Getting our fill of boats in Venice

Day 8 - We decided to sleep in today which was such a decadent luxury compared to the previous days on our trip. By 8:00am we were down in the hotel lobby enjoying the closest thing that we have had to an American breakfast so far. Most Italians do small breakfasts, cappuccinos or coffee plus a bread, meat or cheese. But at this hotel, where breakfast is included, we had a full spread with eggs, bacon, ham, two kinds of cheeses, two kinds of cereals, an assortment of fruits and two different kinds of fruit juices. It was delicious to have some eggs again. After breakfast we were off on the grand canal riding one of the water busses to the Plaza San Marco. We passed by the Rialto bridge on our way. The ironic thing is, Tim and I have never actually been on the Rialto bridge in our 3 trips to Venice. We have seen it every time, but we have never actually walked it. I guess that means we will be coming back for a 4th trip! In San Marco we walked around and listen to the Rick Steves audio guide on the history of the square and walked past the bridge of sighs. We took the water bus over to the island of San Giorgio as well. On this island the church has a bell tower (yes, yes I know, another tower!) with an elevator (yippee!) up to the top. From there you have a great view of the city. From the San Giorgio tower you are outside of the city entirely and can view the entire city with the surrounding islands. From there we caught another water taxi going the wrong direction back to San Marcos. So instead of it being one stop back to the mainland it was a 45 minute cruise around the island and back to San Marcos. We figured out our mistake pretty quickly but opted to stay on to see more of the city from the water and because we had the time. Once back in San Marcos we found a restaurant from the Rick Steves guidebook that looked promising. We considered it a big miss. The food was ok, but the waiter was a little rude and he also brought Michelle the wrong meal. By the time the right one came everyone else was finished eating. She ate as fast as she could but the experience was not her favorite. Tim assures her that she is reading too much into it and, knowing her, she probably is. And yes, it is Michelle typing this blog post. :) From lunch we jumped on a direct water bus to the island of Murano where we had a demonstration at a glass blowing factory and Brenda and Greg bought a few pieces of Murano glass. Murano glass can be quite elaborate and is very beautiful. Many of the chandeliers in Venice are made of Murano glass. In fact, if you are ever in Venice take a water bus down the Grand Canal at night. Many of the homes will have their lights on so you can peek in the windows as you pass by at all of the beautiful chandeliers. It was nice to catch two direct trains to Murano. A few years ago when we were here if you wanted to go to Murano you needed to allow for at least 45 minutes to and 45 minutes back because the busses had so many stops to make along the way. I think the trips there and back were 45 minutes total. Once back in the room we had an hour or so to relax before we caught a train to Padova. Tim plays a computer game online and one of the players in his group (Niccola) lives in Padova. They invited us to dinner while we were in Venice. The final dinner party was the Smiths and the Hardleys, Niccola, his wife (Ariella) and two children (ages 8 and 5) and Niccola's aunt and uncle. His aunt and uncle spoke very little English but were lively members of the conversation. It is wonderful how much simple hand gestures can communicate. And there are a number of French (Michelle studied) and Spanish (Tim studied) words that are similar in Italian. Niccola and his wife spoke English well and Google translate was a great tool to have when there was an English or Italian word that was not understood. We take great comfort in knowing that they know understand the word "Weird". Dinner was in multiple courses, starting with appetizers of ham, polenta with a fish salad (like a tuna salad) on top, blood oranges, sardines, bruschetta and italian style pretzels. The tomatoes they use in their bruschetta are amazing. Then we moved to a bean soup which was quite good. Niccola's daughter was not a fan of it, and it was funny to see her express her displeasure exactly like an American child would. . Our main was egg noodles with peas. Then we had cheeses with an assortment of jellies and honey. I would never have thought to put jelly on my cheese, but it was delicious. And some of the jellies were made with fruits found in their mountain home. And for dessert we had ice cream with locally sourced fruits. There was so much food we were all stuffed at the end. To cap off the night, there was coffee and grappa for those who wanted it. By the time we were done it was midnight and Niccola drove us back to Venice. Along the way he showed us an old river in the region that was used by the Venetians. Apparently, while living in Venice the people there wanted a home outside of town so that they could have a bigger home and more land with grass and trees. This river was connected to Venice, so it became the main place that they bought and built. And oh did they build. Even in the dark we saw some of the largest homes we have ever seen, even in Montecito where Michelle works. It was hard to imagine a single family would need such a large house, but they certainly built them. Once in Venice we all decided to sleep in a bit more in the morning before we headed to Lake Como. It is amazing what an extra 30 minutes to an hour of sleep can do for you. Hopefully we can sleep a bit more on the train as well. Ciao for now!