Sunday 6 March – When Did I Get So Old?

After last night's be-bopping my feet hurt. It was a feeling of bruising on the balls of my feet,but the small bones on the top of my right foot also feel bruised and the tendons inflamed. I am no stranger to foot pain. I have have serious bouts of tendonitis and tendonosis with my left ankle. I was in a walking cast for almost six months throughout 2009 and have have cortisone shots in the bursa sac at the ankle. Working side by side with an honored podatric surgeon has had its benefits. Dr Ford kept me up and running during my traumas, but since leaving Kaiser's employ I haven't had any flare-up that have hindered me. I think my office working environment kept me cursed, quite frankly. I still knock wood there won't be more problems, at least not while I'm over here, and thus far, it's working out for me.

So I knew I needed to keep myself inactive for a day or two. I may actually need to cancel my plans to go to La Fenice for the opera- the idea of climbing the stairs three or four stories to our nosebleed seats at the operahouse wasn't a good idea. The other solution for me to go would be to goon myself out on codeine, and probably fall asleep under my chair as a result. I don't have to make the final decision for at least a day though, so time would tell. The most important thing was not to overextend myself in anyway. I need to heal myself before my next tour starts up. Hat good would I be to these people who expect me to be a trouper? Gah, when did I get old?

Charlene and I headed out to celebrate Mass at San Marco. Another day, another opportunity to try and count tiles in the mosaics. Outside in front of the Doge's Palace we took pictures of the Fantasie costumed beings at their photocall.

We walked over (slowly, slowly) and picked up the tickets at La Fenice. Just the box office section was ornate and elaborately decorated, with giant chandeliers and huge gilt framed mirrors. Gorgeous.

I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch with icepacks and mentholated pain patches to take the edge off. Luke & Char went out sightseeing and picture-taking.

We walked over to the San Polo area and ate at Alla Rivetta. Our waiter thought he was a comedian, at my expense, and was promptly cursed with breaking glasses and dishes galore in the space of three minutes. That was funny, to me...

I made my way home and Luke & Char went to check out if anything was going on for evening festivities at the Rialto. When they got home they announced they were going to on a daytrip on their own. I'm thinking they would go to Padova or Verona, so they totally surprised me by saying they were going to go to Rome on Monday.

Wow! It's a 3.5 to 4 hour train ride each way, and even with taking the first train out of Venice and the last train back, it gave them nine hours essentially in Rome. Whirlwind to say the least, but I gave my friends Allan and Trixy a tour of about that length last year when they took a cruise and had one day in port. I rattled off the general itinerary I followed on that day and offered them my Kindle to take since it has guidebooks on it.

I was going to be meeting a couch surfer who was staying with us for two nights on Monday afternoon, so even if my foot wasn't being wonky, I still needed to stick around for her arrival. Zoe had grabbed my attention with her email request of how difficult it was to find a female host where a married woman would feel comfortable and safe in staying. She's originally from Sacramento and went to Mills College and is in her mid-30s. I believed immediately that she would be a safe bet and a good fit for our wacky little group for a couple of days.