Saturday September 27 - Venice

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Saturday September 27 - Venice



Our last full day in Italy. Dan and Jane headed out early to get a jump on shopping and Sherry and I took our time to plan a walk around the quiet part of Venice. We headed from our hotel and located a restaurant for dinner that night. We were meeting our friends Phil and LeeAnne Larsen who were flying in this afternoon. We found a delightful street side restaurant called da Roberto's. We made a reservation for six for 7:00 pm and headed to the canal. Once on the canal we headed upstream against the tide of people heading to St. Marks and all the shopping. We kept walking east and found the quiet side of Venice. Very romantic, open sidewalks with grass and trees. We saw children playing soccer, a group of people taking a class with very large knives. It was like yoga with machete's, I will attach several pictures. We also walked several neighborhoods with little grocery stores and laundry hanging from many windows. We keep heading to the waters edge and then keep working north and west. We eventually ended up on little island and small church. The small church and courtyard and a large tower that was leaning quite badly. We took some pictures, sat on the church benches and relaxed.



We allowed technology to connect with Dan & Jane and we synced our "Find Friends" app and landed at a small street side restaurant. Dan and Jane split a pizza and Sherry and I had a sandwich . Very tasty and hit the spot. We decided to finalize some last minute shopping for the grand kids and headed to the small stores. Venice is known for their glass blowing, we found a number of shops and scored on several cute gifts.



We had time to head back to the hotel and relax before our last evening out in Italy. Perfect, Sherry wore her newly acquired leather jacket and we headed out to meet Phil and LeeAnne. Jane and Dan headed to the grand canal and Sherry and I off to the Restaurant to secure our reservations. Everyone arrived around 7:30 pm and we shared our numerous stops and favorite places. We also heard about their upcoming journey through Italy and then on to a cruise ship for a tour of the Mediterranean cities. Sounds like a great trip and adventure. Our waiter did a great job and everyone ordered some type of pasta. Sherry had lobster with hers, Phil had clams and LeeAnne and I had the lasagna. Dan had the carbonna and Jane had one of the specials. A great meal and laughs...Sherry and I headed back to the hotel and Dan & Jane walked with Phil and LeeAnne back to St. Marks. We found a gelato stand on the way home and of course got turned around. Thank goodness we plugged the address into our phone and were able to route us back. A great last night and an evening to remember. We think one day and one night is plenty in Venice.



Sunday will come fast and we will be heading home.......a water taxi ride from our hotel, through the inner canals and then across the lagoon to the Venice airport. We have a short flight to Amsterdam and then home from there. We should arrive in Minneapolis around 7:30 pm, just in time for Sunday night football and unpacking.



Thanks for giving us the opportunity to share our journey with you. This blog, allows us to create a written memory for our trip and way for our families to to keep up on us. We had the chance several times to "FaceTime" with our kids and share some of the sights and sounds live. Technology makes the world smaller, but we are so blessed to be able to see this wonderful part of God's creation. We hope all of you can make this trip some day. We would highly recommend our Italian based travel company to arrange the trip. They planned a great trip and itinerary and allowed us to add stops and sights. We also had plenty of free time to explore and not be bogged down with large tour groups. The hotels were first class, except for Venice, and drivers, tour guides very professional. Please send me an email if you would like the contact name and company website for your trip to Italy.



We planned a year in a advance for the trip and received a discount for booking early.



Thanks for reading and God Bless...



Doug & Sherry and Dan & Jane

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Comments

[Allison Miller]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us! I'm a little disappointed you didn't crash or stalk George Clooney's wedding :) I have decided that for Wayne and I Italy is on my bucket list. When we are able to go maybe you and Sherry can go with and be our travel guides! Safe travels back home. Miss you both and so glad you had a wonderful time. We loved the photos and updates!