Venice

Well, we made it to Venice! We left Castelfranco Thursday morning, May 2. Our tour bus

took us to the airport and we caught a #5 bus to the bus station in Venice. From there we had to cross a bridge (what a surprise these bridges are - quite steep and usually made of steps) to drag our suitcases the few blocks to our hotel. We got there at 11 a.m. and our room was ready for us. What a pleasure to settle in for the next few days.

After recovering we decided to get to know Venice by taking a cruise on a vaporetto down the Grand Canal. Don figured out the subtleties of the system (with a little help from Rick Steves and our friend Regan)! The trip was fascinating. The canal is full of all manor of boats and lined on both sides with buildings of all shapes and sizes. There was such a variety of balconies, stucco decoration, statues, cupulas, gardens, roof lines, frescoes, etc. I have seen pictures of it all, but the real thing is so much more impressive.

We stayed on the canal until it opened up at the Lagoon and the boat stopped at the island called Lido. We decided to spend some time exploring this newer city with its shops and lovely tree lined boulevard. That was enough for one day!

The next day was Friday and we went to visit La Salute Church. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health after Venice was spared from total wipe out by the plague of 1630. What an incredible edifice! It has two domes and is built in the round. Every square inch has decorations-statues, paintings, marble columns, decorated wood confessionals, angels of all denominations. domes, glass windows, on and on.

La Salute Church

Then we toured the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. They had a special exhibition of paintings and statues by Arp, which I liked, but Don was not impressed! We went into her house which is filled with her collection of Twentieth Century Modern art. This is not a favorite, but we enjoyed being there!

Don enjoys the view from Peggy Guggenheim's balcony

However, we were especially happy to beat the rain shower and get back to our hotel!