Europe Trip 2012 Day 8 (June 29, 2012): The Curse of the Lemon Shots

What a great way to start off our time here last night with a great dinner and time walking around Venice. We woke up this morning at around 8AM and started to get ready for our first full day in Venice. Did I mention it's hot here? Well it is and so we tried our best to dress appropriately but it doesn't matter what you wear as the heat will still get you.

We left our hotel at around 11AM and took the boat over to the nearby stop across the canal which is called Zaratte. We got off the boat and started to walk around looking for a place to eat lunch. We came to a square and stumbled upon Ristorante Pizzeria S. Stefano and decided to stop for lunch there. It was a really nice place to eat and we had a great time eating. Jenn got a glass of red wine and lasagna and I had a glass of white wine with a pizza. Jenn of course got her favorite vanilla gelato to cap off the meal. It was a fantastic lunch and the perfect way to start the day.

We walked from lunch to the Piazza San Marco an area of Venice we didn't make it to on our day trip to Venice in 2006. The area is gorgeous, busy, but full of beauty and great for pictures. We walked around the area and Jenn went into every shop to try and find the perfect purchase. We stumbled upon a store called Sisley and spent at least a half hour in there until Jenn found the most gorgeous dress, I mean stunning. It could have been thirty degrees hotter and even that wouldn't have wiped the smile off Jenn's face once she bought it.

We walked around for a little while longer and made our way back to the pick up point to take us back to the hotel. We made it back to the hotel and laid down for a few hours and watched Wimbledon to regain our energy before heading out again. We ended up leaving to go back into Venice around 6:30PM and this time got off the at the San Marco stop and walked around aimlessly for at least a half hour before stopping at a small restaurant for dinner.

We started off with a Venetian shrimp dish that was to die for. To see how things have changed since the last time we were in Venice, Jenn would have never even tried the dish but not only did she try it but she really liked it. We split a half bottle of Italian Chiraz which was one of the best wines on the trip. Jenn got a steak that was cooked in red wine sauce which was fantastic. I had a pasta with an egg sauce and bacon which looked plain but was actually really good.

For the dinner we had a great waiter who was extremely helpful and genuinely seemed interested in making sure we had a good time at their restaurant. Before we left they gave us these lemon shots on the house. To set the atmosphere the restaurant is the size of a living room and fits maybe 20 people. Well we did the shots and I of course decided to choke on it and did everything I could to not look like a complete rookie and cough it out. I kept it in until we stepped out and literally coughed for a good few minutes and we were back on our way.

I mentioned earlier that we wandered around for thirty minutes to find the restaurant well when we left we we had no idea where we were or how to get back. So we walked aimlessly looking for major spots to confer with our map and literally walked for almost two hours before making it to our boat transfer. We did manage to stop for some delicious gelato along the way (I had coffee and Jenn had Strawberry).

We made it back to our room where Jenn went straight to sleep and I watched Federer come back from two sets down to win in five at Wimbledon. It was an incredible day filled with great food, even better company, and yes those cursed lemon shots.