Last few days in Italy

We went for a little bike ride the day before last and O caught this cute little lizard. The lizard was really fast, we were surprised he stopped long enough for this picture he was racing all over O's body. 

This is Byrek, an Albanian dish. Gesi's mom made an unleavened dough that she rolled out super thin then it is assembled with ricotta and a meat mixture. The dough is almost thin enough in some places it is like filo. It was quite tasty.

We took a day trip to Venice. Giovanna lives and goes to school here so she was our guide for the day. It is really relaxing to go with 'natives' in countries since I don't have to figure out the foreign language, streets, maps (like my free Paris map which wasn't too detailed!), and schedules.  This picture is early in the morning still and things are quiet in the canals. 

No cars in Venice, here are the delivery 'trucks'.

Grand canal. Big as it name suggests. 

This is the famous and beautiful San Marco, a big square in the city. No pictures I took or could have taken would really do it justice. I will just show this picture. There is no sitting or sitting and eating your own food allowed. You can pay to sit at a cafe. We were chivvied off more than one spot.

I tired this dish of dried (mackerel I think) mashed fish and polenta because it sounded like something we'd never have in the states. Also I know that historically dried fish was very important in many regions of the world and I have read some historical texts regarding salt and food preservations. In the end this fish was really really strong and rich and that is about all I could eat of the fish part. Good to try ONCE, the very nice waiter saw how much I ate and brought another plate of food. That was sweet but he didn't know I'd eaten O's first plate (course) of food and was full enough. It was really sweet of him. He was Albanian also and understood Gesi and her mom talking.

Mail slot and 'doorknob'.

Grand Canal again.

The boys and I.

Giovy and the boys drinking REAL Italian sodas, in Italy.

Private boat parking. Some people have to climb on those bars of metal sticking out of the walls to get to their boats. 

There are even smaller walkways than this.

Today (Paul's birthday!) the boys, Gesi, Natasha and I rode to another near by town to a market. There was a fish place that sold an assortment of fried fish snacks. We got a tiny selection, including these tiny whole fish. Levin would have no part but Gesi finally ate ONE. She summarized it well, they tasted like fried fish skin.

I thought this was a dahlia but it's a sunflower, I swear. I actually reached over someone's fence to take this picture. 

When we came home today Bashkim had made us a beautiful Albanian meal. He has cooked for Albanian weddings in Albania. This is like what would be made. It was good and the onion on the kabob was probably the best onion I have eaten in my life. I love onions.

Tomorrow we leave. Paul leaves Oregon today, we are ready to see him!! He has a really long haul ahead of him and an 11 hour difference when we arrive in Tanzania, the boys and I have a shorter trip and a 2 hour difference. We are not ready to leave and have had a great time here with Gesi and her family. They have been so sweet and kind to us. I wish we could speak Albianian. I have a cheat sheet of some words now, the vocabulary of a one year old. It doesn't get you too far but I make up for it with a lot of gestures which Gesi finds really amusing. I think it actually won't be quite so hot since we'll be closer to the equator.

I just realized I have no pictures of the gondolas or gondoliers. They were really pretty boats and the gondoliers were all men in similar little outfits. It is eighty euros for a ride (more for a song) and frankly it was so hot it wouldn't have been particularly pleasant in the day time in the baking sun. They were fun to watch, I was impressed how they seemed to navigate them with only the one paddle out the side of the back, keep in mind they had wind and motorized boats going by them at the same time. At one point we passed a group (without passengers) of gondolas and other boats and the driver were all yelling at each other. I asked Giovy what they were saying but she couldn't really understand them because they were speaking Venetian, a local dialect.