2002 Venice 2002

Day 1 Tuesday 6/4
Finally - We're off to Venice - Lynanne (Mom, 69) and 2 daughters (twins, 41)! Lynanne's sister took Beverly (daughter) and her to Norfolk airport for the short flight to Dulles (DC). There, we met Ellen Marie (daughter), who was flying in from Oregon. As for security - while we were waiting in Dulles, Beverly went to the restroom, and came out white as a sheet. She had found the box cutter she uses at work in her pocketbook, and had forgotten about it! While no one was looking, she tossed it into the trash. And this was after we had cleared security! We left Dulles at 5:45 pm on Lufthansa for the long overnight flight to Frankfurt. Two of us were seated together, and a very nice young lady changed seats so that we three could be together!

Day 2 Wednesday 6/5
Had a four-hour layover in Frankfurt and enjoyed wandering through the shops and exploring this BIG airport. Arrived in Venice at 2 pm. Denny (the local staff) met us and 11 others, and took us by private water taxi to our apartments. What a glorious way to begin our Untour! And oh! What an apartment! We were on the third floor (there was a little elevator) in Idyll's apartment called the Domus - around two corners from the Scuola San Rocco (art museum) in the San Polo sestiere (neighborhood). We each had our own bedroom, and therewere two bathrooms - one with tuband the washing machine and the second with a shower. Both had bidets (which Beverly would use to wash out her delicates). An interesting feature in both bathrooms was an emergency cord to call for help. One day while Beverly was in the tub, Ellen Marie and Moheard a buzzer, went to the door, no one's there. Heard it again, so we went to the phone, no one's there either. The buzzer rings a third time- to the door and out into the hall we went, looking for someone. Finally Beverly yells "Mom!". She was pulling the cord, and the buzzer was on a panel by the front door. She wanted us to bring her the shampoo! There was a full-sized kitchen with a table and three chairs (three more kitchen chairs were in the front and back halls). Directly above the sink there was a cabinet just like normal cabinets in a kitchen, except that when you open the doors, instead of the bottom of it being a shelf, it is a dish drainer "shelf". You wash and rinse the dishes, and put the wet dishes up on this rack and close the louvered cabinet doors. The water drips into the sink. No dish drainer with dishes drying on the counter to clutter things up! This was a typical European kitchen with free-standing lower cabinets. The living/dining room contained three sofas, two stuffed chairs, a table with six chairs, four other straight chairs, TV, coffee table, and a bookcase with all sorts of books, plus several chests. A little balcony with French doors held two chairs and one chair that we centered in the doorway. Signora Zucchetta lived there before her husband died. She now lives inTreviso, one half hour away. This evening we wandered to the Grand Canal, found an ATM machine to getour euros. Then had a nice dinner of pizza along the canal. The pizza topping was very good, but the crust was "uncut-able". We wandered back to our apartment and finally got to bed at 1:30 am. Didn't have time for jet-lag!

Day 3 Thursday 6/6
This morning we had our orientation with Denny at her and husband Luigi's ristorante, Alla Fornace, on the mainland outside of Venice. All 14 of us met her at Piazzale Roma at 10:00 am and went by public bus to their ristorante. After our orientation, Luigi prepared an outstanding luncheon sampler of Venetian favorites, including carafes of red and white wines (and water if you wished). After dessert and espresso, our meal was topped off with Limoncello, an Italian liquour, that is fabulous. After being pleasantly stuffed, we got back on the bus - it stops right at the restaurant - and reached home about 3:30 pm. Daughter Beverly, who was with Lynanne in Venice in June 1999, had wanted to see acqua alta. That only occurs between September and April, when the winds, tides, and storms push the Adriatic sea into the lagoon, flooding much of the city until the high tide recedes. Well - at 4:10 pm the sirens sounded. That means that in 3 hours the waters will start flooding the low-lying areas. It gives the merchants time to get everything up off the floor and to put the flood gates at their entrances, and the Venetians can get their hip boots and umbrellas out. When acqua alta strikes, there is most always a rain storm. We got our water shoes on, and our cameras and umbrellas, and headed for Piazza San Marco - and were not disappointed. Acqua alta never occurs in June, and here we were, in the middle of it and loving it. Of course, the only people there were the tourists, and they were having a ball! We're sure the Venetians would say we're crazy! As we were getting ready to go home about 8:30, the huge thunderstorm came. Lots of lightning and high winds and rain. We hunkered down at the vaporetto stop until it slowed up, then sloshed back to our apartmet An exciting day. P.S. As Beverly says, acqua alta is neat to see only the one day, but would not make for a fun two weeks. In October 1998, Lynanne saw five days of acqua alta, usually starting between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. Got tired of it in a hurry.

Day 4 Friday 6/7
We got a slow start this morning, a luxury all three of us enjoy as a nice change from our rat-race lives. Our goal today was grocery shopping, so we went first to Campo San Margherita. The fruit and veggie stands were closing down, and most of the little shops were closing until 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. (At the fruit and veggie stands you don't touch the produce. Just point and the merchant bags it for you. By law, you must be given a receipt, and keep it even after you leave the stand.) So we stopped and had lunch at Il Caffee, a little bar (in Italy that's like a coffee shop). Sat outside so we could watch the locals come and go. Lots of college students in this area. We then wandered toward the Zattere, along the Giudecca Canal. On the way we stopped at the gondola factory and watched them work on building and repairing boats. This is like nothing else in Venice. It is housed in an Alpine-like chalet, dark wood and flower boxes galore. Not too many of these factories left. It's becoming a dying art. We couldn't go in, just watched from across the rio. At the Zattere we went to Bila's, probably the largest grocery store on the island, but still very small by U.S. standards. Most of the Venetians bring wheeled carts and park them inside the door (apparently there's no theft, or they wouldn't feel secure leaving them unattended). Remember, we walk everywhere. All the stores with shopping carts charge 1 or 2 euros, which you get back when you return the cart. Beverly was trying to ask a nice Italian lady how much to put into the change slot, when the lady took her by the arm to the cashier. She thought Beverly wanted change! Finally - put 2 euros in the slot and went shopping. They have mosteverything you might want (except peanut butter), just not as manyvarieties or quantities, but lots of produce. And - NEVER handle thefresh produce without putting on the furnished plastic gloves! You even weigh it and attach the price tag that is produced automatically when you use the scales. At checkout, you supply your own bags or buy plastic ones at 5 cents each. You also bag your own groceries. Ellen Marie had bought little sacks for each of us - and added a zipper to let us close them securely - a great help when shopping and walking home. The handles were long enough to hang on our shoulder. Made of nylon, it is 2 1/2" x 5" in its attached carry pocket. Has a belt loop and a clasp that Lynanne hooked onto her purse until she needed it. Opened up it measures 13" x 161/2", just perfect for a day's shopping. Made by Kia Design. Before we got home, we had stopped at three gelateria (can't resist thatgelato!) and so far, we like Nico's near Bila's, the best.

Day 5 Saturday 6/8
Our plan today was to ride the #1 vaporetto on the Grand Canal fromPiazzale Roma on the west end all the way to the east end of Venice, then go wandering. (A vaporetto is a public water bus in Venice that goes along the Grand Canal and the lagoons and to outlying islands. #1 travels the Grand Canal and to Lido. Other significant lines are #'s 12, 52, and 82.) We started out in late morning and ate lunch at Al Muretto, a little bar across from our apartment, of tramezzini and caffe. Then we were on our way. Across three bridges to Piazzale Roma, a bustling, busy place where all the buses come to carry people to Mestre and points beyond. It is the closest that cars can come into Venice. There are several parking garages there (expensive, I'm told). This is also the starting point of our vaporetto #1, because this is the western end of the Grand Canal.We try to get on first so we can grab the front outside seats, the favorite of the tourists. Perfect for seeing all the sights as we slowly ride easterly. And photo-ops! The ornate palaces, the busy working boats carrying everything the city needs, the huge cruise ships docked near Piazza San Marco, the car ferries going to Lido and Chioggia, the many churches facing the canal. The palaces all have a canal-side entrance for their guests, with pilings to tie the boats to, and a land-side entrance for walking guests and hired help. Many of these palazzi now house government offices, art galleries, hotels, etc. Passed by the Casino, with its carpeted and covered pier. Even the outside looks posh. Had planned on getting off at Sant' Elena, but the lush gardens persuaded us to get off one stop early - at the Giardini stop. This is a very pretty quiet neighborhood, shady gardens and pathways with lots of old statues. A nice little playground with swings, slides, sandbox, and all sorts of stuff to climb on for the little ones. Saturday must be the new laundry day, because all along the calles (Venetian pedestrian streets) clotheslines that were strung from the second and third floors to the apartments across from them were filled with sheets, shirts, pants, etc. They fluttered in the breeze like flags over us as we walked along the calles. We then crossed the Rio dei Giardini and landed in Sant' Elena - another nice everyday neighborhood with a large grassy, tree-lined parkoverlooking the lagoon, another play area, and a soccer field foryoungsters. In the afternoons ladies walk arm-in-arm (a very common custom in Venice), children ride their tricycles, young moms chat, and elderly men sit on benches and discuss whatever it is that men talkabout. Then we got on the #52 vaporetto at the Sant' Elena stop andheaded for Giudecca Canal. One big rule was, always validate your vaporetto pass the first time youuse it and always carry it with you. If an inspector comes around andyou don't have a ticket, you are fined on the spot plus have to buy the ticket. Since no one had ever seen one of these "inspectors", we thought it was a scare tactic - not so! On this trip, a real inspectorcomes on board and checks everyone out. We all seemed to be "legal".Got off at Nico's on the Zattere. We were thirsty for gelato, and sat to eat. Big mistake. They charged way much more than most shops do for a table. Got back on #52 and headed through the canal in Cannaregio to the Fondamenta Nuove, on the north side of Venice. Wandered past trattorias, through narrow alleys and came into Campo S. Maria Nova. While we were sitting there and snacking and drinking vino and beer, we heard beautiful choral music. Followed the sound. The Woodstock Chamber Choir from near Oxford, England each summer chooses a town or city in England or Continental Europe to rehearse and give a concert. This year it was Venice and they were giving a free concert tonight at the Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Miracoli, an exquisite little church of early Renaissance. They say the church is hard to find, tucked away among tiny alleys. We just lucked onto it, and enjoyed a lovely concert. Lynanne had brought a nice outfit to wear to a church concert, but went in her touring clothes, like most everyone else there. So much for dressing up! After the concert, had we known we were about two blocks from the Grand Canal, we'd have been home about an hour earlier, but we retraced our steps to Fondamenta Nuove. Got on #52 vaporetto until the Ferrovia stop, where we had to change boat lines to the #1 or #82, whichever came first. Also had to make a pit stop, so after the necessaries, we wandered through the train station, checked out the tracks, and window shopped. It's amazing how many people - young mostly - were hanging around with their backpacks waiting for a train at 11:00 pm. Finally got back home at 11:30, and raided the frig for dinner.

Day 6 Sunday 6/9
Was wakened this morning at 3 am by a thunderstorm and heavy rain. Rained lightly until afternoon. Took advantage of the down time with a delicious brunch of nectarine juice, Nastrine (a really good breakfast pastry that has a hint of a hot cross bun taste) and butter, eggs and frizzled ham, milk, espresso, and green tea. The girls cooked, and Lynanne had the clean-up duty. Then caught up on the diary. Left home about 6:30 pm for dinner and to do some exploring. We ate outside at Old World Pub (Al Vecchio Pozzo), over one bridge and around the corner. We each had a very good pizza and enjoyed chatting with our friendly waiter. Beverly always enjoys beer, Lynanne is a wine drinker, and Ellen Marie enjoys both. Italian pizzas are SO different from ours, much better. To walk off our dinner, we went wandering and ended up at Campo San Giacomo dell'Orio in the Santa Croce sestiere. And what a surprise! The small campiello beside it had a DJ (a mature gentleman with coat, tie, and hat) sitting at a table and playing salsa-type music. The young adults there were having a great time dancing in the square. Most of the women were skinny with spiked heels, and either skintight pants or tight mini-skirts. How they danced in those shoes I'll never know! There were several trattoria with tables and chairs outside and lights around the perimeter of their patios. Beverly talked to one of the waiters, and he said these dances are once a month. About 10:00 pm we started wandering back home through big and little calles without checking our map, and, of course got lost. Finally came to a huge square that (after we pulled out our map) was Campo San Polo. Since it was dark, we had no idea which calle to take, so - pulled out the trusty compass and went west until we reached Campo San Toma. Then we knew where we were and headed home. In Venice there is never any danger walking at night. Instead, the dimly lit little calles are rather romantic.

Day 7 Monday 6/10
Today dawned nice and warm and sunny. Had our cappuccino at Al Muretto's, then went to our No Name grocery store. It's actually Punta Market, but we never could find the name outside this narrow little store. It's round the corner from Campo San Margherita. Did I ever mention - only Piazza San Marco can be a Piazza. All other squares in Venice must be called a Campo. After we brought our groceries home, we headed over the Ponte Rialto to find Venice's main post office. We wanted to verify the postage needed for postcards to the USA. (Also a good excuse to explore a new place.) Then we had lunch of pizza at the Self Service Cafeteria by the Rialto. In addition to pizzas, they had all kinds of pasta dishes and other Venetian specialties. (Can you tell we like Venetian pizzas?) Very inexpensive - $3.00. Then wandered the Rialto area like tourists before coming back home to call Denny to reserve our Dolomite tour, because the phone card that Ellen Marie bought from her didn't work. After that we went out to find the little fresh pasta shop we had bought from in '99. No luck, so we returned home and had dinner of tomato sandwiches and canteloupe. This may seem like a strange dinner, but if you've ever had Venice's fresh tomatoes and canteloupe, you'd understand. When we are home in the evenings we like to sit out on our balcony before sundown and watch the swallows swooping and flying around the tops of the buildings (remember, we're on the third floor), never stopping, and making lots of noise, a glorious sight. A beautiful way to end our day. Lynanne also enjoyed observing the neighbors across the calle from us. One lady had a balcony ledge full of colorful geraniums that she tended to each morning and evening, pruning and watering. We also enjoyed listening to the street activities below us each day. Venetians walking, chatting with neighbors, children playing. Every morning except Sunday the garbage man picks up the little tied grocery bags that everyone puts outside their doors by 7:30 am. Can't put them out at night because the cats will get to them. The postman also comes by daily, pushing his wheeled cart. We could hear the click-clack of ladies' shoes rushing by, and the rumble of wheeled luggage passing under our windows. We were on a sort of main calle to the Evangelista church and college. Truly in the midst of Venetian living. One day while we were outside our apartment, a family approached us with map in hand, and asked directions - in Italian! We liked the fact that we didn't look like tourists! :-)

Day 8 Tuesday 6/11
Today is another nice warm sunny day. We went out determined to find the neat fresh pasta shop we'd bought from, in '99. This lady gift wrapped each of the three pastas we bought. Oh no!! Her shop is now a jewelry shop.:-( Oh well. We hung around Campo San Margherita, watching three young boys play street soccer. We also watched while movers took mattresses from the third floor out the window and down to the street with an automated ladder. Fascinating! Found a wine fill-up store right off the campo. These are little stores where they have 8 to 15 varieties of wine in kegs. If you ask, they'll let you sample before you buy. Bring your own empty 1 1/2 liter plastic water bottle, or they will supply one, and they will "fill-up" for around $1.80 per liter. And the wine is good! Had lunch at home of prosciutto and tomato sandwiches while waiting for Denny to bring us our new phone card. Then headed out to Panarama, on the mainland. This is a huge general store/supermarket similar to SuperKMart, except the merchandise area is much smaller and the grocery store is much, much larger than here. They have a free, brightly painted bus that travels from Venice to the supermarket every half-hour, a 15 minute ride. They have a huge wine and spirits section, plus huge deli, cheese, and bakery departments. While we were in the grocery store, a woman promoting individual, sealed cubes of water that, after they are frozen, just pop them out of the seal, untouched by human hands! (Found this out later.) Anyway, she cornered Lynanne, giving her the spiel, going into a very detailed explanation of her product - in Italian! Finally, Lynanne got in a "No, grazie", but she insisted Lynanne take a free sample. The girls were off to the side watching, and said Mom looked like she understood everything the woman said. Of course, Mom didn't know a word of what she was saying, but must not have looked like an American tourist! :-) After we returned home on the 7:00 pm bus, we had dinner of some fresh spaghetti that we'd bought at Panarama.

Day 9 Wednesday 6/12
Another bright warm and sunny day. All Untourists are given clean linens for the second week. Our landlady, Alessandra Zucchetta, came by to give us our sheets. A lovely lady who is very interested in her tenants. We chatted a while (she knows no English, so this was a challenge!) and took pictures of the four of us. About 11:30 am she took us to the Rialto by the fish market at Campo Beccaria and treated us to prosecco (sparkling wine), panne, bacala' montrecato (cod fish spread), prosciutto parme, sopressa veneta. All these are Venetian specialties, and were delicious. One of the girls asked for cappuccino - but Signora said No! (Many Italians consider a milk drink is only for breakfast.) and gave her vino! The signora left us for a few minutes and came back with a big whole fresh fish she was taking home (to Treviso) for dinner! In 1997, as Lynanne and her sister were crossing a bridge, they came upon the back side of a shop where men were unloading pallets of paper into the back of the store from a boat on the rio (a little canal). Took a bunch of pictures. This year she wanted to find that same spot again. Sort of a personal challenge, since she had nothing to go on except a photo, which showed the metal bridge railings (each bridge has a different design) and the dead end of the rio past the shop. On this trip she had been searching for it in vain. As we were coming back to our apartment, suddenly there it was! Whooped and hollared and showed Alessandra the 1997 photo, so she'd know Lynanne hadn't suddenly gone crazy, and we all laughed and enjoyed the moment. She said in Italian "Five years ago!" What fun!! After Alessandra left, we came back in the afternoon and took pictures of the shop to show to Lynanne's sister, then headed back to the Rialto shopping area. Along the veggie and fruit stands there are coconut slices in their brown inner shell, on cake-tier-like stands with a soft water fountain raining down on them to keep them moist. Had to indulge, and it was really good. We also bought postcards and T-shirts for souvenirs. Crossed the Ponte Rialto and headed into Salizzada San Lio to the Boutique del Gelato - hyped as "the Venetians' favorite". Yes, very good gelato. After looking into clothing and housewares stores, we went through Campo San Bartolomeo and stopped for a while at Campo San Salvador. While resting on the church steps and listening to a choral concert rehearsal, who should come by but a fellow student in Lynanne's Tai Chi class in Norfolk, VA!! She and her husband had just finished a bike trip in Northern Italy and were spending just one day in Venice! As we headed home and got off the vaporetto at the San Toma' stop, the police were setting up a radar speed trap for the boats along the canal. We watched while they stopped a water taxi (the driver was really upset), and then a private motor boat. Enough excitement for one day, so we went home.

Day 10 Thursday 6/13
Another nice and hot and sunny day. We all met today at Fondamenta Nuove for our Untour group trip. Our private taxi boat took us to St. Francis Deserto Island where an 82-year-old monk gave us a tour of his beloved monastery. He was very adamant in letting us know that this was St. Francis' first church, not Assisi! The monastery is on a little island that is not on any vaporetto route, so this was a special treat. We then stopped at Burano where Denny led us through little back alleys to the brightly painted door shown in our tour book. Don't think we'd have found it on our own. Next, to the highlight of our excursion - lunch! Our private taxi took us to the island of Torcello and let us off right at the front door of Osteria al Ponte del Diavolo. This was "boat-to-door" service! (Torcello is a very quiet and pretty little island with about 75 residents and the famous Santa Maria Assunto Cathedral and its many mosaics.) We highly recomment this Osteria for its fabulous food. Our lunch started with a huge plate of vegetable pasta, then a huge green salad with an excellent dressing. Our entree was salmon with buttered zucchini matchsticks. That salmon was so good that Lynanne will never try salmon in the states (well, maybe in Washington state or Alaska). Along with all this was water and vino in carafes at the table. With our dessert of gelato and mixed fruit, we had caffe correto (espresso "corrected" with alcohol - usually grappa!) After our taxi brought us back to the Rialto, we checked out Coin department store. Expensive and trendy. Then went riding on # 82 vaporetto through S. Marta, the back, working part of Venice - where the fire boats, etc. are kept, and where they unload the trucks from the mainland onto the boats headed for the stores of Venice. This was a very hot sunny day, and we had to take three vaporetto trips back and forth to get good photo shots of the young muscular males working the boats in their white skivvies! Went home to a light dinner this evening.

Day 11 Friday 6/14
Another hot sunny day. We had reserved with Avventure Bellissime Tours to go on their Dolomite Day Trip today. Monica's and Jonathan's company has four different tours each week. Some of our group went on, and enjoyed, the Hill Towns of the Veneto tour. They take a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 8. A very personalized day trip. Our group of seven met at 9:10 am and started on our trip in a Mercedes mini van. This is a trip that's so great, it's hard to describe. On the way up to our peak of 7,500 feet, we had many stops that had us gasping at the awesome views of the Dolomites. Each of our stops was a fabulous photo-op of a different view of these mountains. Some of our stops were at Cadora, the Dam, Mt. Serapice, Lake Misurena. On the way up to our top stop, we had a picnic lunch at Lake Antorno that Jonathan, our guide, prepared for us. Beside the lake we enjoyed all-you-can-eat salami, local cows' cheese (so-o-o good!), tomatoes, big Italian rolls, and a fruit-filled pastry for dessert. He also supplied us with plenty of water. We were stuffed. So simple, but so good! :-) Then we went up to Tre Crime at 7,500 feet high. Spectacular limestone mountains in all four directions. One of the places we stopped at on our way down the mountains was Cortina, a town of rich people and their shops - most of them were closed at this time. But did enjoy stopping for a vino and walking around the town window shopping. The lakes in the Dolomites and the valleys are a beautiful green from the copper and other minerals in the water. (Not like our waters - green from algae!) Got back to Venice at 6:15. Ellen Marie had bought each of us a 2-way radio to use when we went our separate ways. She decided to go out walking about 8:00 and took her radio with her. Lynanne was sitting on the balcony when her radio beeped. Ellen Marie said, "Look down, Mom". There she was, with a huge pizza she'd bought at a take-out store. We really enjoyed our excellent simple dinner! :-)

Day 12 Saturday 6/15
Hot and sunny again! This morning we went into Cannaregio searching for more fruit and veggie stands. Along many of the larger campos and on the bridge leading to the train station, dark-skinned men (South African, maybe) would lay out huge white sheets on the ground and sell pocketbooks, watches, jewelry, etc. As we were coming into one campo, a little Italian girl of about 8 or 9 had spread her small blanket out and was selling her toys! This afternoon Ellen Marie and Lynanne went out to find milk and a wine fill-up store near home. The little store around two corners had milk, and we asked about the wine store. The young girl spoke some English and said, "Turn left, then turn right, then meander a bit. It's right past the pizza restaurant". We set out with our trusty map and meandered, and - surprise!- we found i! Turns out we'd passed this place before and didn't know it. Again 1 1/2 liters for $2.80. For dinner tonight we went to Campo San Margherita. Seems everyone else had the same idea, because it was lively and crowded. There are about five trattorias there, and they were all busy - couples young and old, families with small children, mostly locals because we heard very little English. After dinner (Lynanne's lasagna was great!) we sat on one of the benches, and as the evening progressed the college kids came out, which livened up the scene even more. An Italian gentleman (Gianni - pronounced "Johnny") and his wife joined us on the next bench. They live near the Rialto and he travels to the States every year. He was very interested in our Untours, and how inexpensive it is. He has a friend who owns Dona Onesta, one of our recommended budget restaurants. Around midnight, as the five of us walked toward home, we stopped by the trattoria, and Gianni introduced us to his friend, who was just closing for the evening. Since he's closed Sundays and Mondays, on Tuesday we'll surely have to return - our last night. :-( As we passed one of our favorite gelateria, he said another of his friends owns it, but the friend is always on holiday, so others run it. We then parted and got home at 12:30 am.

Day 13 Sunday 6/16
This morning started out hot and sunny. Today we went to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where hangs Tintoretto's phenomenal cycle of paintings that are in the meeting halls of this magnificent building. Plus there are some fine 17th century woodcarvings along the walls of the main hall. Next we went to the huge Gothic church, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It is packed with great paintings, monuments and sculptures, and is the city's second largest church, and the burial place of some of its most famous citizens. We wandered, and didn't know what we were looking at, so Ellen Marie bought a guide book. Big mistake! Now we felt we had to stop at each site, for if we didn't, we'd miss something important. But it was worth it to understand all the great works in this church. In 1999 Beverly and Lynanne enjoyed a concert there, that included the two organs above the ornately carved choir stalls. A magnificent sound! Ate dinner tonight at Trattoria S. Toma', and chatted with a couple from Nice. They were on a cruise through Turkey and Greece, and had a port stop in Venice for the day. We left, and got home around 9:45 pm, right before a heavy windy thunderstorm broke loose. We were afraid our Nice friends didn't get back to their ship before it hit. They were still eating when we left them. There was continuous lightning and a constant rumble of thunder. In trying to close the shower bathroom window blind (these are heavy thick outside wooden blinds), Lynanne broke the cord off its moorings. We also lost hot water and had storm water pouring through the blind slats on all the east side windows! By 10:45 the rain had stopped, but still lots of lightning.

Day 14 Monday 6/17
Hot and sunny again. Ellen Marie and Lynanne went on the "Secret Itinerary" tour at the Doges Palace. This tour goes to the Doges' private quarters, up into the attic, Casanova's prison cell, the place where he hid when he was making his escape, and other "behind-the-scenes" areas. Then they toured the rest of the palace, from the attic to the prison cells in the basement. Beverly stayed home to wait for Paolo to come and fix our water heater, and confess to breaking the window slats' cord. Lynanne was glad she wasn't there! (Beverly had been on the Secret Itinerary before, so she was okay with staying behind.) Met Beverly at 2:30 pm in Piazza San Marco (our 2-way radios were great!) and went into the Castello sestiere looking for lunch. On a tiny calle we found Trattoria Barbanera, and had good Bruschetta, vino, and shared dessert. Very, very good. Beverly splatted herself with chocolate sauce while trying to slice her dessert, so while she and Ellen Marie were in the toilette cleaning Beverly up, Lynanne was sitting at the table, dying to sample the desserts sitting in front of her! They almost had no dessert when they got back to the table! Then we went to the Rive Degli Schiavoni and took more photos. Lynanne bought a neat painting there. Bev went back to Piazza San Marco to take photos of some of the many tourists that are in the square. The tourists can buy small bags of corn from vendors, and feed the pigeons. This seems to be a very popular attraction among the tourists. Watching the children's (and adults') expressions, and capturing it on film is an awesome feeling - at least Bev thinks so. Lynanne wasn't as impressed with the pigeons, as they are a nuisance at home. Made a quick trip to Panarama this evening to get a few items and return an item we didn't like. Barely made the last bus back to Venice. Had dinner at home.

Day 15 Tuesday 6/18
This is a broken record - hot and sunny again. Went to the islands today. Our first stop was at Mazzorbo, a little island beside Burano. We walked through a pretty church yard with trees, benches, lush green grass, and a small playground. Sat awhile and enjoyed the serene quiet, and of course, took photos. A small wooden bridge took us into Burano - the lace-making island. One can watch the ladies in their little shops making beautiful lace items. This is also where the brightly painted houses are. Each house is a different color. They are like row houses, all attached to one another. Many of the houses had what we called colored sheets hanging in the open doorways, probably to keep nosy tourists from peering into their homes, while still allowing breezes to come in. Our next stop was Murano. Went into one of the many glass-making factory showrooms - lots of expensive glass, lots of staff, very few lookers and buyers. Lynanne did buy two Murano glass watches in one of the little shops ($16.50 each). But both the restaurant and gelateria we wanted were closed. :-( Came home to go to dinner at Dona Onesta (honest lady) - about 5 minutes from our apartment. This is the trattoria that Gianni's friend owns. Each of us had a Venetian specialty: Beverly had Sarde a Saor, Ellen Marie had clams in an oil and garlic broth, Lynanne had liver and onions. Lynanne tasted both of theirs, but they declined her offer of a taste of hers. Probably because they got it more often than they'd liked growing up at home! Each of our dishes was outstanding. This was our best and most expensive meal in Venice - Lynanne's bill was $24 including wine, cover and service! A great last night dinner. By the time we got back home, we decided to pack early tomorrow morning. Wow! these last two weeks flew by!

Day 16 Wednesday 6/19
Aha! I bet you thought this was our last day. We did too - but it wasn't to be! Our trip home was almost as exciting and more adventuresome as our two weeks in Venice. We got up before dawn to pack and get to our meeting place by 8:10 am for our water-taxi ride to Venice's Marco Polo airport. The airport was packed because of an air-controllers' strike in Paris affecting Air France. We were smug, because we were going on Lufthansa to Frankfurt at 10:30 am. Hah! The 6:30 Lufthansa flight had been cancelled, so they all booked the 10:30 flight. By the time we got to the ticket counter, 10:30 was overbooked and we couldn't get on. After much hemming and hawing, they booked us on a 6:15 pm flight to Frankfurt. This meant we had to contact our people in the states concerning our new arrival time. Lufthansa did this for us. (Ellen Marie's person was never contacted.) They gave us an all-you-can-eat-and -drink lunch at Venice's airport (Excellent food!) We each got vouchers for either 600 euro travel or 300 euro cash. Lufthansa paid for our Steigenberger Esprix Hotel in Frankfurt. We had two rooms - Bev and Lynanne in one, Ellen Marie in the other. After our long day, Ellen Marie and Beverly went down to the hotel pub and brought back a very good pizza for our dinner. Finally to bed. A typical German bed with a "feather"bed for a cover (or sheet? we still don't know how to use one!)

Day 17 Thursday 6/20
This morning we had a fabulous free all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast at the hotel. You name it, we had it - was listed as $16, and I believe it! Ellen Marie's flight to San Francisco was 9:45 am. (and then to Portland, OR). So Beverly went with her on the hotel shuttle at 7:00 to the airport to see her off. While there, Beverly found a beautiful scarf with a gondola, and Venice in the background. She's planning to frame it. She got back to the hotel about 10:30. Then she and Lynanne checked out and went back to the airport. Our flight doesn't leave until 5:55 pm. After a LOT of haggling at the Lufthansa counter, Beverly got the two of us each a $15.00 lunch voucher. We had an excellent meal at Lilienthal, a German restaurant. Of course we ate German, and it was so-o good! We used all of our voucher and more! When we learned we were to spend the night in Frankfurt, Lynanne had put her corkscrew into her carry-on, in case she bought a bottle of wine for the evening. Frankfurt's airport is huge, and we had lots of time to wander, going in and out of security several times. Our first time through security Lynanne was stopped and had to open her carry-on. He examined her inhaler, she had to unwrap her camera from her nightgown, and finally he found what he was looking for. Of course, he took it. Beverly was horrified because she didn't know Mom had done this! What's so bad, Mom didn't even use the corkscrew at the hotel! Lynanne had a combo lock that we couldn't get off her purse. While we were hanging around the airport, Beverly managed to force it open. Lynanne put it in her pocket, to discard later. The next time through security, Lynanne's body set off the alarm. It was the lock! She told the guard to toss it. Interestingly, the lock had gone through many check points on the purse, but not in the pocket! Frankfurt's security is very good! Finally left Frankfurt and went through Chicago, getting to Norfolk, VA at 1:15 am Friday morning. Lynanne's checked luggage arrived Friday afternoon at 5:00 pm! Lynanne is already looking to go back to Venice again! There is a magical mystical draw for her.