Day 9 Prague: August 7, 2007

Hi everzone! I am on the hotel computer in the lobbz tonight so I must be very short.

Prague is wonderful! It's hard to comprehend that it's only been 15 zears since this country was communist.

I did not know anzthing about this citz, so I took an all-daz walking tour with an English speaking (sort of) group. "English" means that§s the closest language thez can understand. In the group were 30 Norwegians, Scots, Russians,and others. I think there were 3 other Americans. Good tour guide!

She walked us down Wenceslas Square (picture above) and taught a little about Prague Spring 1968. A student burned himself to death on the square to protest Soviet occupation. Started the movement and 20 zears later on the anniversarz it became the Velvet Revolution. WOW!

We walked past a theatre that in the 1700§s Mozart himself conducted the world premier of the opera Don Giovanni. (Green building in the picture) Tonight I went back to that theatre and watched an excellent performance of that opera. The singing was great and the theatre beautiful and I loved it!

We walked down through the Jewish quarter. Prague was onlz major European citz not to lose their Jewish quarter entirelz, but once there were 80,000 Jew there and now there are onlz 1000 registered. It still has Jewish businesses and Synagogues, one a thousand zears old.

We took a boat ride on the Vltava river. It's called the Moldau bz the Germans. I liked that and got to rest mz feet.

We went to lunch and I sat with the Norwegian familz who spoke a little English, so we got along all right. Todaz is verz hot, about 95 I think, so of course thez served us hot soup and then hot pork and dumplings and white cabbage and then dessert, followed by hot tea and coffee which I didn't drink. By this time I was dzing of thirst, so I went to the bathroom to get water and it was automatic, so it was blistering hot, too!

After lunch we walked across the Charles Bridge and then caught a tram to the top of the hill to visit Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. This huge cathedral is within the castle walls. It's French Gothic stzle, built in 1300s, because the great king Charles was educated in France and he brought great Gothic architecture in Prague.

I left the group at the end and stazed on the castle hill and got mz own waz home.

What to buy in Prague? Bohemian crzstal, Garnet jewelrzÿ, marionettes, wooden toys, Russian nesting dolls, and the best pastries in the world, waz better than anzwhere else!

One more daz here. I have lots I want to see tomorrow!

Day 8 Florence to Prague: August 6, 2007

This is going to be crazy because I borrowed this laptop from the girl at the reception desk. I am sitting in mz room (shown at left) talking to zou which is so verz convenient. The computer has a lot of things different, like the z and the y kezs are reversed places. I think I will just go for it because to fix things will take too long and I am trzing to hurrz on her computer.

I think I set a new record todaz~ 2 museums in 45 minutes!

I was in a huge hurrz because I had to leave mz hotel in Florence at ten oclock to catch mz plane to Prague and I did not know exactlz how it was to be done.

I wanted to go to the Bargello because it has the original of Donatello§s David, which was the first male nude since the Romans, and it caused quite a stir and was verz influential on later sculptors. He did it in the 1400§s. So I found the musem last night, when I was leaning on it looking at mz map and realiyed it was right behind me!

So I blitzed out of the hotel at 8,15 this morning and almost immediatlez mz my bus 14 came, so I was there in 10 minutes. The Bargello looks like a fortress from the outside, and it actuallz was used for a prison for awhile. Inside it has a great courtzard and staircase. I found David upstairs lzing on a table with stickers and numbers all over him, surrounded bz lights and equipment. He is being restored in full view of the public, which I think is reallz cool. Thez also have another David bz the same sculptor (this one has clothes) and he is verz cool also. Thez also have another David bz Verrocchio, so it was fun to compare them. All these Davids were previous to Michelangelo§s. David was sort of the szmbol of Florence, the little guz (Florence) surrounded bz all those big mean citz-states like Pisa and Lucca and Venice.

Then I skipped up to The Museum of the Duomo, which is onlz about 3 blocks awaz.
I wanted to see the wooden model by the original architect of the big brick Dome. Thez have his actual model from the 1400's! It was the first big dome since the Romans, and no one knew how to build one, because it was so huge, but he designed a szstem of scaffolding that hung from the sides of the dome, which thez added to as thez went up. Verz cool!

Thez also have the original panels of the Doors of Paradise. That is, thez have 7 of them. I asked about the others. Thez are on tour in the USAof course!

The verz best part of the musem was a final Pieta bz Michelangelo. He did the one zou all know in Rome when he was onlz about 20 years old, I think. This one, he was nearlz 80 and it was intended for his own tombstone. It was so cool I cried, surprise to me . . . The bodz of Christ is being taken down from the cross bz Nicodemus, with Marz looking on. Michelangelo sculped himself as Nicodemus. There is a tradition that Nicodemus was a sculptor. It is known that Michelangelo espůeciallz identified with this sculpture. Remember, M. is thought to have lived a rather bad lifestzle. Nicodemus asked the question, "How can a man be born again when he is old?" Christ told him to be born of water and the spirit. Remember, M. was old himself, and in need of forgiveness. Anzwaz, I guess zou had to be there, but it was verz moving to me.

I was reallz in a hurrz, so I was out of there in 20 minutes and ran to the bus stop and caught a bus back to my hotel in a couple of minutes. I had to go home to the hotel and get mz posters, which were alreadz in a tube, and run to mail them from the Florence Post Office a couple of blocks awaz and run back and get mz suitcases and get another bus to the station and then get tix and a shuttle to the airport for flight supposed to leave at 1300. I wanted to be to the airport 2 hours earlz, because I had no idea what kind of problems I might find going to Czech Republick, but there were none and no line for Meridiana Airlines! When I saw the HUGE & SLOW line for Air France, I was once again reminded of the great pain checkin always is with them in Paris. Some of zou will remember that . . .

Takeoff out of Florence was cool, because zou can see the Dome and the citz. The flight was uneventful. Guz next to me had 2 prosthetic legs and on real and one prosthetic arm, age 30 I guess, but did not speak English, so we gave up and did not talk.

I was reallz kind of nervous about coming here, because I can't speak anz Czeck and there is no waz zou can read anz of the signs, because their language is not related to anzthing I know. Besides, I did not know the laz of the land or even have a map with both the town and the airport on it.

I took a shuttle minivan into town to mz hotel and it worked just fine. I was reallz glad to be here, I tell zou that!

After a few minutes I went out walking. Mz hotel is onlz a block from Charles Bridge (700 years old) and it is verz cool. This place has so much fabulous architecture zou cannot believe it! Most places there is a reallz cool building here and there, but here thez are ALL verz cool. I don§t think Prague was bombed in WWII.

I went to a reallz cool play tonight. It was a Black-Light plaz, sort of a takeoff on Alice in Wonderland. Black light theater was invented in Prague. I should saz the whole thing was a pantomime, no words, just cool spacey music like in the Detroit Airport tunnel. It was great and I reallz liked it because it was verz creative until the end, when thez had Alice get naked on stage and hold out this apple that she had been carrzing around all night. Anzwaz, as soon as that happened I got up and walked out. I had to fight the curtain over the door (kind of like punching mz waz out of a wet paper bag in the dark) and could not bet the door open, but I got out of there! No warning whatsoever . . . All the punctuation is different on this kezboard . . . One of the workers asked me if I liked the plaz. I said I liked the first part, but not the naked ladies on stage.ů He said other people like it. I told him some other people don§t like it, but thez don§t get up and walk out because it is embarassing. So there!

I walked back home over Charles Bridge. Sunset is pink over the spires of the castle and manz church domes and it is all verz cool. I am too tired to eat. This place is amaying for beautiful buildings everz inch. Zou have to come see.

Day 7 Florence: August 5, 2007

I got to Florence around noon today. In keeping with my goal to see new places this trip, I decided to go across the Ponte Vecchio (means Old Bridge) to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens. It's not as far as I thought, really just a couple of blocks across the river. I had to buy 2 separate tickets, one for the palace and one for the gardens.








The picture at left shows you the Ponte Vecchio (means old bridge.) There are shops on the bridge which sell all kinds of gold jewelry. Originally there were butcher shops, but the Medici duke didn't like the smell, so he got rid of the meat sellers and replaced them with goldsmiths! Across the top is the Vasari Corridor, a private passageway used by the Medicis to get from their palaces on one side of the river safely to their offices on the other side without being assasinated!

The palace is a huge Renaissance stone building, former home of the Medicis (powerful ruling family dynasty of Florence.) Now it is an interesting mix of furnishings in the family apartments and fabulous art and costumes from operas!

I really wanted to go to the gardens, but they were getting ready to close, I was too tired to run, and all the gardens were uphill. So I decided to just see what I could. There are no flowers; it's kind of like a park on a hill.



At the top of the hill was the porcelain museum (fabulous china in a smaller palace) and great views all around.

I also managed to get into the exhibit Gardens of Babylon and Ancient Rome. It wasn't all that great, but I enjoyed it because it had some stuff from Pompeii that I saw when I just went there just this week. It was also closing, but I got to see all I wanted.

When I left, the bus stop was close and a bus came right away. I went downtown to the Duomo (cathedral with red brick dome in the picture) which was the first Renaissance dome built since ancient Rome. I wandered down through the center of Florence and I loved it and now I'm here in the internet spot and you are great and I have to go!

Day 6 Cinque Terre Circle Hike: August 4, 2007

What a day I have had! I'm in the Cinque Terre, on the northwest coast of Italy, and it's absolutely wonderful! Today I did a walking tour around each of the 5 little coastal villages, just to see which is most worth it. It's so worth it! Both tours for next summer will definitely come here!

I slept late, and so got a late start about 10:00. I decided to take a boat to the first town and work my way back, hiking and taking the train. Counting from the East, I'm staying in the 4th town, which is Vernazza. You see my hotel room in the picture. That's my laundry handing out from the 2nd story on the right. It even had one of those cool little clotheslines on a pulley that you reel in.

I wandered down to the dock, which is really just a little seawall, and bought a ticket to Riomaggiore. Boat soon arrived and threw down the aluminum gangplank on wheels. Fortunately it has handrails! The gangplank was only about 18" wide, and there were big swells on the sea, so the ship rose and fell about 4 feet with each wave. Nobody moved to get on, so I ran up and across the gangplank. It was really fun! Other people followed. The boat probably held 75 people.

The ride only took about a half hour, and it also stopped at Manarola before arriving in Riomaggiore. I stood in the bow of the boat while it rose and fell on the waves. The sky was blue and the air was breezy and warm and the coast was glorious, and I wish you had all been on that boat with me!

This picture shows Corniglia. Each town is unique, and I followed my guidebook and walked around them all and got a pretty good idea of how cool they each are. Someone described it as "a pastel tangle of drunken houses leaning upon one another." Lovely description!

I bought several posters, which I will have to mail home tomorrow, because I am traveling with carry-on luggage only, so I don't have a full-size suitcase or my mailing tubes to carry them in. Traveling with only a carry on is much easier, since I get to haul all my own luggage!

Yesterday I bought a 2-day Cinque Terre Card for 13 Euros and thought I'd wasted my money. I only used it once, just to get here from La Spezia, which I could have done for a couple of euros. I could have saved money and only bought a one day card. Today, however, I really got my money's worth out of that card! Today I took a train between towns no less than 4 times, rode a shuttle bus up to Corniglia (which is on top of a hill so the shuttle saved me 375 stairs), rode it back down after exploring Corniglia, rode a 7 story elevator in Riomaggiore, took a 45 minute bus ride up into the hills (more on that later), and hiked between Riomaggiore and Manarola, which also costs money, but all are covered by the Cinque Terre Card. My feet are tired but I accomplished my goal, to see all 5 towns! I only actually hiked between two of the towns. You can tell by the picture that the trail along the coast is mostly paved and pretty level.

It's really prettier than the pictures can show. I stayed on a low trail when I hiked, but you can hike way up into the hills. The paved path was called "La via d' amour," or "the road of love."

I've been thinking about bringing a van here, but after the drive up in the hills and conversation with today's van driver, I think that's out. The bad news is that the road to here is only one narrow lane, and it twists around blind curves where the driver has to honk, because no one can see you coming! The good news is that Monterosso, the 5th town, has a parking lot, and you could put a van there and just take the train to Vernazza, which is, I think, the very prettiest of the 5 towns.

Got to go, this place is closing and I'm the only one left. Don't worry, the town is still hopping outside but it's 10:45 and they closed 15 minutes ago.

Day 5 Pisa & to the Cinque Terre: August 3, 2007

I think I have found heaven! Tonight I arrived in Vernazza in the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) which is 5 little towns on the North Mediterranean coast of Italy. They were only accessible by sea until the 1930's. It is so beautiful here, it really does actually look like this!

But first, the day in sequential order.

I checked out of my hotel in Rome and wrestled my bags to the main station and found my track and a very slow train to Pisa. The faster way is to take a fast train to Florence and then change to another train for Pisa. I was thinking that the slow train might be better because it was direct. Bad thinking! It stopped in every little town up the coast and it took 4 hours.
In Pisa I decided that I should run the drill to see how long it would take if I were showing my tour people. So I put my bags in Deposito Baglio, went outside and got a bus to Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) and went to visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I did not go up the tower this time, because I did not have a reservation, and you just can't get one in August for the same day. I wandered around and bought gelato and a Pisa purse and enjoyed the scene for a little while. It's really a circus! There were American Indian dancers set up with a big sound system and people watching and dozens of tourist stalls and a thousand tourists. It really is amazing though, and they seem to keep all the tourist stuff on one side, so it's not in your pictures and it almost preserves the atmosphere. This picture shows the old city wall around the Field of Miracles and the Tower in the distance.

The stop in Pisa took 3 hours, and I did not even go up the tower, which would probably add 2 more, including being there early for your appointment and wait time. So I should allow 5 hours.

I decided I'd had it with slow trains, so I bought a ticket for the IC Inter-City Express to La Spezia, which is where Alyssa Young served her mission and also the jumping-off point for the Cinque Terre. It only took one hour to get to La Spezia, and the ride was really cool. Kind of like the drive from Portland to Newport, Oregon crossed with fabulous Italy! Really green and mountainous, in and out of tunnels, nicer homes and wonderful!

In La Spezia I bought a 2-day train pass for the Cinque Terre, which also is your (get this, it's required) permit to hike. I hopped right back on the train and was here in Vernazza in 30 minutes, even though this is the 4th of the 5 towns. Since most of the ride is in tunnels with only glimpses of the sea, I was totally unprepared when I got off and crossed under the station, and this fabulous little one-street town appeared! It's built in a deep canyon and all the buildings are rich colors and there's a tiny little beach and I was so hot and I wished I could paint! The picture above is what I took the minute I came out of the station.

I found my room up 4 long flights of stairs that serve as an alley. The room is old and quaint and cute, with knotty pine paneling and a little kitchen. I SO want to bring you guys here! It's really just a restaurant, but they also have 4 rooms. Actually, only the son speaks English, the rest just muddle through like me in Italian, and the Mama owns it and speaks no English, but I talked to her anyway. In the picture, find the orange umbrella in the center of the picture. My room is just off a passage that goes uphill from a hole in the wall right behind that tree!

I immediately got rid of my stuff and went swimming in the little harbor-beach you see in the first picture. The water was cold and I sat on the beach for awhile and watched the late afternoon sun. I sure hope my pix turn out!

Tomorrow I want to take the train to all 5 towns and do a little hiking and maybe even rent a kayak.

Day 4 Pompeii: August 2, 2007

Today I went to Pompeii and it was both wonderful and tacky, but mostly it was HOT HOT HOT! The temp was 35° C plus humidity (about 96° F) and I walked all over the dry hill of Pompeii with no shade & getting heatstroke, but it was so worth it!

I got a bus tour that picked me up at my hotel, and put me with a bunch of other English speakers and German speakers on a big bus.

At first it was frustrating, because it's 120 kilometers from Rome to Pompeii, so they drove half way there on the autostrada (toll autobahn) and stopped at a tourist spot you see in the picture to buy coral necklaces and local wines. I had NO interest in that. From the sales job given by the tour guide, I am so sure she gets a kickback from everything we buy! I bought an ice cream and went around back to eat it and gaze at the ancient monastery on top of the distant hill.

Since our bus was English and German, I got to hear everything twice and try to understand the German, since I already knew what it meant. It was good practice, but I realize that I really only get about half of what they say, even when I know what they are saying!

Before we got to Pompeii, they took us to lunch. It wasn't a very fancy place, but we did get to eat outside under the canopy of a 100-year-old wisteria vine. Actually, since there were 3 trunks, it was probably 3 vines, and it made pretty decent shade over a trellis that covered an area probably 50 by 100 feet.

I sat at a table with a German mom and daughter from Darmstadt. Between their English and my German, we had a pretty pleasant meal. Turns out the mom is a math teacher and the daughter is 23 and studying to work with handicapped kids! Kim, I told them about you, and she said she is required to have 3 years of school and one year of practicum.

The first thing they brought us was sourdough cibatta bread, which was good, except for no butter or even olive oil to dip it in. Then came some tubular type pasta with a little tiny bit of tomato sauce. Pasta is served as either a main course or a first course here. If it's a first course, it doesn't have much on it. Then they took that away, and brought us a pretty good green salad, except the dressing was like Olive Garden's, which is too tart for me! Soon they brought 2 thin slices of pork tenderloin, which was really good. A fresh peach was dessert. Since the lunch was included in the price of the tour, I thought it was pretty good.

Then back on the bus for the short drive to Pompeii. The bus pulled into this really dumpy tourist-trap area that looked like Mexico This is where we got out. By this time it was 1:30 and hotter than a firecracker. I was really disappointed that after all the hype, this disappointing cluster of stands selling jewelry and hats and ice cream was Pompeii!

We hiked up the crowded hill, avoiding other groups as much as possible, and for 3 hours the guide gave us a round-about tour of the ruins of Pompeii. Eventually I started to realize that in spite of the heat, in spite of the trashy tourist stands, in spite of the crowds, this was really amazing! For those of you that remember Ostia Antica, Pompeii is a bigger town and more complete. It has more Roman temples, and was a richer town. Many floor mosaics and frescoes (wall paintings) still exist. Some of the frescoes are even of people.

At the time of the eruption of Vesuvius ( a couple of miles away) Pompeii was a rich resort town of 25,000. Most of the people ran down to the sea and escaped in boats. Eventually the ash covered the town 30 feet deep, and solidified over the years. Afterward the inhabitants returned and built a new town up the hill. Most of the dead were found in cellars where they died from the poison gasses. Some were slaves left behind to guard the owner's belongings.




Something really unique happened to those people. The ash eventually turned hard, but the organic bodies deteriorated and vanished, leaving behind a hole of the exact shape of the person. Archeologists have filled some of these holes with plaster (or in some cases concrete) and you can see the exact position the person was in when he died. One of the casts was of a lady with long, thick hair, obviously pregnant, and covering her mouth. She really made it real for me.

In the last picture in this post, I am on the pedestrian crossing of a two-lane chariot street. You can even see the grooves cut by the chariot wheels!

So the whole touristy trip to Pompeii turned out to be really worth it, except that it was so hot all I could do was hunt for shade!

I went to dinner at a tiny spot near my hotel in Rome. First they brought me a bottle of dry mineral water (which I like) and some more sourdough bread with a great crust. I had real homemade noodle pasta with mushrooms and a lemon cake thing that looked like doughnut holes, but they were fried and covered with lemon pudding and it was really good. What an ending to a memorable day!

Day 3 Rome: August 1, 2007

I just got into Rome late last night, so I decided to take it easy today. I went to the central train and bus station and bought a Hop-On-Hop-Off big red double decker bus tour. You get headphones and dial the channel of your language. I think it's in seven languages!

Rome is really hot in the summer! You have to get used to the idea that you will always be sticky and you will always have a river of sweat running down your back! I don't even think they even notice it themselves.


I rode it around past the Colisseum and the Circus Maximus and over to St Peter's cathedral, seat of the Catholic Church and the largest church in the world. I decided to get off there, because no Metro station is really close to that place, so the red bus is the easiest option. I went in and sat awhile and rested. The picture of it at left does not really show how huge it it.

Later I went to a tourist info place and asked about catacombs I could get into. There are several in Rome. After lots of fooling around, I finally rod a bus out the Appian Way to the catacombs of St. Sebastian. (picture below)

What a cool place! I have to take you guys here! They have 7 miles of underground tunnels, and over 100,000 people were buried here. You enter the catacombs through the church in the picture.

On the way back I recognized the Caracalla Baths, so I got off the bus and walked back. They had an English audioguide, so I really enjoyed that. Sometimes they have opera performances in the Caracalla but no performances this week until Friday. Darn! That would have been so cool!

I wandered around and tried to get into the Roman Forum. Although it closes at 7:15, the last entrance was at 6:15 and so I missed it.

I got some great photos of the Colisseum (the light was just right) and then got back on the red DD bus and went over to the Campo Fiori and bought pizza from my favorite little place. I sat on some empty flower shelves in the square and ate it and watched the people and thought about Bruno, who was burned at the stake in that piazza for heresy.

That was when I saw the tiny little electric bus #116. I decided that if I saw another, I would try to flag it down and get on. They have these little busses that are about the size of Troy's van, except the floor is lower and it has regular bus doors. So here came another bus, and I started chasing it. I caught up to it, but the driver would not open the door to let me on! A lady said out the window of the bus that I had to go to the bus stop, up around the corner. So I ran up there, but he did not wait for me! At least now I knew where to get on. So I waited for the next bus, and sure enough, here came a third bus #116. I got on and rode lots of tiny little streets that are way too small for the regular bus. We went past the Piazza Navona and around the back corner of the Pantheon and up Via Veneto to the Borghese Gardens and all the way through the gardens, almost to the Borghese Gallery before he turned around.

Everyone got off but me. The driver kept looking back, like "Aren't you ever going to get off, lady?" but I stayed on for the ride back. A little way back, he stopped behind 2 other #116 busses and made me get out. I got in another and waited half an hour, while the drivers chatted. I figured I was right by the American embassy, so this was probably normal. The bus finally go going again and took me back toward the Trevi Fountain.

It was getting dark, and I thought, "What am I doing? Why don't I just go to the internet and then home?" So I said a prayer and I felt like I should go over to the Trevi Fountain and make sure I knew how to get there, because it's kind of tricky finding it off the main street. So I walked and asked 2 different policemen and I finally got there and got some nice shots because the light was great at sunset.

I was about to go home when I heard singing. Choir-type singing! I followed the sound, and came upon a group of 18 A Capella singers. They were from a Catholic church in Budapest, Hungary, and mostly music majors, and they were really good! One of their members had a sore throat and so was not singing, so I talked to her for a long time (in English) and we exchanged e-mail addresses. What a treat! They sang Hungarian folk songs and Latin songs and a group of American Spirituals and finally some Beatles songs. I loved it! I so appreciated the chance to hear them sing and to talk to one of their members. The perfect ending to a long day in Rome!

Quick Stop in Paris, Day 2: July 31, 2007

I have had the most wonderful day in Paris! I am on my way to Rome from Utah, but I had an 8 hour layover in Paris, so I took the train into the city for a few hours.

The sky is blue and I have walked all over Paris. I found a long skinny little garden on top of the former elevated train tracks (second picture) and I went to Notre Dame Cathedral and finally found the marker that measures all of Paris. I went to the flower market and shopping on the Left bank.

Tell Ralph not to buy a Tour de France jersey because I got him one. That's my only souvenir, I hope. I am traveling with only a carry on, so my little suitcase is packed!

I am in an internet cafe that Heidi and I used last year and this keyboard is not querty. I forgot to get them to change it and I'm in a hurry, which you can probably tell! I have to go back to the airport to fly to Rome in a few minutes.

The short plane change in Houston was scary because it was only 35 minutes and we left SLC half an hour late, but it worked out because pilot made up time in the air and my gates were only 100 yards apart. In NYC I took a shuttle bus from La Guardia to JFK, which was also scary because I waited for it 40 minutes, plus it took 40 minutes in traffic. I had lots of time after all because Air France check in went much faster than in Paris, where Charles de Gaulle airport is always awful and takes two hours.

This has been a great day! I love wandering in Paris. Heidi, I just had a banana-nutella crepe for you. Wish you were here!

Florence to Venice: August 20, 2006

We are finally in Venice, our last stop, and it's truly wonderful. I love Venice! I wish I could show this place to all of you. Venice is like a lovely rich old lady, past her prime but still charming in her aging beauty.

This morning we woke up in Florence and caught the bus to church in the Florence 1st Branch. We had a great time there, as lots of missionaries made an effort to translate for us and we even had an English-speaking Sunday School. For Sacrament there was a closed circuit camera on the speaker, and we sat in the foyer with a TV screen and the missionaries translated. Next year the Florence Branch is getting a new building.

After church we took the bus back to the hotel and picked up our suitcases. We got another bus for the train station. Lunch in McDonald's across from the station was kind of sleazy because of the customers. We found a better clientele at the other McDonald's inside the train station. Maybe people with money for a ticket are richer than those who just hang out near the station?

Our train was late (unusual for Europe), and we almost got on the wrong train, but figured it out at the last minute and ran to the right one. The high-speed Eurostar from Florence to Venice takes 2 hours 40 minutes and makes several stops.

In Venice, we got 3-day boat transport passes, and promptly got on the right boat going the wrong direction! AARGH! It took us the long way around, so Heidi didn't get the lovely introduction to Venice, coming up the Grand Canal. Instead, she got the gritty view by all the industrial warehouses on the back side, and it took forever!

When we finally got to our stop, it took us a few minutes to find our hotel. It's actually only a block behind the most famous spots in Venice: St Mark's Square and the Doge's Palace. What a great location! But wait, the lady said they were full, so they were putting us in another building, "very close." So we followed her a couple of blocks and ended up in this alley that was truly only about 6 feet wide but 40 feet high. (That's the picture at left.) She led us through an odd door with the knob in the middle, and then into a dark and musty passageway. The floor was uneven, and there were no windows. It was completely black, so she turned on lights all the way. At the end of the passage she started up stairs that went up 10 steps and turned, up again, turned another way, down a little hall, and up some more. The ceiling was peeling and the walls were so bad they had cloth stapled to cover them. I was really starting to wonder what we got ourselves into! She unlocked another door (which she explained you have to pull toward you and then push,) and then down a hall and unlocked another door. (Three different keys, of course.) Here was our room.

Surprise! It was a whole apartment! It had an entryway, bathroom, completely equipped kitchen with dining table and chairs, and a very large bedroom, bigger than my room at home. The ceilings were at least 15 feet up there, with exposed beams. Tall windows with tiny balconies opened onto a little canal below, and there were gondolas going up and down the canal! We were thrilled! Turns out it's adjacent to the owner's apartment, and they only use it for overflow. In the picture you can see Heidi leaning out one window, with the canal and gondolas and little arched bridge below. We really lucked out!

Heidi and I decided to take a walk around St Mark's Square. We found the bell tower was still open, so we went up. Best bell tower in all of Europe, it's the only one with an elevator! The original fell down in 1905, so they rebuilt it to look exactly the same, but with an elevator. The light was golden and the air was clear, and you could see all over Venice and out to the little islands and it was glorious. We talked to lots of people on the top, including a couple from New York on their honeymoon.

I walked Heidi across town, through the back alleys to the Rialto Bridge. That's the most famous bridge in Venice. You can see it on my website, it's right at the top of the home page in the collage and it's the white bridge. Anyway, we bought ice cream and stood on the bridge and ate it and watched all the people. The ice cream was melting so fast Heidi said it was the most work she's ever had with an ice cream cone!

I think she really likes it here, because she described her ideal proposal of marriage: the guy brings her to Venice and takes her on a gondola ride ($80) and they go down some canal where there are no people, and when they get back home he proposes . . . Sounds romantic, no?

We took the water shuttle back to St Marks' square and our hotel. This internet place is right around the corner, behind the cathedral. The price is awful at 4.50 Euros for and hour for Heidi (student rate) and 7.50 for me, but we paid it anyway.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! We have only 2 more days, and we are home. After three weeks in London, Paris, and Italy, we are both looking forward to being home.

Venice: August 21, 2006

Today was splendid! It was our last full day in Venice; we are coming home tomorrow.

We did not even get to breakfast until 9:30, which put us at the Doge's Palace at 10:00 (in the thick of the Japanese tour groups).

We wandered all over the pink and white Ventian Gothic palace by the water. It's large and ornate, a combination of richly decorated governmental chambers and private apartments for the Doge. The Doge was a ruler elected for life, and he had great power. There's a "Golden Stairway" leading up to the Senate rooms and the Doge's apartments, so called because the very fancy ceiling is decorated with 24 karat gold! The power of the position of Venice as "Queen of the Seas" during the 1400-1700's was truly amazing. We even walked over the "Bridge of Sighs" and down into the prisons.

Next we scooted into St. Mark's Basilica. It was built several times, the most recent being 800 years ago. Instead of paintings or frescoes, the whole interior is covered with mosaics made of 1\4 inch glass squares. The entire background is gold, which means each square (and there are millions) is 2 layers of glass with a thin layer of gold leaf sandwiched in between. We got there just before the lights turned on for half an hour. When it's lit, it glows with an amazing golden light. Fabulous! Plus Venice is sinking, so the floor of this church is therefore not at all level; it rolls up and down, almost a foot in some places!

We also got on top of the front facade where the 4 famous horses are, and wer able to look down on the square and take close-up pictures of the clock tower.

Since our hotel is just a block behind the cathedral, we were able to come home several times today to rest and drop our things. That was very convenient.

Later we decided to take a walk across the city, stopping to ride the 50 cent gondola across the Grand Canal. Everyone else is paying $80 to ride, except a few people who do the quick crossing for cheap, like us!

We also stopped into the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of modern art. It is in her old palace, right on the grand Canal where she lived her last years and collected really expensive wierd stuff by the likes of Picasso, Jackson Pollack, Gaugin, and other important modern artists. I did not like it at all, and sometimes I like modern art. Most of this was what I would call "truly awful." Heidi thought it was interesting, and a nice break from all the really old famous stuff we have been seeing in other European museums, like the Louvre, Orsay, and the Vatican. I can say I enjoyed the house.

We walked forever, and miracle of miracles, we did not get lost crossing Venice on foot. That's a first! Our goal was the station from where our bus will leave tomorrow. I wanted to buy our bus tickets to the airport, because I think we will be leaving in the morning before the office is open.

Eventually we got on the water bus and rode the whole length of the Grand Canal, back to San Marco. The sun came out and the air was warm and moist, and the light is always special in Venice. It was wonderful.

Later this evening we will go eat. Last night we went to dinner at 10:30. Tonight will be sooner.

Venice: August 22, 2006. Last Day in Italy!

This morning we had a little time to say goodbye to Venice before we had to leave. We meandered down a few alleyways over to St. Mark's Square, called by Napoleon "The most beautiful living room in Europe." It was early and almost deserted.

Yesterday I bought a bag of pigeon food for Heidi to feed the birds. She thought it was silly, but I knew she would have a great time tossing corn to the pigeons. They actually put birdy birth control into the pigeon food, but you could never tell it because there are literally 10,000 pigeons in St. Mark's Square.

This is the place where our family story happened, about Dad telling everyone to "Run!" when the pigeons took off. I was pregnant and did not run, and so I got pooped on, right on my belly! Heidi was the baby, and here she is back in Venice again, feeding those pigeons!

We left right after breakfast. We hauled our bags out to the water shuttle for the 40 minute trip to the bus station, then rode the bus to Marco Polo airport. We needed to get there by 10 for our flight which left at noon. We changed planes in Amsterdam and went on to Minneapolis, where unfortunately we had a 3 hour wait. We arrived home in SLC at 11:00 at night, after traveling for 23 hours straight.

This has been such great fun! I have loved every single minute of it. I don't think I can ever really get Venice out of my system. I still find myself daydreaming about going back . . . I'll just have to keep returning. Allof you reading, come with me next time!