April 2

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Today was not a holiday.  We got strawberries, green beans, and a couple of carrots at the boat-market, yogurt, applesauce, and a "digestive" herbal tea -- fennel, licorice, and lemon balm.  It's not to my usual taste, but I think maybe it's helping keep my stomach settled.

We also got some bread, some stamps, and some cash.

We came back to the apartment for a bit, and then went out for lunch.  Another really good meal.  I had bean soup, and my daughter had pasta with spider crab and tomato.  They brought us bread before the meal, and I remarked that I thought it was odd they brought us bread but no butter.  Hmmm.  Wait.  There is a bottle of olive oil on the table.......  And the bread basket has two plates under it.

Oh, right, this is an *Italian* restaurant......   Duh.............

My daughter knows a good deal about olive oil, and said it was quite a nice one.  We enjoyed it with our bread as we chatted before our lunch dishes arrived.  Both were good.  Then we splurged on tiramisu (which, I am told, originated in this part of Italy), and coffee.  Very nice.

That completed our actual *plan* for the day, so we spent some more time in aimless wandering.  I can't say that I love wandering into dead ends.  I always feel that either they are someone's private space ("back yard"?), or it's a canal (or the lagoon) and no bridge.....

The exciting news is that I found a cheap little spoon to replace my old one which I apparently left at JFK on my way here.  It was a perfect size to carry around and use to eat a yogurt or an applesauce, and I'd had it ever since I was in Europe in 1970.  It is possible that I stuck it somewhere in my luggage (rather than back in the camera's fanny pack), but I think it's gone.

Anyway, in our wanderings we found a store that looked sort of like a dollar store.  Not all the same price, but a bit of all kinds of all different things.  And I found a set of three small spoons for about 2 euros.  So now I've got a spoon to use, and two spares.

Then we came back to the apartment.  We ate our green beans (very fresh and green, but not that much taste), toast (sesame seeded bread) and cheese (grocery store cheese; nothing special), and strawberries from the boat -- yummy.  We've done a bit of packing, and some postcard-writing.

We check out of our apartment tomorrow at 10:30, and head for Bologna.  A boat to the train station (which is on the island here) and then a train to Bologna.

I'm betting we'll miss this apartment.  It's really nice.  Newly fixed -- everything is in perfect shape.   Brand new ceilings with exposed beams (I wonder how old those beams are?).  Green marble floors, paler green marble tile on the walls in the bathroom.  New fixtures.  Well-stocked kitchen (collander, bread knife, microwave, toaster, plenty of pans and dishes)........  Even a decent bottle of olive oil, and another of balsamic vinegar.....   The bed is comfy, the living room likewise.....  There is plenty of hot water, and we control the heat......  The wifi works.  No complaints!

If I ever came back to Italy I would stay in this apartment again in a heartbeat.

We'll see what our digs are like in Bologna!

Wish us buon viaggio!


In order to facilitate chronological traversal of these posts, here is a link to the next post.

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