May 24 - Seventh Day in Venice - Shaking all Over

I asked Carol what she wanted to do on our last day in Venice (and our entire holiday come to think of it). She said lunch at the Bauer. I thought it a good idea so long as I could add a little twist like exploring a new route and getting lost on our way. It was easy to find a new route along windy, cool, picturesque narrow lanes with interesting shops and fewer people but try as I might, we could not get us lost. Guess we've been here long enough to have developed a tiny sense of direction no matter where we are.
The Bauer is magnificent. Pricey but worth every euro. We sat at our favourite table (for those of you thinking of going, you walk through the hotel to the patio bar and as you enter it, the table is at the far (canal) end on the right giving unobstructed views and entertainment galore).
We had the best lunch of our entire month there today. For starters we chose a selection of Venetian tapas called Cicchetti: cold cuts, cod purée on wafers and grilled veg with pine nuts in it, to die for. For those so inclined, like Annika, there are beautiful grilled veg dishes everywhere. The main was a Bauer signature pasta dish with shrimp, beautifully done, with a really good glass of wine. Dessert was tiramisu (what else!) and espresso. At the end, they brought out three tiny cupcakes with a dab of lemony cream on top "for the finish". OMG, put one of those babies in your mouth and it's like an explosion of flavour. We were pretty effusive with our compliments about the lunch so they brought out three more!
While we were eating we noticed a gondola parked against the opposite wall with the gondolier sound asleep across the benches. We thought that pretty funny so I took a picture. He slept for quite a while with all kinds of traffic passing by. Towards the end of our lunch Carol looked up and said "look at what he's doing. He's having a pee right into the canal. OMG, I think he's shaking it now". I looked up and sure enough there he was, standing in his boat, facing the wall and answering the call of nature as pretty as you please. He was too quick for me to get a picture but believe you me the sight will remain burned into our brains for quite a while! Didn't I say earlier that we had entertainment too? A great finale.
As a general summary of the past month, we may come home limping and looking like we've been hit by a bus but Carol and I totally agree that we really killed this trip. We'll probably write one more blog from home just to recount our return flight  but for now, arividerci Italia!