Day 2 - Venice

We arrived in Venezia around 10 am after 15.5 travel hours. We took a water taxi through the grand canal to St. Marco's square. We got lost on the way to our hotel, tried to talk to a kind construction worker who spoke no English, unfortunately we did not move far enough to the side of the street, so a local brutus rudely moved Mary outof the way, with a two handed shove.   Luckily all her years of athletic training and life on 'Fear Factor' (aka life with Kent Bradley)  saved her from a face plant on the ground.  Then a pint sized, English speaking, Venetian, Ms. Del Favore came to our rescue. Twenty five years our senior we had to race to keep up with her. She also explained to Beth that saying 'permaeso' would get the locals to move out of her way, however Beth kept saying 'permesio' which caused a group of local teenage boys to snicker and remain in her path.  Ms. Del Favore explained the confusing quadrant system of the streets in Venice, and even got lost herself, but she stayed with us for over twenty minutes and safely delivered us to Ca Formosa, our hotel.  

After dropping our luggage we returned to San Marco Square where we had caffe, Prosecco and gelato, while enjoying a stringed quartet and watching the children feed the birds. We toured St Mark's Bascilla while Beth explained the workings of 'The Almighty Penalty Box' (the confessional) and marveled at the gold-leaf mosaics, the multitude of eternity candles and marble. We went on to Campanile di San Marco (Bell Tower), where we had a view of the entire city and saw across the square where the Greek Gods hammered the bells of the Torre dell'Orologio. 

Later, we passed the Bridge of Sighs as we made our way to the gondola serenade where we were directed to a shiny black gondola with bright red crushed velvet cushions. Mary insisted that Beth and Donna sit in the forward facing seats to avoid motion sickness. Little did we know that we would be joined by a newly wed asian couple who found us entertaining despite being forced to sit four feet apart at the front of the gondola. We were senernaded by an accordian player and a superb Itailian tenor singing 'Volare' and many other familiar Itailian tunes.

The evening was concluded with a fabulous meal at La Caravella served by waiters in black tuxedos, where we were found to be as entertaining to them as they were to us. The wine and food were absolutely magnifico, among the many delightful courses were three cheese pastry puffs, seafood ravioli, Turbot fish, limone ice with fresh berries and caramel creme crepes.  We enjoyed a peaceful stroll back to our hotel,taking in the fresh night air, enjoying the sights and sounds of the Venice night life, even though we were extremely jet lagged. 

Upon arrival at our hotel, we were moved from Ca Formosa to Ca Malipiero so that we could have a private bathroom.  Ca Malipiero had a tile stating that it was built in 1484 and decor to match.  The room was a bit gawdy with red sconces on the wall and red velvet bed spreads.  Brenda had difficulty finding the flusher on the European toilet, which was a silver button four feet above the toilet on the side wall.  However it was clean and we all slept very well.