Italy

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We left Lake Maggiore yesterday for Venice. Stopped in Verona on the way. In Verona saw Juliette's balcony and the well preserved Arena where they still have concerts and they also have an Opera season there. The statue of Julliette gets a lot of action as you can see.

We arrived in Venice in late afternoon, checked into he hotel and then Ange and I strolled around St. Mark's square for a bit before we got ready to leave for the Gondola Serenade and Venetian Night Out. We went to another (fancier) hotel for dinner. It was the best dinner of the the trip so far. The Gondola ride was lovely. I've heard people say it was not worth it, but I think it is. When in Venice you just have to.

Today, in the morning, we had the tour of St. Mark's Square and the byzantine Basilica, the lavish Doges' Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. We also took a tour of the Murano glass factory. The glassblower doing the demo was a big burly guy who looked more like mafioso than someone working with delicate glass objects. There was an optional tour in the afternoon which we opted not to take. We just strolled around the streets and had a lovely afternoon.

There are 420 bridges in Venice. Wonder if I got a picture of all of them ;-) Venice is really beautiful. If only there weren't so many tourists 😊 We wanted to go to the Guggenheim but the public transportation was on strike for 24 hours and a taxi is too expensive and my feet couldn't take the walk, we we did not see it. We are on our own for dinner tonight so hope we can find a good little cafe that won't charge tons of money for dinner. Things here are very expensive as you can imaine. Enjoy the pictures.

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Photos

St. Mark's Square Pidgeons
Why anyone wants a bunch of dirty birds on them, I will never understand.

Comments

[Lynne Baker]

Great memories
You are MAKING them and I am reliving them! Thanks! But I do want to know how you got the hotel named for Ange? Is he already famous over there?

[Sabrina]

Venice
Nice boob grab! And LOVE the shawl! Glad to hear how much you like Venice. Sounds delightful.

[Tree]

Boob grab
Is that a thing ... when in Verona? Hope you found a good place for dinner that didn't cost too many Euros. You don't want to come back from Italy saying the food was bad!