waiters certainly understand here!) then back to the apartment to pack...boy, we now have those bags packed tight as drums!!! Then, with the bags at the door and the children in bed, a Bellini for mummy and a Peroni for daddy to farewell this magical city.

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