
ANOTHER nice sunny day. We have no set itinerary so we decide to take a walk eastwards past the Arsenal.
Being Saturday the area around St Marks is mobbed but the crowds thin out the further we go.
We find a nice cafe for a snack – spinach arancini for me and mushroom and sausage lasagne for Margaret…all washed down with Aperol spritz.
It’s late afternoon when we get back to the hotel, have a nap then look for somewhere for dinner.
We trying to watch the dosh and consider pizza – Margaret finds a place called Trattoria Pizzeria da Gioia not far from the hotel.
It’s a nice wee place BUT…the waiter recommends we share an off-menu pasta dish with spider crab which Margaret – knowing I like that kind of thing – suggests we have.
Spectacular, but nothing to write home about and not Margaret’s taste.
When the bill comes we’re in shock. One-hundered-and-sixty euros for the crab pasta and a a total of €250 for the meal (including a bottle of wine). Fuck me gently.
I can’t argue – we stupidly didn’t ask the price. Lesson learned…and although not technically a rip-off, it feels like it to me. When a dish turns out to be three times the price (per person!) of the most expensive item on the menu I’d expect the waiter to be a little more forthcoming and upfront about the price.
Margaret’s upset and furious. I fight the temptation to go back and give the guy a doing and put on a brave face.
I calm down a bit before I post a Tripadvisor review warning.
We find a bar and drown our sorrows and empty the budget with an other bottle of wine…
More pix from today here.
