From Venice, we travelled to Verona, a town seeped in romantic history and setting for three of Shakespeare’s plays. We were there for only a couple days, and one of those days we spent at Lago Garda, so just had a few hours to explore the historic central district.   In the major tourist areas you’ll find local ‘actors’ who dress up as various historical characters. Shortly after arriving at Piazza Bra Grima was approached by this Roman Centurion. Skeptical of his intentions, he turned out to be a thoroughly delightful fellow and was as interested in getting his picture taken with her as weRead More →

Burano is the second isle that we visited and is famous for fine lace and multi-colored houses. The island became known for lacemaking by needle in the 16th century that today would be prohibitively expensive. But the tradition of lacemaking continues with more modern methods, providing an enormous variety of beautiful lace products. The story about the multi-colored houses recounts that it was to help fishermen recognize home when returning from sea. Today house colors are regulated by the local government.   Leaving Murano in route to Burano   Burano is much further out from Venice than Murano – so much longer at sea. ButRead More →

Of the three days in Venice, we spent one day checking out the islands of Murano and Burano. Let’s start with Murano, known for Venetian glass.  A quick ferry trip from the Grand Canal in Venice Northeast, past the Cemetery of San Michele. We landed on the Southern end at the Piazzale Calle Colonna. From there walked up the Fondamenta dei Vetrai along the canal, browsing the glass shops along the way. The first shops are the more expensive, commercial glass, but further on you’ll start passing the more local, smaller and more authentic glass ‘factories’. We ended up at Campo Santo Stefano where weRead More →

A selection of images from Venice that don’t really fit in any neat category.   Yep, I actually was there. lugging the D810 around   Grima on the Grand Canal   Up Close   Shop window near Piazza San Marco.   Every time we say laundry hanging out Grima would ask me to take a picture. Ok, here’s one. It is interesting to note, though, that, while almost everyone has a washer, very few have dryers – and we’ve noticed this in most every country we’ve traveled to. Dryers are a U.S. thing, I guess. Sure glad we have one in the RV.   OneRead More →

A wonderful thing about travel is you get to meet such nice and interesting people. Here are a few we met in Venice.     Ok, I admit it. We had lunch in the Hard Rock Cafe, but there was a cloud-burst and this was the closest shelter. On the plus side, we met Lauren and Bradley, a very nice couple from the UK.   La Canapiglia in Campo S. Maurizio – San Marco 2604, Venice. This is the artist who paints the masks hanging behind them. Super talented. If you’re in Venice, be sure to go by his shop.   In the Campo SantoRead More →

I’m a people watcher, and it’s especially interesting when traveling to come across folks that represent the area we’re in. Here are some of the folks that caught my attention in Venice.   On our very first Vaporito ride from the parking garage to Piazza San Marco, spotted this lovely lady and immediately felt transported back to what I imagined it was like in ‘Movies’ Venice. Shades of Audrey Hepburn.   I’m always curious about oddities that may make an interesting image so spotted a rusted pipe with little spikes coming out, so spent some time doing some close-ups. This fellow was watching what IRead More →

In 2010 we traveled to Spain for the first time. Spent three weeks traveling around the country, and one of the things that struck us the most was doors. Yep, doors. So many variations, so much craftsmanship, so much history. Well… same in Venice. But in addition, we noticed the humor carefully applied to doorbells. Apparently old Venice has many duplexes, so dual doorbells. Here are some samples of our Venice Doors and a couple Doorbells.     So, more to come. Love to hear what you have to say about our travels.Read More →

Who doesn’t go to Venice to see and float along the myriad canals of the city. And wander, and wander … It’s a giant maze and one of the pleasures is to get ‘lost’ and come across another unexpected sight. It’s truly an incredible city and our three days there were way too short.   Gondoliers queue up at the Piazza San Marco to pass under the Bridge of Sighs, historically the last view of Venice by convicts as they walked to prison cells.   A rare view sans Gondolas     Each gondola is personalized. Bring along a bunch of Euros…   Walking throughRead More →

Of course, piazza San Marco is the centerpiece of Venice and the largest. But we were charmed to stumble across so many other ‘neighborhood’ campis while exploring the many passageways throughout Venice.   Piazza di San Marco with the Campanile and the Basilica di San Marco after a short cloudburst, which fortunately cleared most the tourists off the piazza.   Preparing for dinner   The upper floor columns of the Procuratie Vecchie on the Piazza di San Marco, home today to shops and restaurants.   Pigeons rule the piazza and captivate the tourists.   Although there are scammers wandering around – they’ll throw a handfulRead More →

Our first time in Italy. Our daughter, Michelle, ‘Mitch’ had a scheduled event in Rome towards the end of May, 2016, so Grima and I decided it was time we did Italy. We headed over there the last week of April to give us time to see some of the country before winding up in Rome. Our schedule: fly into Venice, rent a car, do Venice, then Verona, then Modena (to visit with a childhood friend of Grima’s from Chile), onto Cinque Terre, down to Tuscany, up to Florence and finally down to Rome. An ambitious plan for the 30 days there. So, our firstRead More →