The time came to say good bye to Daniella our landlady in Villamagna and her dogs and house and get some gas for the trip to Venice. The ride went smoothly, so we got to this bar outside the airport in time for a late lunch. The table was small so we could get the whole family in just a few shots plus a few individual pictures to finish the scene.

The boat came on time to take us to our hotel. The road was choppy but we were soon standing in San Marco and finding our first phone booth in Venice We walked past statues like this and over bridges like this to get to our dinner where everyone was hungry and tired

until the food came to satisfy Suzanne's craving for fish. Our waiter assured us that it wouldn't rain on our way back. He was wrong but we still managed to catch San Marco by night

These pictures inspired us to think about making our own postcards. We began with the following set that we are sure will be best sellers.

Venice Day 2

We started our next day in Venice with a visit to San Marco Piazza where we considered engaging in pigeon chasing and feeding

and waiting for the bells to toll ( they never did ). On the way to the vaporetto, we passed this construction and the Bridge of Sighs

We took a lot of boats today with the water looking like this the houses like this

and the other boats like this

before we got off at this stop on the island of Murano where they cook glass in ovens like this one and children sit around while their mothers look at glass. We found a phone booth on the way to lunch where this waiter took a picture of all of us sitting by the canal and we then took our individual pictures

and had wonderful vegetable soup seafood with polenta spaghetti burro fettuccini verdura spaghetti ragu and insalata mista while this pigeon watched

Seeing these people on the opposite of the canal inspired Jane and Benjamin to walk across the bridge take these pictures of us and then walk back. Maybe they had too much wine? When we explored the island, we found this glass statue of the Madonna to protect the port and this set of real Venetian blinds On the way back, we saw this ambulance If they don't make it in time, a notice like these is posted and you are buried on this island

We then walked back to the hotel through alleys as narrow as this and found this Pokemon display in one of them.

Our evening excursion began with a visit to San Marco where Jane and Benjamin bought pigeon food and practiced feeding the pigeons

It was high tide, so the basilica was hard to get to, but not the tops of these statues It was also chilly so we bought these sweatshirts from this man who unfortunately didn't carry Benjamin's size.

Dinner was indoors because it was cold but we were all eager to eat

especially when the vegetables and cheese came (best cheese I've ever had) along with the gnocchi (new shape for us).

We actually used this phone booth for a call and then took some pictures off the boat on the way home

to be made into possible future post cards.

Venice Day 3

This day involved walking around the streets of the city and looking for the right things to buy, going to the Doges Palace, taking a ride on a gondola and various other adventures. We began with a ride on the vaporetto past many gondolas ready for action on our way to the Rialto Bridge Once there, we found this hat for Benjamin but decided that this one fit better. Then we had to find a WC like this one. On our walk through the city, we saw this scene that seemed necessary for our album. Lunch was at a bar where everyone

was happy to be eating and Benjamin gave a water bottle concert to those in the bar and the adjoining pizzeria Next we went past the good gelateria where we saw this sign in Hebrew and past this unique place until we reached this store that sold Doges and this unique model (notice the photographic effects!). We stopped on the way to our siesta at a café where David's menta granita was the hit.

We began the afternoon's activities at the Doges' Palace where the interior looks like this and the view includes this not to mention the weird face and the statues of Atlas and Hercules We weren't allowed up the fancy stairs (since we are human) which are guarded by Jupiter and Neptune and so we had to go up the interior stairs but we did get to see the Bridge of Sighs from which we captured these views

from both directions and then from the Palace you can view out to the harbor in these nice ways

Next came the gondola ride. Our driver seemed to be in control which made all of us happy

This led to an orgy of photography including views on the boat

the church of the Madonna because she saved them from a plague that killed 1/3 of the Venetians and views of other gondolas

and of buildings along the canal

including the fanciest hotel in town and the place where a few Doges lived

with a mosaic made of Murano glass and the postal service and a bridge at the closed museum Suzanne had hoped to visit and the places where Lord Byron and Mozart lived. We turned at the Rialto bridge which we have visited before into a narrow canal that had buildings in the modern Venetian style and a movie theater playing M-I-2. One bridge was particularly hard to navigate before we got back and headed to our dinner.

After a few pictures at Harry's Bar we headed off to dinner where everyone was tired and hungry

Suzanne and David were quite happy and the waiter fell in love with Benjamin En route back to the hotel, we had what might be our last gelato in Italia