Tomorrow is Easter and the tourists have definitely arrived in Venice. After our morning cappuccino, we did some exploring. Lots of shops ready to sell us their Easter goods. Of course I have pictures.

The other thing we did today was go see an exhibit of blown glass miniatures. The pictures make them appear bigger than they really are. They probably aren’t larger than 6 inches. I hope my bead maker friends enjoy these!

These are just a few of my pictures from the exhibit. We’re going to try to go to church tomorrow morning. We think their might be an antiques market during the day that we’d all like to try and find. Wish I could be spending Easter with all of you! I’ll check in with you tomorrow.

We just got back from an excursion to San Marco Square. It was quite crowded. Lots of tourists over the Easter holiday

Would you like to see our apartment? It’s really quite spacious–two bathrooms, three bedrooms,common area,balcony, dining area and kitchen. It’s a very quiet area. Hope you enjoy some of these pictures of our Venice home.

We think that tomorrow we’ll go see an exhibit of miniature blown glass. And, of course, more shopping!

Have a great evening!

Sorry about the delay in posting, we were having trouble getting the Internet to work in our apartment. We’ve been to the grocery store to stock up on food for the Easter weekend, we just returned from the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, and of course, we’ve picked out our spot for cappuccino every morning.

This afternoon the plan is to go to San Marco square and have homemade matzo ball soup. It smells very,very, good in here, thanks to Phyllis. Last evening Jan took us out to dinner at a restaurant just across the canal.

I had spaghetti with tuna and it was delicious! Someone else had canolli with ricotta and spinach, and another had penne with pesto. Of course, we had wine as well as a caprese appetizer. It couldn’t have tasted any better! It’s a gorgeous day, so I guess I’ll wind up for right now and perhaps do some more later. MOM, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!

Okay, I guess you can see that I need a little more practice blogging on my iPad. The picture do the house doesn’t really show how nice the plants look. We’re continuing to add things. When I get back, I’ll post pictures of both the front and the back.

Now I’ve got to do some packing! Watch for a post in a day or two.

Just thought I’d let you all know that I’ll be going to Venice again soon!  Be sure to check in to travel with me.  After Venice, I’ll be on my way to the Michigan cabin retreat and a visit with family.   Tomorrow I hope to show you our home as we have new landscaping

It’s always good to be home, even when you’ve had a wonderful trip.  We haven’t really taken any pictures of our new home.  I thought this might be the right time for you to see what I came home to:

While I was gone, Dan had bushes pulled out, a tree cut, an old fence torn down and our banana trees dug out.  Now we have some landscaping decisions to make.

I also thought you might like to see some of the things I brought home with me from Italy.  I brought a selection of scarves…pashminas, silk, wool.  Of course, beads and some jewelry.  An Italian leather purse, an Italian cashmere sweater, and some Carlo Dono bead tools (not pictured), sold only in Italy.  It doesn’t look like a lot, but it managed to fill up my suitcase.

There are so many interesting things in Venice.  There are small shops that sell original clothing designs, shops that pop up near the markets…that’s how I got my sweater.  Pashmina scarves can be bought for 5 or 6 euros each and in every design and color combination you can imagine.  There are art galleries, print studios, museums, and street markets.  They all offer inspiration and ideas for those of us who love creating.  Venice gave me a lot to think about.  It will be fun to see how I interpret Venice when I go out to the studio to make beads!

Today is our last day here.  We enjoyed a cappuccino at our favorite neighborhood caffe’.  We started each morning there and got acquainted with some of the people who work there.  Because it has rained all day, we haven’t really been able to be out and about much.  We did take our last vaporetto ride along the Grand Canal for one final look at Venice.  Mondays seem to be one of the busiest days here, add the rain and everyplace is more than crowded.  But the beauty of Venice remains.

We got off the traghetto at the busy San Marco square area.  We had seen the high water or aqua alta before.  Or at least we thought we had.  Today, the rain and the crowds necessitated quite a round -a- bout route to get where we wanted to go.  Shops were closed and shop owners were putting up their metal barriers to prevent water from coming in.  We saw one gelatto shop, open for business, but with about 6 inches of water standing in it.  Needless to say, they didn’t have any customers.

I can’t imagine dealing with this as a business owner.  

We’ve had a wonderful trip.  I tend to think that things happen for a reason.  Today’s rain was probably to make it a little easier for us to say good bye to Venice.  One of the things I learned today on our boat trip is that the statue on top of the San Simeone Piccolo church, St. Simeon, waves ciao to whoever enters or leaves the city.  We say ciao Venice!  Thanks for welcoming us on such a wonderful adventure!

Our Sundays have been fairly relaxing.  Last Sunday we all had colds so we blew our noses and rested while it rained outside.  Today we felt pretty good, but didn’t want to waste one of our last days in Venice by doing nothing.  So…we walked to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things to bring home with us.  On our way we spotted a boat holding what I’m fairly certain were containers for wine.  When we were in Florence, we were told that families used these containers to take to wineries to get their supply for the week.  I think probably these containers were from restaurants.  

We continued walking and found the gondola workshop where the boats are repaired.  The workshop is in a structure that looks a little different from most Venice buildings.  Although no one was working today, it was interesting to see.

The final thing we stumbled upon was a marathon.  There were lots of runners and lots of spectators.

Then, it was back to the apartment to relax and fix dinner.  It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day here.  We’ll be taking our last ride on the Grand Canal, having our last morning cappuccino, eating up everything out of the refrigerator, and trying to figure out a way to get everything home!

We have had a wonderful trip!  Venice has welcomed us, educated us and inspired us.  I hope you have an opportunity to visit Venice.  I don’t believe there is any place like it in the world.  Tune in for what we do on our last day!

Nancy and I are both sad that our time in Venice is coming to an end and looking forward to taking the many ideas we’ve gathered here, home to try and create.  We’re trying to squeeze in all our “want to dos” as well as still being surprised by the beauty and creativity around every corner.

Today, one of our “want to dos” was to ride a traghetto.  Gondola rides are very expensive.  We decided we’d rather spend our money on other things.   A traghetto ride is a gondola ride across the Grande Canal.  It takes about 5 minutes, but only costs 1e each.  We were quite happy with that bargain as opposed to the 80e or so it would have cost for a gondola ride.

I took one of my favorite pictures of Venice from the water level view of the traghetto.  I think it’s probably every bit as much fun to watch the people taking the gondola rides as it is to take them yourself.  Wave at them from the bridges as they pass under. 

The major reason Nancy and I came to Venice was for inspiration and ideas when we are making our beads and jewelry.  I haven’t really shown you many pictures of the artsy things we’ve seen here.  So, I thought I’d give you a taste of what you might see in Venice!

It’s not unusual to see students carrying canvases, portfolios and other art projects.  This was a group just outside our square.  We met another woman on our way to Burano who had her paints with her and was travelling with an artist’s group.

Murano glass is one of the major industries here.  I thought you might like to see some.

Murrini (the small slices of glass rods) are surrounded by a gilded frame.  You see a lot of gilding here, so it makes sense that you see shops where it’s done.  Another of those “only in Venice” experiences.

The art and creativity here are amazing!  We’ve seen art in drawing, painting and printmaking, leather, gilding, glass, mask making, costuming, marbleized paper, mosaics, ceramics, and others I just can’t remember right now.  When I get home and remember all that I’ve seen, I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about Venice and it’s artists.

We’re starting the countdown…finishing up food, figuring out what clothes are clean and trying to fit everything into our suitcases.  Two more days to absorb Venice!

Dan and I always enjoy going into grocery stores when we’re on vacation.  You always see things you wouldn’t see in your own store.  Grocery shopping in Venice certainly didn’t disappoint me.  There aren’t a lot of grocery stores in Venice.  As I’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of neighborhood specialty markets…bakeries, fresh fruit & vegetable markets, cheese stores, wine shops.  We’ve covered a lot of Venice and have only seen two grocery stores.  Today, as we approached “our” store, we were able to see the truck unloading.  A canal location is essential to eliminate unnecessary transportation.  Early on a Friday morning the store was very busy.  Immediately inside the entrance are the shopping carts.  To use a cart, you must leave a 1e deposit.  You can take your own cart if you like.  You  get your euro back when you return the cart.  Since arriving, we have been very impressed by the fresh items that are available both in neighborhood markets and in the grocery store.  Fresh meats, cheese, pasta, breads, fruits and vegetables.  Fresh is the mainstay of Italian diets.  Meat is downplayed.  I ordered lasagna with meat sauce at a restaurant and I wasn’t too sure there really was any meat in it.  You can eat well (healthy) and inexpensively here.  Things like chicken and beef are the more expensive items.  Eggs are sold on the shelf in packages of 4 or 6. Even though they’re not refrigerated in the store, we put them in the refrigerator in our apartment.  We have had delicious cheese–asiago, pecorino, parmigiano reggiano–all yummy and reasonable priced.  There is lots of fresh pasta as well as polenta and risotto.  This noon we bought some salami to pair with our cheese and bruschetta from the bakery.  Deliciouso!

Evenings call for Italian wine before dinner.  The first bottle we bought was good, and we’ve continued to buy it ever since.  I would have liked to have taken more pictures in the grocery, but was asked to stop!  Hope you enjoy seeing photos of good food!  By the way, last night we had fresh salmon again along with cooked, fresh spinach and bakery bread.  It was as good or better than any restaurant meal.  We bought a plastic grocery bag of fresh spinach for 2e.  Two reasonable priced salmon “steaks” were 4e.  By the way, if you need a grocery bag, you buy it.  We’re relaxing this morning and trying to get things a little more organized before we leave.  This is a major recycle day, so we need to get things sorted and set out this morning.  It’s also time to see what fits in the suitcase and how heavy it will be.  We need to cart it over 3 or 4 bridges in order to get to the bus that will take us to the airport on Tuesday morning.  We are also hearing rain on Tuesday!  Hopefully it holds off till we’re under cover!  Have a great day!