Babymoon to Venice - Part 2

Day 2 started early with a visit to the Rialto Fish Market. There weren't a lot of tourists out yet, just locals buying fish for the day and restaurant owners getting their selection. So we were able to take lots of pictures and roam around this very cool and stinky market.

  There is a take away place called Pronto Pesce right next to the market. So we stopped in so Adam could try some of their unique combinations. I tried one as well and I can't say this pregnant lady loved it.

Adam got salted cod butter and a scallop I think?

I got a seafood arancini 

 There is a fruit and vegetable market right next to the fish market so we browsed around there for a few minutes too.

We have UPS trucks, they have UPS boats

 We left the market and ran to a local coffee place for breakfast. Then we hopped on a Vaparetto and took it down to St. Mark's Square in hopes of getting in to the Cathedral and the Doge's palace. Well we got one outta 2 in. The line for St. Mark's was very long so we got in line for the Doge's and we were in in 10 min.

Riding along in the Vaparetto

 The Doge's Palace was very cool. It was so ornate with lots of gold. You could see a lot of the Asian and Indian influence in the decor of the building. Much different than what we've seen in Rome, Tuscany, or Sorrento. The Doge's Palace is the residence of the past Doge's of Venice when it was a high trade power. The Doge was the supreme authority. The palace is now a museum of all the past Doges.

After a long tour of the Palace this preggo was hungry. We were a little late for lunch so many restaurants were closing down until dinner so we ended up at a snack shop for pizza and pasta to hold me over. 

After our late lunch we walked back towards the Rialto Bridge via shopping districts. We weren't impressed with anything so it was more of a window shopping tour. Adam dropped me off at the apartment to lay down and prop my feet up. He went for another walk while I rested.

Adam's favorite Cicchetteria Al'Forno

Mascarpone cheese and Tartufo cicchetti 

 We cleaned up for dinner and headed back to the restaurant we wanted to go to the night before. Ristorante Al Covo was on both Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern's shows so we knew it had to be good. The food was spectacular!

I started off with a squid ink pasta with clams..again. Adam had a seafood platter with tons of different things on it.

 My main dish was roasted Lamb and adam had this huge bag of seafood steamed together. Both were so delicious.

Of course we had to try the dessert, Ricotta Cheesecake, and a Dark Chocolate Pepper Cake. 

So needless to say we rolled ourselves out of there late that night and caught the last Vaparetto home.

Babymoon to Venice - Part 1

And we're off! Our trip to Venice was by train, 7.5 hours to be exact, with a change over in Milan. Very easy to maneuver and relaxing to just ride along. It also gave me time to chug a liter of water with a bathroom close by too. I wanted to stay hydrated as much as a I could before we were walking around. Once you arrive in Venice, you exit the train station and right in front is the main canal. Then of course you go back inside and figure out where to buy a ticket for the Vaparetto, their version of a metro. We found our tickets and found our correct boat. We rode over to the stop closest to our apartment and were met there by the owner, Sabina. She walked us to our apartment and gave us lots of tips on Venice.

Our apartment, a one bedroom place with a bathroom to the left.

 We left to walk around our neighborhood and found one of the places recommended by food network, Antica Forna. It's a take away pizza place that was really good.

Antica Forna

Our pizza slices

We weren't sure on the weather but it possibly would rain about half the time we were there so we decided to walk across the Rialto Bridge and over to St. Marks Square to get pictures with the sun shining.

The view from Rialto Bridge on our walk towards St. Marks

St. Mark's Square

The Doge's Palace

Sitting by the water looking at the Gondola's and an island across the way

The long line of gondola's out and about

This is the armory...Adam loves his guns!!

We found one restaurant that we wanted to eat at, but it was closed until 7:30, so we thought. So we went around the corner to get a drink and sit down until it opened. While we were sitting there we got to watch a fun game of cat and mouse with the venice police and those illegal purse salesmen. Each were hiding on opposite sides of the piazza waiting for one another to make a move. It was really funny. We headed back to our restaurant only to realize it wasn't open on thursday, bummer!

The view from Rialto Bridge on our walk back to our apartment

So we headed back to our apartment and found another restaurant close by that was recommended to us, Trattoria alla Madonna.  We had a short wait, which was worth it when our dinner started to arrive. I started off with the Pasta with clams and Adam's started was seafood risotto.

Pasta with clams

Seafood Risotto

 Our main dishes were roasted sea bass for me and Cuddle fish cooked in it's own ink and polenta for adam.

My Seabass

Adam's cuddle fish and polenta

We couldn't decide on a dessert so we asked our waiter Ugo which he thought was better. He brought us the Tiramisu and a small piece of the other dessert just to try.

Tiramisu and a small piece of creme cake

After dinner we went home and crashed from exhaustion and full bellies.

20 Weeks and lots of kicks!

How far along? 20 Weeks

Baby Size? Banana

Total weight gain/loss? 8lbs

Maternity clothes? Yes, I love my maternity dresses and maternity jeans

Stretch marks? None that I can see

Sleep? Like a rock

Best moment this week? Adam felt the baby kick for the first time and it was so awesome!

Miss Anything? Only when we are in a restaurant and I have fewer options to eat.

Movement? So much movement, the baby kicks all the time

Food cravings? None really

Anything making you queasy or sick? If I have too many sugary things I feel sick, so needless to say I ate too many macaroons in Paris and felt sick =)

Have you started to show yet? Oh yes!

Gender? Find out Today

Labor Signs? No

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Mood? Happy

Looking forward to? Going back to St. Louis in a week and seeing all our family and friends

18 Weeks

How far along: 18 weeks

Baby Size: Sweet Potato

Total weight gain/loss: 6 or 7 lbs ( i'm avoiding the scale since we just got back from italy)

Maternity clothes:  Mostly maternity dresses, they are super comfortable

Stretch marks: none that I can see

Sleep: still like a rock

Best moment this week: Walking along the streets of venice with Adam for our baby moon

Miss Anything: all the great Italian meats and wines I couldn't have this weekend

Movement:  Tons of movement! The baby is kicking all the time now, especially after dessert!

Food cravings:  no cravings

Anything making you queasy or sick: no, i'm over my tomato issue and was able to eat lots of them this weekend

Have you started to show yet: definitely ( although our italian water Ugo kept calling me Piccolo "small" I like him =))

Gender: will find out soon

Labor signs: none

Belly button in or out: In

Wedding rings on or off: On

Mood: Feeling great

Looking forward to: Our weekend in Paris for our last baby moon and our cooking classes there!