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Italian Country side-08 / Orient Express-08 / Venice-08 / Rome-91 / Florence-91 / Naples-91

Venice, 2008

Europe 2008 - London / Paris / Venice / Orient Express / Italian Country Side

Venice equals water, walking, tourism, architecture, food, drink, and oh, yeah... more walking. Passing our way past hundreds of tourists, my traveling partner and I worked our way in and out of hundreds of small shops selling their wares. Walking over bridges or traveling on the water in a gondola, we saw as much of Venice as we could in two days. From St. Mark's Square through all the small side streets and back again, we tried on party masks and treated ourselves to the pizza, sweets, and other delectables as well as the grappa and wines from the region. The Basilica was our first stop, so we climbed to the top for a good look at the square.

One morning from our hotel, which was on its own island, we boarded the water taxi to Murano Island to visit the glass factory. There we watched as a master glassworker carved and blew molten glass into a sculptural piece in just minutes. We perused the glass shop and were attracted to one glass that cost 1700 Euros, which meant it would cost double that in American dollars. We passed on this purchase.

We shopped on the Rialto Bridge and bought several leather-bound books that were hand made with rag paper. Later that day, we took a gondola ride down the Grand Canal and past Casanova's house. This journey took us behind the main streets, where we passed the back doors of the dwellings. It was nice to have a peek at something behind the scenes.