Beyond Venice

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Happy 4th of July to everyone at home!!!

Having four days in Venice is wonderful because we are able to see all this area has to offer. This morning we decided to take the water bus to Murano to see the glass factories and shops. We happened to wonder into Simone Cenedese's shop and factory. We asked if they offered tours or demonstrations, the woman said to come back in a half hour. So we continued to walk around and wonder until the tour, we saw the "Blue Star" glass sculpture in the square close by and realized how talented Simone really is. When we arrived we were surprised to find out that we were going on a personal tour and demonstration in the actual factory. "Max" was are guide and he was extremely knowledgeable and shared so much about the glass blowing and sculpting process with us. Next went to a wonderful lunch recommended by Max, where everything was homemade including the cheese, pasta, sauce, breads...just delicious! After lunch we did a little shopping and picked up some souvenirs.

We returned to Lido around 3:00PM and we spent the rest of the day at the Lido beach. We went swimming in the Adriatic Sea, cooling off from the hot sun. The beach was very nice, darker sand than we have on the east coast and lots of people trying to sell you sunglasses, wraps and jewelry.

We came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner, the food is just amazing and we had another delicious dinner which included something new, it was seafood and fish lasagna....yum!

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