Kendra's weekend in Italy - 2nd half

Sunday morning was another late one...aaahhh... I don't think that I've slept that many hours in a row in about 2 years. Was blissful. Breakfast at the hotel, another amazing shower, and then we checked out and stowed our bags behind the desk to pick up later. We went in a different direction and found another neighborhood square with a co-op grocery store, a cafe, and lots of families. There were kids playing on bikes and scooters and roller skates, there were adults of all ages drinking cappuccino, wine, and beer (Yep, at 10:30 am anything goes in Italy! Why is it that we are so uptight about alcohol in the U.S.?), and just general contentment. We sat for a while soaking it in (along with more caffeine) before heading to some sights.

Next, we headed back down to St. Mark's Square to another part of our Doge's Palace ticket on the Corer Museum. What an amazing museum - SO much there that it was a bit overwhelming. Oh, and what is it with all of the naked babies breast-feeding? Can some art historian explain that to me? Doesn't logistically seem like a good idea to me... After the museum, we took the elevator up to the top of the St. Mark's bell tower - such an amazing view from up there! Pix below. 

This is what we took the elevator up in.
Pix below taken from the windows near the top!

When I visited Venice 10 years ago during the summer, this same square was
completely full of people - no room to manuever at all. Yeah for March!

Next, we followed the boat tour guide's recommendations and went for pizza at OKE (previously called Ae Oche, http://www.aeoche.com/index_flash.htm) - it was a bit of a walk and then we had to wait for a bit, but it was all worth it. Amazing pizza sitting out in the sun overlooking the water. Can't beat it! Afterwards, we went for gelati down the street at GelatiNico, which was also recommended by the tour guide. Yum! Here's a map showing the places we went to in Venice that day: http://goo.gl/maps/bAkCE. 

Unfortunately, it was now time to pack it up...We walked back to our hotel, stopping at the co-op for train refreshments and at a gift shop for Merino glass birds for Watson, and then made our way to the train station to catch our train back to Milan. 

A couple of hours later, and we had another 'little bit lost getting from the train to the hotel' experience! But, we found it, dropped off our stuff and headed out for dinner just down the street (I can't remember the name of the place). Another good meal - I definitely ate well that weekend! And, Cheryl treated me to a lovely b-day dessert. :) 

The next morning didn't find us quite as well-rested as we were in Venice. The hotel was very noisy and we were woken up multiple times in the middle of the night...so, we went back to sleep and didn't get out of the hotel until late morning. We took the metro down into City Centre, grabbed a cappuccino and croissant and then viewed the inside of the Milan Duomo (Cathedral). Here is a map that shows the train station, our hotel, and the Duomo area: http://goo.gl/maps/e7Oqp.

The view coming out of the Metro - nice, huh?

Milan is the banking and shopping capital of Italy - pretty fancy.
Not really my cup of tea so-to-speak, but the Duomo area was neat and worth a day!

Yep, it's spring!

The Duomo

We also and hoofed it up ~175 steps to the top of the Duomo. What an amazing view - you can walk all around the top of the building... Too bad it was hazy that day, hiding the Alps! But, still gorgeous. 

A quick lunch at a roof-top restaurant (another good meal!) and then back to the hotel for me to grab my bag. I was off to the airport and heading back home to Belfast. It was so great to see Cheryl and have a chance to catch up with her. Thank, Jubin, for being so supportive of this weekend away.

Bye, bye Alps! Italy, I'll be back!