"It's Venice to see you"

The last two days we are spending in Venice! I love Venice... and this time...we are here just in time for Carnivale! The pageantry is amazing! Once we arrive at the airport we are whisked away on a vaporetto (water taxi) to our hotel! Perfect location next to the "ferrovia" (train station).

We are staying at the Hotel Abbazia. This is the perfect place to end our vacation. The history of this hotel caught my attention when I heard it was an abbey! In the late 19th century, this building was a Monastery and it still possesses that old world charm. It is located a few hundred feet from the St. Lucia train station. The hotel is tucked away from the Grand Canal in the Cannaregio district and offers peace and quiet if you just feel like relaxing. The lounge/bar area was once the monk's dining room. It's a large room with wood paneling and comfortable furniture arranged for visiting and relaxing. It has a courtyard garden and.... croissants, pastries, cookies, tea and coffee all day. We're "gonda" like it here.

We take the city tour of St Mark's square and the Basillica (my favorite), visit the Doge's palace, and walk via the Bridge of Sighs (and we all sigh as we take our last look of freedom before entering the prision). A very interesting and informative tour. The square, of course, is packed with people enjoying carnivale! We decide to get our faces painted and join the fun.

Venice is such fun and so amazing...there are photo ops around every turn...people watching is always entertaining...the architecture and history is abundant and just watching the every day life of the locals is beyond comprehension....everything must be transported by boat...crazy! Right???! Venice has 118 islands connected by 400 bridges...(foot bridges!)

A trip to Venice would not be complete without a boatride to the island of Murano! So we hop on the vaporetto and off we go to the land of glass. We have a tour of the Glass Museum and see a live demonstration in the art of glass making. It is very impressive and beautiful to watch. The museum is also filled with everything you can possibly think of to make out of glass.

...and a sampling of a breakfast table complete with a natural honeycomb tray:

It's always so nice meeting new friends on our travels and we have had many laughs and great memories with Francisco, a fellow New Yorker. He was a big help with our shopping excursions and at the end of the trip we were thrilled that we could help him with an excursion of his own!

Life is sweet!