Ca'Riccio 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,

... endowed a museum of modern art, which seems especially radical in Venice, with its nearly universal focus on the Renaissance.
After dinner and a rest, we finished our day with a night at the Opera! We saw “The Barber of Seville” a great, silly romp of an opera - and to add to the fun, it was performed inside one of the old Venetian palaces, with each act taking place in a different room. (The small audience followed the players and the Piano Quartet from room to room.)

... find. Then it started raining, I mean it IS Venice, so what more could you expect? But it wasn’t bad, so (after I bought an umbrella) we kept walking.

The next day was spent the same way, though without Steve. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed tracking down gondolas. We found a great little place that sold yummy ham and cheese Paninis, and had a surprisingly wonderful few days. Next stop: Rome.

... were closer we would have had a ****** hotel.

Once there we followed Dee into the main square of San Michel and decided what we were going to do for the day. There was an option to go on a gondola ride with our group and see a lace making demonstration, or we could just do our own thing. All of the couples in our group were keen to do the gondola ride in the evening as we figured it was more romantic, so we agreed to meet back at San Michel at 6pm to organize it. There were 8 of us in ...

... got going, i for one was not going to argue with them, didn't want to wake up next to a horses head! When we did finally arrive in the heart of venice, it was amazing. So so scenic and such a beautifful city. We basically spent the day wandering around the city getting lost in the streets after sitting in on a not so interesting talk on lace making. I think this would probably be better suited to the 'coffin dodger' age group, as i'm ...

... in Las Vegas. We entered every church along the way and enjoyed their beauty. They use the churches on some evenings to hold concerts. For lunch we had Chinese Food, yes, remember that day we had Pizza in Beijing, well now is the switch. It was very good, we were at an outside restaurant and watched all the boats coming and going on the little canal beside us. We found the Pointe Rialto, an old covered bridge with a great ...

Happy End of the Plague Day! Venetians celebrated the end of the plague with fireworks over the water. We positioned our ship in backwards on the dock so that our guests could enjoy the show from the aft pool decks, but I remained below deck during all of this fun. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Earlier in the day I worked in the library and witnessed a very intense lightening storm and then relaxed in the ...

... make more impressive waterfalls) so we didn't linger in the courtyard (which was mostly covered in scaffolding anyway) and legged it to a restaurant for an authentic Italian lunch of pizza and tiramisu. Not too shabby. Next up was an afternoon of culture - starting at The Peggy Guggenheim collection of modern art, an interesting reflection of some very cool pieces. I didn't get the audioguide which meant I could just decide whether I liked the pieces or not for myself, but suspect I ...

... own hands (and mouth), it is a special experience. After the glass blowing, a bunch of us went walking around the city. I absolutely loved this city. It is so gorgeous! We were lucky and St. Mark's square wasn't flooded. I have never seen so many birds in one place! What would a trip to Venice be without a cheesy gondola ride? Leah and I and a couple other people went on a ride through the city. Going under the Bridge of Sighs was really an experience.