June 4th: Islanders

We've never slept so well.In fact, Bella called at 3am and I didnt even hear the phone ring. Its her last day of school today and she called to tell us about it. I miss the kids and cant wait to call her back to hear all about it!

We woke up this morning to sunlight, breeze blowing through our sheer curtains and the open shutters and the smell of freshly baked hot marmalade croissants. Im. not. kidding. Our hotel is so quaint and charming, I love it. We call the man at the front desk " Mr. Prego" Hes always saying prego, prego, si, prego. Prego seems to mean everything. Your welcome, cheers, of course, sure. I think its real meaning is "your welcome" but he seems to use it for everyhing. Hes very friendly. We went down for breakfast this morning and were say at the balcony table. AWH, it was so pretty. We had hot marmalade croissants, blood orange juice, yogurt, fruit, cereal and a variety of cheeses. I am reminded of what I liked about breakfast when I was in France too, they have nutella packets here right along with the jam. I mean, honestly, who doesnt like a little chocolate spread on their breakfast croissant? Love it. What weve noticed so far is that the italians like to sit and enjoy every bite and its usually pretty silent. Like for breakfast this morning, you could have heard a pin drop. Its a little weird. But then again, maybe its just me. I felt very "american"after finishing our breakfast in 30 min and then leaving before everyone else. Its ok though, we have places to go and things to see.

our breakfast table..hellllo gorgeous.





After checking with Mr. Prego regarding which boat we should take, we headed out to tour the islands in the lagoon this morning. We took a left out of the hotel, a way which we hadnt gone before and found the MOST beautiful park to walk through to the boat stop. It was tree lined, benches, a huge statue in the front welcoming people into the park with lilly pads and lillys growing abundantly in it. The houses behind the trees were fantastic. Rustic and beaitifully decorated with flowers and ...laundry. I have to laugh because I keep taking pictures of laundry hanging on a line. Im so sure the locals think Im nuts. The park is so so fantastically gorgeious. Im running out of words to properly describe what I see. Actually, no words can actually describe it, photos for that matter. Its just the feeling and experiance of being here that is so amazing.

At the end of the park was the giardini stop. Its litterally 5 min from the hotel through the park. We waited a few minutes and the boat came. The weather is perfect today, low 80's and a little humid, but the breeze coming off the water cools us down and feels so nice.

waiting for our vaporetto, its over my shoulder to the right. Hte park we walked through is on the left. Those trees are beautiful!


on our way to Murano. We got pretty good at holding the camera out for photos of ourselves.


a view from out boatride on the way to Murano.


Our first stop is Murano, famous for its glass making. Its a small island filled with shops lining a boat clad canal. Glass everywhere. Apparantly, I found out later that when people got off the boat, they turned left to see the glass blowers and find the best shops. We went straight and missed all of that. But having "gone straight" there were less people and it made the experiance that much better. I found an open door only to find glass blowers hard at work. It was nice to be the only one there watching them. The way they heat and cool and shape the glass is really an impressive art and I was amaze how they did it with such ease. We found a dollar store! Well, its the Euro store, but still, we thought it was pretty funny.










We found Bells a beautiful glass snowglobe with a gondola inside. She said she wanted something "pretty and glass and and a snowglobe" so we are pretty happy with our find. I wish I would have purchased something for the house, but I was afraid it would break before we could get it home. We saw a merchant selling vegtables on his boat and bought some divine cherry tomatoes. I LOVE tomatoes. Plus, it was fun to see his working on his boat with all of his produce. Ive never seen that before.

After about an hour on Murano, we caught the boat to Burano, famous for its Lace and an very quaint fishing village. Its about 40 min from Venice in the northern part of the lagoon. And lace was everywhere! Lace scarves, lace napkins, clothing, lace toilet paper holders. you name it, you can find it in lace. The lace making craft and the items they produce are beautifully crafted. Today Burano lace-making, like Murano glass-making, is one of the leading traditional artisan processes carried out in the Venetian lagoon area, and there have been many attempts to revive it and ensure that it does not die out. There was a lace making school that is now a museum that has lace peices dating back to the 16th century. Pretty impressive. Burano's best attraction however, in my opinion is itself. Its brightly colored houses and laid back atmosphere make it a perfect way to spend a later morning away from the crowds in Venice. Its said that they brightly colored houses were done so the fisherman could find their way home. I dont know the validity of it, but I know I love it looking at them. They are so small and I would die to see inside one of them. We were happy to spend an hour profitably by doing nothing at all but sitting at a cafe and watching people. Burano captured my heart. I like it so much better than Murano. Im not very much into shopping than I am just the culture and experiancing the feel of a place and Burano feels good. Buddy bought me a beautiful necklace here and a little shop on the side of the canal. Ill treasure it. In fact I was coming out of the restroom that I paid 1.50 euro for, that was a treat.



Anyway, I couldnt find him anywhere. All of the sudden, he comes walking up with a little bag wrapped up and surprised me with it. What a guy, I totally LOVE this time with him and his thoughtfullness.













the artichokes even look like flowers :)





We took the vaporetto next to Torcello, but we looked and got right back on, Id rather spend my time in Burano. It took us about 45 min to get back to Venice. We were crammed into the boat sandwhiched between people, we were happy to get back to our hotel and cool off a bit before heading back out. I dont understand anyone here. Its so aweomse. in fact, when I hear english, I do feel a bit happy because its familiar, but its interesting to hear so many different languages. I loved it because this little old lady and man were getting off the boat, apparantly having a bit of an arugment, the lady walked away from her man saying as much with her hands as with her mouth "mama miiiiia" I gota huge smile, it was so cute and so italian.

As we were heading back out to explore Venice, Mr. Prego told us we should stop at the grocery next door to get water instead of purchasing it "in town" It only takes us 10 min to walk to st. marks and 15 to the Rialto (which we accidently discovered) but it gets more expensive. How did we miss the grocery store? Its so perfect. The aisles are narrrrrrrow and the food is strange and Im pretty sure everyone there lived there due to the amount of groceries they were buying and the way they knew the clerk ringing them up. I bought some milk. I think its not pasturized though, totally nasty. and water of course.

Our plan this afternoon is to just walk around aimlessly and get lost again. As if you can acutually get lost though. Everything leads back to San Marco eventually. Its fun to go exploring. Last night when we took the canal cruise, the Rialto bridge seemed so far away I thought I would have to take a boat to see it again. We kept walking throught alleys winding in every direction, walked over a dozen bridges, soaking it all up when all of a sudden, we can out of an alley way and
WHA LA, the RIALTO bridge , right in front of us!



It took my breath away again and all I could do was turn to buddy and kiss him. It was so wonderful. I got goose bumps being so close to it. Its such a lively part of the city. The bridge is beautiful in its own right and down right PACKED with people. In fact, we could hardly make our way up the bridge. But the view...OH THE VIEW! Its a postcard. Its a dream, its a fairy tale. Its LOVe, I SO love that bridge. I couldnt stop squeezing buddys hand and giving him kisses. Its another hightlight of this day for sure. We walked over it, took a few photos and started back for St. Marks. I plan on going back tommorow for a try at some night photos.

the view from the top center.




We sat for dinner at a restaurant by the bridge. Buddy had lasagna and I had salmon fettucine. It was delish except they charged us 2.50e just to sit down and then an 12% gratuity. We werent impressed with the service nor were we expecting the extra charges. We decided we are better off to stick to trattoria's and cafes. I bought a leather purse tonight by a street vender. He wanted 65e. My canal street skills came in handy and I got it for 15. I like it.

Lastly, we saw the bridge of sighs tonight. Its the infamous bridge that lovers are known to kiss under in a gondola. Its overrated in my opinion. In fact, we had walked over the bridge that overlooks it several times and we didnt even notice it. They are working on restoration and have ridiculous billbiards all around that totally ruins the beauty of it. It wasnt the experiance I had in mind but none the less, I can say we saw it. The historical significance is interesting to me. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. Was built in 1602! The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before they were imprisoned. The bridge name omes from the idea that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, they wre mostly small time criminals that did end up "seeing the light of day" so to speak.

A local legend says that lovers will be granted everlasting love and bliss if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge. We didnt do that, but Im pretty sure we'll have everlasting love anyway :)

what the bridge used to look like, prior to the restoration. taken from google images


our view of it. Far less beautiful dont you think? just means well have to go back.


We ended tonight a little early, around 11 and planned out tommorow. St. Marks basilica, a picnic in the park and venice at night! Goodnight from beautiful Venice!

random shots of the day

the San Zaccaria area of Venice. Probley my favorite little part of town. The buidlings are fun, especially this one that is so interesting the way its built and the vibe is funky and fun. tons of style here. visual fest I tell you!





These flowers are everywhere here. We absolutly LOVE the smell of them. Does anyone know the name of them? I think it starts with a C, but im not sure. We just love them. And they line the park that we love so much.



our home for the last 2 days. The Giaradini stop is on the right, the park we walk through and the awesome bridge we walk over to walk towards san marco. I love this area. Isnt it so pretty? Our hotel would be to the left of the picture down a little alley.


street food. A little snack this afternoon.


considering property? In the area we are staying, it will only set us back 650,000 euro. yikes!


I think its too obvious that I am loving all the gondolas. We thought the price was way too steep for a private ride. The canal cruise was just perfect for us.


when we get lost, these are the piazzas im talking about. They are hidden little perfect gems. To walk through narrow alleys and have them open up to piazzas like this was like opening a little present every time. Im corny. I know.


yay for coke, right Buddy? only problem is there are no such thing as refills and Ice is hard to come by. Im dying for a DC with ice!



we saw a movie being filmed. A german film. It was kind of fun to see the filming process and of course, Venice is a perfect location.


a yummy bakery on Burano. The smell was so heavenly. We each got a cookie.


one of my favorite photos I think. Why am I fascinated with pigeons and laundry drying? This place has sucked me right in.


right outside our hotel door.