Residenza Santa Croce Venice

... Ages through the Renaissance, and connects the works on canvas to the sculptural works that preceded them. We were glad that we visited here last , because it tied together everything that had come before. (The Rick Steeves audio guides helped tremendously!)

Tomorrow, we set out for our road trip through Tuscany and, hopefully, a couple of days at a less hectic pace, visiting the hill towns on our way back to Rome.

Can't believe we only have two days left!

... man in order to attempt to salvage his dead father’s soul. Regardless of the intent, it is an amazing site for both artistic and religious reasons.
The rest of the day was spent driving the Autostrada from Padua to Florence. Up and down mountain with gigantic trucks weaving across the lane lines, everyone at maximum speed and tailgaiting like nothing you would ever see in the U. S. And, yet,

... they no longer swarm the tourists. But it you still have to watch out for the Pigeon Poop! The Basillica was another feast for the eyes - and ears! As we approached the central altar, imagine our surprise as the “theme” from Phantom of the Opera suddenly blasted from the organ!
Next, we toured the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. This wealthy American woman, who lived in an palatial home on the Grand Canal, had two great loves: her dogs and modern art. After her death, her ...

... What a magical place this is: unique beyond description. Our first stop was the Accademia Museum, home to a nearly overwhelming array of Venetian Renaissance Art. Next, we headed to the Basilica Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. This church, built over two centuries, is typically Gothic in architecture style, but inside the aisles and every nook and cranny hold a succession of art treasures, each more surprising than the last. It is one of the ...

... of fruit, and waited until we could check in.

When the owner got there, he informed us that the hostel had been shut down for winter, so he was housing us in hotel rooms. He gave a 3 person room to the girls, and Steve had to stay in a room with another guy, but he was only staying for one night so he didn’t really care. We were all very pleased with our rooms, but so tired from the ...

... for either only boys or only girls, so Joss and I had to sleep a few tents away from each other.
It was late in the arvo by the time we checked in so we had a few beers and then went to check out the nightclub. The nightclub was for the campsite’s main attendance, preteens. A lot of the dolled up girls and pink-shirted boys looked only about 11-15. With how old they were dressing it was quite disturbing. AHHH I’m Getting old. Neither of us had the courage ...

... and had a very expensive lunch because of all of the fees that they charge you to sit down to eat in Venice. We learned our lesson from this meal and did not pay that much for so little food the whole rest of the time we were there. Next we went back to San Marco's square and went inside the Basilica. The Basilica is unique to a lot of the churches that we have seen in that the ceilings and artwork are all made of mosaics ...

... tourists, pigeons, balloon-vendors and policemen. The 15th-century Torre dell'Orologio (clock tower) is impressive, but it's the Basilica di San Marco that draws all the attention. It was originally built to house the remains of San Marco (St Mark) and is an architectural salad of spangled spires, Byzantine domes, mosaics and marble." I have to be honest that it is not worth a two hour wait in the queue as it's not the most impressive church in Europe and I ...

... find our hotel, Ca' Angeli www.caangeli.it and get checked in and find it is probably the nicest we've stayed in while in Italy. We explore a little on our own and I find that the main piazza area exceeds Pisa for blatant commercialism and people selling junk to tourists. The huge piazza has lots of pigeons and some tourists are extending their arms to get the pigeons to land on them for a photo. I'm told that ...

... designs and colours, but are a bit afraid to ask the price. Our host hovers beside us waiting for the fateful question. We notice a wealthy looking Japanese gentlemen negotiating a price for a huge set of ultramarine Murano glassware. We are dealing is thousands here. We finally ask the price of a lovely creation of two lovers with smoky rose colours fired into the glass. "US$ 2,500.00" was the suave reply. This is about US$ 2,450.00 more than we are willing to ...