Venice

Most cities have to balance the pedestrian circulation with the needs of the motorized traffic. In Venice, this problem has never existed: the whole city is a big "pedestrian island"! Everything happens by way of the canal. Trash is picked up on barges; our suitcases were delivered to the hotel by boat. If you are building something, the materials arrive by boat

We arrived at the Hotel Continental about 5:30. Kathy had arranged for a gondola ride for us at 5:55. Dave and I were able to get the “love seat” since we were on our honeymoon. It is good luck to kiss under each of the bridges and we did our best to make sure we didn’t miss a one. The modern Gondolas are a copy of ancient vessels that date back over 1000 years. Although now they are mainly used as pleasure craft for tourists, originally they were used to transport goods and people throughout the city. In early times these vessels might be brightly painted and richly carpeted. Gondolas are now painted black with a small amount of ornamental trim on the Ferro. This is the bow of the ship, with symbolic Doge cap on top and 6 tooth like protrusions. These represent the six sestieri or municipalities that make up Venizia. They are San Marco, Dorsoduro, San Polo, Cannaregio, Santa Croce, and Castello.

		Venice Sunday, June 2nd
		After leaving Verona, Venice was about another 2 hour ride. I had been anxious to see Venice. It is a city built on the water. It’s known as the Pearl of the Adriatic. There are no cars or bicycles in Venice. You must walk or go by water to your destination.

	The gondola ride is a must. Contrary to what everyone had told us, Venice has cleaned up its canals and there was no smell. We had a very peaceful 45 minute ride. The cost of a gondola ride can vary. I understand the cost of up to 6 people for a one hour ride is €155. We came back to the hotel and headed down for dinner. At last, we had something a little different than fish and veal, a chicken with a pepper glaze. Unfortunately, my stomach was giving me a fit and I had to pass on dinner and go to the room and lay down. Dave told Kathy that I wouldn’t be able to meet our group for a night out in Venice. He took a walk around Venice for a while, and procured a cappuccino. I slept till about 10 PM and got up. I watched CNN and saw there was a fire at Buckingham Palace. Gratefully, not a serious one. The Queen’s was celebrating her Golden Jubliee this week. Poor Dave sat with me and watched BBC’s “Alexander the Great” on television. I know he would have much rather been out exploring Venice by moonlight.

*Monday, June 3rd*

Got to sleep until 7:10. The phone rang and it was Kathy checking in to see if we were going to go to San Marco with the group. Dave told her we would pass on this today and catch up with everyone later on. I was much better by morning. We went down and had a wonderful full breakfast and headed out for a walk to San Marco. The walk was longer than I anticipated from our hotel. Dave went up in the bell tower, while I explored the Piazza of San Marco which has lots of stores, mostly jewelry and lace. I bought a couple of table scarves. Kathy had mentioned on the bus the day before we would get better prices in Sorrento, so I decided to hold off most of my lace buying. The Basilica di San Marco had a very long line, so we didn’t go inside. We had a little lunch and did a little exploring around. We noticed that the streets were fairly quiet for Venice. Everyone was inside watching the soccer match. Dave and stopped for gelato and sat in a quiet piazza to enjoy it. There wasn’t a soul around. Occasionally, you would hear loud cheering from the cafes and windows of people’s homes. Italy won that day. I found a laundromat not far from the hotel and decided to wash a few things. Have you ever noticed you always see laundry hanging outside people’s windows in Italy? This is because no one has clothes dryers. Fortunately, the laundry mat did. It was the only laundromat I have seen on this trip. Came back to the hotel and had a shower. Dave and I walked around a little more and stopped for dinner. We found a restaurant right on the Grand Canal with a table by the water. We had a wonderful candlelight dinner. I had lasagna and Dave ordered Spaghetti with pesto sauce. We topped it off with 2 cappuccinos; all for $30.

We strolled some more and made another stop for a little more gelato. We joked about taking the gelato tour of Italy. Today alone, I have had 4 scoops of gelato and Dave has had 5. The streets were very quiet. The tourists had gone back to their hotels for the night. Most tourists stay outside of Venice, because it’s cheaper.
	Dave found a guitar shop and stopped in to play a couple they had sitting out. I was hoping he would find one he would want to bring home. Although, he said, they were beautiful to look at; he didn’t like the sound he was getting from them. Things were beginning to close up so we started walking back to the hotel.
We stopped along a bridge to take in the night. It was like something out of a movie. There was just the two of us. Off to our left was a restaurant, which had an accordion player, playing a soft romantic song. The music drifted out on the night air. You had the moon and stars above. A boat was making its way down the canal under the bridge where we were standing…so romantic.