Day Eleven-May 21st

We'll all up by 7:30-45 & it's a leisurely Saturday morning in Venice. The girls shower & I journal a little. Well, of all things, we have ants in our room..lots of them! David will take care of them after we leave. What's that noise? We look out the window & some guy is smashing snails & adding a lot of garlic for escargots! Ok, down the hall to breakie & some good coffee, and the usual cheeses, bread & croissants. David is there, so I pay our bill as we'll leave early tomorrow for Rome. Where to today? How about a very large church! Off we go to catch the Vapo to the Santa Maria Della Salute, a Baroque church built in the 1630's-the end of the plague. Very nice, but not up to our "basilica standards." (tip the hag and out we go.) Back to the Vapo & head to the park-The Giardini Pubblici. We go on a quest to find the nearest WC, but alas, they're not open, so we just sit in teh grass & enjoy the day as a very large cruise ship comes rolling in. Back thru the park & a stop for lunch at "In Paradiso", with a lovely view of the Canal Grande- sandwiches, birra & Vino. (Watch out for broken glass!) Ok, there's some Japanese creating some problems-they want service! Hit the WC & back on the Vapo to the Rialto Bridge & some shopping in the market. We get a few things to munch on during our four-hour tarin ride tomorrow, back to Rome. Back to the room to sip some wine, relax & enjoy the late afternoon. What's next? Go out for dinner! we stroll the area a bit before going to new places-oh, a Big Mac combo meal is about 11 bucks! a few pics & looking at menus before we decide on a nice sidewalk cafe. It is the best so far! Pasta for everyone! Salads, wine & a German beer for me. This is a great people watching spot & by 8:30 we're done & a quick gelato on our way back-chocolate & cherry! To the room to pack & prepare for our departure tomorrow at 9:27. Lights out about 10:00 & a good laid back day.

Day Ten-May 20th

It's pretty light in our room, but very quiet & we wake up about 7:30, but breakie is not until 8:30, (and it turns out 8:45.) It's a little slower around here. We're the first ones to the breakfast room & it's a good start to the day, with the typical ham, cheese, croissants, cereal, coffee. David is a gracious host, while watching his kids too. The grandparents come in to get the kids & go for a walk & we're outa here! Off to some museums. To the Vapo & a short ride to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection-a modern art collection, with many paintings by Picasso, Braque, Dali, Beancusi, Pollock & the good ol' Pittsburgh sculptor, Alex Calder. It was a welcome change from all of the really old stuff we have been seeing, and all three of us enjoy modern art! We see our Vancouver friends again but fail to meet up with them for lunch. The garden here is very nice too, with some sculptures, including the most famous, "The Angel in the City" by Marino Marini(1948). We then stroll around the area & hear some violin music-"Godfather"-look for some eating places. However we decide to go on ahead to the Grande Rocco & some "Chistine Chapel" type murals by Tintoretto in the 1560's & the upper hall 1575-1581. Quite a magnificent church! (Oh, we did have lunch just outside the church, some really good calzones from a little snack bar.) No charge for the entry into the church & it was lovely. Out into the plaza and a walk back to the room, with a stop at a grocery store for some supplies-wine, beer, bread, cheese. A quick call to Wayne & Jean to check on things & it's raining in Harrah, and the Thunder won by 6 & now back to OKC for two games with the Mavs! Ok, back out to the Vapo & a longer ride to Lido, a resort type of place & actually on land, with cars, scooters & bikers. There are casinos here & beaches it's right on the Adriatic Sea. Very nice views along the way, with many many boats, some yachts, a cruise ship & lovely parks. What to do? How about a gelato!!! A short stroll by the sea & back to the Vapo for a ride to San Marco Square & some night-time activities. There are three bands playing at restaurants, a few dancers & thousands of pigeons plus the usual vendors. We were kind of out of the mood to eat here, so we head back to our area & pick the "Trattoria Da Gianni" for dinner. It's 9:15 & we are enjoying the evening & order the local seafood favorites: I get the spaghetti with cuddle fish in their own ink sauce; Cami gets the spaghetti with prawns, and KK gets the seafood spaghetti with all kinds of unsightly fish, and our house wine & salads. We finally finish about 10:45 & are quite full & happy, as are 3 gays from St Louis by us & we chat a bit. Back to the room & shower by 11:30. It was a good day! I'd be willing to bet there's a level place in this city, but not our room. Everything is leaning or crooked or slanted in some degree, but everything works. Our rooms slant from the outside walls toward the inside & there's lots of restoration going on all over Venice-probly all the time. see you at breakie.

Day Nine-May 19th

Up at 7:15 & a lovely blue sky (again) & go out for last breakfast in Firenze! Our lovely hotel has been gracious, even tho they charged us extra for the first breakfast (423 E for 3 nites). A good breakie but no eggs today-the apple sounds better. They do help us with the bags & call for a taxi, so I suppose we'll give them a good grade. No problem with traffic today & we're at the termini real quick & onto our train by 9:30 & headed to the water & the swamp called Venice (Venezia). It's built on mud banks & held together with sticks -all sizes of logs driven into the mud & there's not too many level spots in this place. We have our lunch with us so we eat before the final stop to avoid any problems upon arrival at 11:30, and we are happy that a large group of kids from Alabama get off before Venice. Here we are! Water everywhere & the end of the line..right on the Adriatic Sea, so many canals. Down the local metro & get our 3-day passes for the Vaporetti ( the water buses). Yea! Off we go on our first boat ride to our B&B-The Al Palazzetto. David is the owner & is there to greet us & check us into our room. It is BIG, with a very large Bathroom, hallway & TV. A short breather in the room as we eat a little & prepare to go out and explore. Out we go & over a couple of bridges to the main thourofare, where we find vendors selling everything, shops, bars & restaurants. On to the "bus"( The Vapo) & a short ride to San Marco & The Grand Piazza! Another massive Cathedral & cami goes in to view, but we're not dressed correctly so we cruise the area while she's inside. She's out pretty quick, so we opt for some gelato while shopping. We're a little tired so we duck into a bar for a drink & observe people getting "robbed" by the Japanese girls-per Frenchie. OK, let's hop on the Vapo & go to the Rialto area for serious shopping on a beautiful bridge over the grand canal. It's a big bridge & two walkways over the canal, with shops everywhere & of course local vendors. I see a sport shop with some biking things & go in for a purchase of a Cycling jersey.."Itialia Team".(60E) A few other things are purchhased & back we go to the Vapo & a short rid eto our stop..The Ca D'Oro. Lots of water traffic going on-taxi's, private boats, Gondolas, The Vaporetti's & KK hangs in there. To the room to drop off our stuff & think about supper. Out for a stroll to look for some interesting spots for supper & decide on Trattoria Da Rino, where "Papa" sort of greeted us & later helped with the lights (knocking out all of the power!) It was ok & we had spaghetti w/clams, gnocchi, roasted chicken. fish, ravioli, salads & wine. A good liesurely dinner & good service, but our "island" location causes things to be a little higher in price. Back to our B&B, with mulitple locks, some blogging (journal) & bedtime by 11:00. See you on the canal!!

Day Eight-May 18th

Ahhhh, a good sleep & no texts!( The Thunder must have lost.) Up about 7;30 & go to breakie. I get a couple of scrambled eggs today, along with our coffee "Americano", croissants, ham & cheese. What's up for today? A walk over the bridge to the Uffizi Gallery. I've got to have one of those waffles with chocolate! YEAH! Our "appointment" is for 9:15 & we get our tickets& go right in! Of course, thousands of people & thousands of paintings, artifacts & things to read-don't miss the ceilings! The "Michelangelo" room-WOW! Botticelli, Signorelli, Leonardo Da Vinci-items from the 14 & 1500's. Another overwhelming museum with Madonna & child everywhere! A few Venus's too, with Venus on the "half shell" the biggest attraction (Botticelli), Michelangelo's " The Holy Family" is wonderful (1506). Gothic art, early Renaissance with Roman sculptures, frescoed ceilings. Now a short break for lunch on the terrace, with cheeses, olives, ham & drinks. Back to the museum with more High Renaissance & Mannerism-poor Rembrandt, he doesn't even get a protective cover on his paintings, as opposed to Da Vinci & Michel-too "new" I guess. We're out by 2:00 & it was a lovely day, with Cami doing a superb job as our "docent"& she loved the art today! Some of the museum was under construction or new things coming in June, but it was a great experience. Now some shopping & buying. Back to the hotel to drop off our stuff. Out to see the "Pitti "Palace & a tour of the Boboli Gardens. It was laid out by the Medici's in 1550 & is a Renaissance styled garden, overlooking Florence and Tuscany. A nice leisurely stroll up to the rose garden, picture taking & chatting with a couple from SC. It is a very restful venue & some fantastic views of Florence & we just sit down on the grass and enjoy the sites. On our way out was a weird statue of the dwarf, who was the court jester for the Medici's & is called a "Fat little Bacchus"on top of a turtle..what a site! Out to the street & a stop to get some things for our train ride to Venice tomorrow. After some treats-cheese, wine, beer- we head across the Ponte Vecchio to the Piazza de Signorilla for supper at Il David's & it is ok, not great. The usual fair, lasagna, penne pasta & spaghetti carbonara & salads, but the couple next to us-Orientals- almost ruined the whole thing, smoking constantly & being general A-holes. Oh well, back to the room & pack, shower & get ready for our departure at 9:15.

Day Seven-May 17th

A great sleep! (But we were awakened at 2:30 am by a text on KK's phone-just David checking in with "Thunder" news.) Up around 7:30 & to breakie-just outside our room & pretty much the same old stuff-cheese, ham, rolls , coffee, cereal & eggs if you wanted some. Ok, get our stuff together & head for the bridge & our first "church " of the day. It is San Marco, founded in the 13th century & was a Dominican Monk Convent. The rooms, where the Monks lived, had frescoes on the walls & ceilings & were quite small. The main room upstairs had "The Annunication of Christ" by Fra Angelico and was quite awesome. An enjoyable morning. Out just in time to have our "lunch" in the Piazza di San Marco & a pleasant time it was! Now a little shopping before we head over to the "Galleria dell Academia "& our 3:45 appointment to see, mainly, Michaelangelo's "David". (10 E to get in.) We start with 3 Michelangelo sculptures- some unfinished works , one for his own tomb. There it is..Unbelievable! A 17' high colossal statue! You just have to stand there & take it in, but it is very over-whelming. (No pics ,please.) It was outside, in the square for over 250 years before they brought it into the museum in the 1700's. We go on thru the museum & view a lot of paintings by Botticelli, Pontormo & a hall of sculptures, before strolling back to see "David" one more time. Out into the streets at 5:15 & hear the bells of the churches ringing! Off to the Piazza to have some gelato before supper. We bump into our new friends, from Vancouver & chat a bit before stopping at a local spot-The Trattoria Mangiaoia, pretty close to our hotel. Upstarirs an away from the traffic & have a great meal! Spaghetti for me, a pizza for KK & gnocchi for Cami, plus our table wine, roasted potatoes & salads. We did do a bit of shopping on the "Bridge"..many shops on this ancient crossing, mostly jewelry stores, over the Arno. Back to the room to clean up, sip a Peroni & to bed by 11:00.

Day Six-May 16th

We're up at 6:00 am & no time for breakie..we've got a taxi ordered & a train departure at7:15. No problems and it's a sleek Eurostar, and plenty of room to view the beautiful countryside, with farms, vineyards, hay fields & rivers. We arrive in Florence at 8:50, right on time & depart the train for a short taxi ride to our hotel, The Annalena. More narrow streets with cars, bikes , scooters & buses everywhere. Here we are & up three flights of stairs to the hotel & a lovely room with a garden view & in by 9:15. We do eat a little breakie while we wait a few minutes for the room to be readied. A quick change of clothes & off we go to "town". It's supposed to rain, so I Pack some gear-it doesn't rain however. Across the "Ponte Vecchio" (bridge) over the Arno River & into the main part of Florence-some shopping, gelato & to the Palazzo Vecchio & the Santa Croce Church-Basilica actually. It is a Gothic church & one of the finest in Italy, over 700 years old. Quite an awesome place-tickets 5E. Galileo is buried here & a few famous Florence opera conductors/writers. The wooden ceiling is exquisite! Out in to the courtyard & a museum before we exit & stroll thru the streets to the Piazza Della Repubblica, with many vendors, bars & restaurants. We pick a good looking spot for lunch- The Grotta Gelph- & our waiter is nuts & we have a good time & a great meal. I order spaghetti with clams & he goes wild! A great choice he says! KK gets spaghetti carbonara & Cami the BIG salad & the house wine for all three. Now we're ready for the next church - The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore( the Duomo). Another great church & now out to the "small" baptistery of San Giovanni. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the entire dome is done in mosaics, sumptuous small bits of tile & glass. Spectacular beyond belief! Various scenes of Christ, John the Baptist, Adam & Eve, etc. The outside doors are in a massive gold/bronze relief & were described by Michelangelo as the "Gates of Paradise", done by Ghiberti in 1330. Into the Cathedral (The Duomo) & it is massive & in the shape of a cross:90 meters high, 153 long and 170 years in the making. There were many great archeticts overthis period with Filippo Brunelleschi doing the gigantic dome in 1420-36. It is quite a site & under a 5-year renovation. So what's next? First a walk back toward the hotel & a stop at a local grocery & some "fixings" for supper, lunch, etc-bread, wine, cheeses, beer , fruit. (Pretty good buys as the beer is only 1.29 E & the wine is 2.09!) Back to the room and some breaking of the bread & sipping wine( spodie odie). We shower, blog, write post cards & talk about The FAB day! In bed by 10:00 & off to slumberland. Did I mention the Medici Family? They were the powerful rulers around here for over 300 years.

Day Five-May 15th

YEA! We slept in 'till 8:00! And then went down for our free breakie..good as usual & good coffee (Americano). The place was packed with Aussies, Brits & us Americans & I met some people from Portland who had been on a cruise from Ft Lauderdale. Back to the room & prepare for our day at the local ruins..the Colosseum & the Roman Forum. On our way to the subway, we stop at a local church, Santa Maria della Vittoria, just 3 blocks from our hotel, and it is fabulous in side! Lots of gold & a wonderful Bernini sculpture- "Ecstasy of St Teresa." (Nice stop!) Down to the metro to catch the subway to our destination & as we exit the underground, there it is! The Massive Colosseum! A huge crowd lined up to see the inside of this structure built by Vespasian in 72-82 AD. It took 10 years to build, but is still standing! The opening celebration was a 100 day ordeal & had many events, including hunts, gladiatorial combats,parades & festivals. Some 60,000 people crowded into this arena for all kinds of events. We once again opted out of the guided tours and saw it all on our on..and Cami's expert sidebars. There were all kinds of museums located inside, plus small scale models on how the animals & participants got to the floor of the arena. Now a little lunch on the grounds & over to the Forum. This was a huge area where there were shops, temples & all kinds of homes & of course the Vestal Virgins Quarters. It has clouded up a bit, and starts to sprinkle as we get to the end of the Forum, and here come the vendors selling umbrellas. We duck into some very nice displays of Nero items & other Roman emperors. The rain kind of dampened the day, but we had seen it all anyway by now, so back to the metro & to the hotel. We did go down to the PC's & checked a few e-mails & chatted with some people from Florida & I get summoned back to the room so we can go to dinner. On the bus to go to some ruins where there are lots of cats..an old temple that is now a cat sanctuary..interesting. A nice stroll thru the narrow streets (alleys) to the Piazza Novana, with 3 lovely fountains, vendors, performers, artwork & 100's of scooters. The fountains, by Bernini, are outstanding, but we wander on ,to the main fountain attraction of this area-The Trevi fountain, by Nicola Salvi in 1627, inspired by Roman triumphal arches. Another large crowd here, but the poliza are keeping them out of the water. (But no uzzies) Now we are looking for a nice place to eat & they're everywhere. Which one? The Hosteria la Danesina-outside on a nice cool night & good food-pasta, salads,& lasagna,plus a carafe of wine & great bread. Now back to the hotel and a good sleep, but some packing for tomorrow's trip to Florence.