A Full Day in Venezia....

Greetings.... We've got one more full day in Venice. Can't believe this trip is nearly over. We've done so much, seen so much, while trying to absorb the culture and all around us. It's been a marvelous experience that I will always cherish. It's also been such a wonderful thing to be here with Katie. Neither of us are big talkers first thing in the morning, so as long as we've given each other our quite morning time, being together has been a joy!!!

Earlier today, we toured and learned about the city, including the provencial palace. There's a huge square (piazza) facing the St. Mark's Basilica.... amazing architecture. I've made the point to spend some quite time in each of the churches we've been in this week...those we've discovered with the group or on our own. For me, there has been such peace felt while being in these holy places. Can't begin to describe it...

Mid-afternoon, a group of us took a water taxi for an optional excursion to Burano, a fishing village on one of the islands north of Venice. It was an quaint, quite little town with some shops and restaurrantes, and housed painted in bright colors. We had dinner in Burano and then took the water taxi back to Venice right at sunset. It was beautiful... Katie got a bunch of pictures, which we'll share later.

After we got back to the hotel tonight, some of us went back out to an outside restaurant facing the lagoon of Venice and enjoyed the night air along with conversation and a cappachino. Was fun just sitting there, getting to know some new friends and 'people watching'....

Tomorrow, we'll continue to explore on our own, as well as enjoy a gondala ride around the canals. That should be pretty cool.... We'll then have our last 'ha-ra' dinner for this trip tomorrow evening. There's 8 of us who have stuck together during this trip, so will be sad to leave them upon departure on Tuesday...

Pictures include scenes of Basilica di San Marco in Venezia (St. Mark's Basilica), scenes around Venice, a panoramic scene from our visit to the Tuscany region on Friday, and a future famous photographer (Katie....) in action.....

Hope everyone one is well. Have a good start to the week.

Sending love from Venezia....-M