Last Day in Venice

Last day in Venice. We werent going to leave to early afternoon to get back in time for to get Sophia from pre-school. So once again Alessandro suggested our itinerary for the day: frari church. It's a really lovely church about a 5 minutes from the hotel. There are really amazing sculptures in black and white marble and paintings in there. Of course it starts pouring rain as soon as we get in, and it's pouring buckets by the time we leave and we get lost and soaked on our way back which makes us late to the train station and of course all the self-service machines are broken and so we have to stand in line, hence missing the earlier train. Luckily Ethel was my savior and went to get Sophia.
We got home, the girls played a little and then it was off to get ready for dinner. Went to the little restaurant in town. Usually they are soooo nice, but this time they were kind of cold. It took a loooooong time for our dinners to come out. Luckily they had put cartoons on the tv, so Sophia just watched tv and ate breadsticks.







Then it was off to the metro to catch the train to Mauro and Khatia's to celebrate Khatia's 25th birthday (her bday is actually the 30th).
























Alice and Sophia got rides in the chair. Max came to get us after work and then it was home again and time to get ready to go to Cuneo.

Murano

Alessandro (the hot concierge) told us that a free boat to murano could be arranged as well as a tour of a factory and how glass is blown. So that's exactly what we did our second day on the island.











It's amazing how hot the oven looks, and the fact that no one wears gloves. Wonder if this guys is bald due to fashion, genetics or just the intensity of the heat.









We were so lucky it didnt rain this second day. It was really nice and quite warm and everybody spent their souvenir budget while wandering the streets.

Richard Gere

Well once again we were late for the train. Got there just minutes before a EuroStar departed, so we ended up missing that. Instead there was a second IC train, that was to leave soon after. We made a mad dash up the stairs, only to see that it was 10 minutes late according to the board. It ended up being over a 1/2 hour late. And then it ended up breaking down in Mestre so we had to catch another train and we didnt end up at the hotel until after lunch. We were tired and starving by the time we got there.
If you are planning to go to Venice, I highly recommend the Hotel Antiche Figure. It is located across from the train station so you don't have to drag your luggage through the crowded streets and over the many bridges. And besides that, the concierge is HOT! As if there werent enough magnificent sites in Venice, Alessandro just added to the beauty! Plus he is really nice. He looks like a better looking Richard Gere. He's a native of Venice and so he gave us little tips on making good use of our time there. He even recommended places to eat - off the beaten path, not to be found in typical traveling books. Went to go get sandwiches from around the corner - i think we were the only non natives in there. Had the porchetta, gorgonzola and radicchio panino - to die for!! And the Alessandro suggested we get some tickets for the vaporetto (the 1 or 82 leave from nearby) and get on from the first stop of the 1 - so that not only would we be the first ones on the boat, but if we got off one stop after san marco, we could see a view of all the main sites from the water. And since it was late afternoon the Doges Palace would be opened but not crowded. So that's exactly what we

did. We met some other tourists on the boat. There was a cute little older couple that had the Rick Steves book and read play by play action of what was going on around us. She read and directed her husband to take the pictures. They were funny and cute! It was a nice ride, we got seats up front and had a view of everything, and it wasnt crowded at all.

Eventually we made our way to the Doge's Palace, where if you are going to stay for a while, ask for the package tickets, it lets you into the palace, and 12 museums and churches. Most of the Churches have an entrance fee. Talk about

good luck, upon entering the palace its starts down pouring, so we missed getting soaked. It was still raining when we got out, so we walked around a bit and then did some window shopping. Got pictures of San Marco Square, wet but empty! And then went to go find somewhere to eat. Fortunately we immediately got distracted by some jewelery shops and by the time we exited, the rain had stopped. Found a nice place to eat, the a ride on the vaporetto back to the hotel to see a night view of the Grande Canal.

venice with viv and greg