Living the Good Life

Stefan's plane left from Venice on Saturday, so we decided we'd drive down there and have lunch.

Yes, we'd just stop in Venice for lunch.

Who ever heard of such a thing?!

On the way down in the car, we made a list of all our top things we wanted: lunch, gelato and espresso. So we did it exactly right. We parked, by chance, in the tronchetto parking lot on the outside of town near where the cruise ships dock. The vaporetto took us around along the outside of town, not through the Grand Canal. This was perfect because I wanted to go to the residential Dorsoduro neighborhood for lunch and the best gelato on the planet.

We had the best meal I've eaten in Venice yet right on Campo Santa Margherita at a little place next to an Irish Pub that had St Patty's Day signs up. The best gelato in the world is there on the campo, though most people think it's got to be further south. It's in a place called "Il Doge." I don't understand how they get the flavors so rich and strong. The chocolate is almost black. I had nocciola, too, but wish now I'd had caffe. We strolled through the residential neighborhood near the gelato joint then made our way over the giant, wooden Accademia bridge. We had ten dollar espressos at Florian's, sitting in the sun on Saint Mark's square, while the orchestra played a waltz then a polka. I was happy to be there with a man who can dance. We are living the good life, he and I.