On Sunday the kids were completely unconscious until after noon,
so Blaise and I took turns to go out for coffee, and to pick up our Florence train tickets and passes for the boats that are the main transport in Venice. When they finally woke, we took them to our favorite place, which was by
then out
of almost everything, certainly all the favorite pastries. But they ate something, and were willing to move on. We picked up a boat down the Grand Canal, which Anselm loved. Eliot, on the other hand, decided that this was enough of Italy and it was time to go home, something of a recurring theme. It was Easter Sunday (oh yeah) and San Marco was mobbed, with a tremendous queue to get into the basilica, so they chased pigeons and then had fun walking back toward Rialto through the markets.
This began a love affair between the kids and a Venetian specialty, tiny glass animals. Cheesy they may be, but they have wonderfully
preoccupied Eliot and I think saved her mood altogether. She carried around a set of penguins for the rest of the day and blocked out all the world’s confusion with a focus on her tiny family. We came back home to play a little in the garden—briefly spotting a family of boys staying in the downstairs apartment—and had a late lunch of pizza at Ae Oche, where Anselm was proud to finish an entire one. Eliot then took a nap while Blaise and Anselm went out to the Accademia. When they got home, we followed up on a dim recollection of the only
playground I’d ever seen in Venice, at the gardens near the Biennale site. We took the boat down in the early evening and saw the sun sinking over Salute. On our way home around 9, we found that a highly recommended restaurant off the campo, although fully booked, had a cancellation and fit us in after a short wait (spent throwing balls around in the campo). Great food, non-standard, and a fine last evening meal for Blaise in Venice. Eliot eventually grew restless so she and I took off,
leaving the boys to dessert.
so Blaise and I took turns to go out for coffee, and to pick up our Florence train tickets and passes for the boats that are the main transport in Venice. When they finally woke, we took them to our favorite place, which was by 
then out 
of almost everything, certainly all the favorite pastries. But they ate something, and were willing to move on. We picked up a boat down the Grand Canal, which Anselm loved. Eliot, on the other hand, decided that this was enough of Italy and it was time to go home, something of a recurring theme. It was Easter Sunday (oh yeah) and San Marco was mobbed, with a tremendous queue to get into the basilica, so they chased pigeons and then had fun walking back toward Rialto through the markets. 
This began a love affair between the kids and a Venetian specialty, tiny glass animals. Cheesy they may be, but they have wonderfully 
preoccupied Eliot and I think saved her mood altogether. She carried around a set of penguins for the rest of the day and blocked out all the world’s confusion with a focus on her tiny family. We came back home to play a little in the garden—briefly spotting a family of boys staying in the downstairs apartment—and had a late lunch of pizza at Ae Oche, where Anselm was proud to finish an entire one. Eliot then took a nap while Blaise and Anselm went out to the Accademia. When they got home, we followed up on a dim recollection of the only 
playground I’d ever seen in Venice, at the gardens near the Biennale site. We took the boat down in the early evening and saw the sun sinking over Salute. On our way home around 9, we found that a highly recommended restaurant off the campo, although fully booked, had a cancellation and fit us in after a short wait (spent throwing balls around in the campo). Great food, non-standard, and a fine last evening meal for Blaise in Venice. Eliot eventually grew restless so she and I took off, leaving the boys to dessert.
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