Venice...

... day 6.
And so today we schlepped down to the Arsenale, the Museo Storico Navale, in particular, where the E1.55 entrance fee goes to support the orphans of sailors.
That’s 2.5 hours or so of my life I’ll never get back. I must remember it’s Mr Brown’s holiday too, and he loved the place! We saw the Arsenale too, surrounded by stone lions, but were not on “official business” and so, not allowed in.
Then we wandered around the district, poking our heads down narrow streets and alleyways, looking for a likely place to have lunch. I vetoed quite a few, sneering at the brightly coloured photograph menus or the triple-translated lasagna offerings. I strongly suspect Mr Brown was beginning to consider pushing me into a canal when finally a small spot looked a likely place. And bugger me dead if we hadn’t stumbled upon Al Covo! What serendipity, what happenchance! What blind luck! What a meal!
I had some more spider crab but this time with home-made lemon pasta and the sauce included the crab eggs! Mr Brown had mussels with the most amazing basil/tomato sauce we had to ask for extra bread to mop it up!
Next I had a “sandwich” of tuna and eggplant, delicious! Mr Brown had fish of the day, Bream I think, with a sauce of potato & leek and chunks of roasted garlic, humming with garlic!
Desert was a house panna cotta with amazing fresh fruit and Mr Brown had a deeply densely chocolate cake with a spicy chocolate sauce. Wine, something local, suggested by our absolutely delightful waiter, Alerssandro, who also showed me on the map where to find the artisan beads shop, Attombri, and told us to say hello to his friend, Stefano, while we were there. We did, and I allowed myself to be draped with the most amazing concoction of purple beads that looked so lovely I had to hand over the plastic.
I'm considering the beads my compensation, as, after gazing and gazing at the most beautiful ring (a 150-250 year old carnelian engraved Persian tile set in a swivel setting in chunky 18c gold) and finally trying it on (it fitted!!) Mr Brown raised an eyebrow, 2 even, at the price Eehemmm. Totally worth it but more than a wee bit indulgent. *sighs*.
Lunch was so extravagant that we couldn’t really face dinner, so Mr Brown ate some chocolate (just a square mind) and some Fuori Menu biscotti, and we had an early night. That is to say we didn’t wander out at 9pm looking for dinner. I’m loving these European dining hours.