OUr first full day in Venice......

This was the first night that BOTH Sean and I got a good night sleep and ended up sleeping in till 9. We slowly got ourselves together and set out on our adventure to the islands of San Michele and Murano. San Michele is also called Cimitero because the entire island is a cemetery. It was the most beautiful cemetery we have ever seen. Mausoleums were every where. The tombstones were carved with such perfection and detail. It was so quiet and serene. There was hardly anyone there which made it that much better.

After we were off the the island of Murano where it is known for its glass blowing factories and artisans. Many more tourists here then San Michele (go figure). THere were glass shops and glass blowing factories everywhere. We walked all around the island, stopped for lunch, and then walked around some more. We were thinking of heading back to Venice when Sean wanted to go around one more corner. I'm so glad we did because that is when we met Marco, the owner of a glass shop and his own factory. He was so nice and was talking about how the Lakers weren't doing so well and how the Clippers are doing much better then expected. Lol. To hear an Italian who has lived in Murano his whole life talk about basketball was fantastic. He also shared how he has visited California 6 times and loves our weed. Lol. It was at his shop that we found the pence that we had been searching for. A beautiful glass sculpture of a couple welded together with colors blue and red swirling together to make them look like they just came from fire. Its absolutely beautiful,

After we got back to Venice we had some dinner at Pizzeria Al Perfecto.l The pizza was very good! After dinner we bought a bottle of wine and sat on the steps of a bridge with a lot of college students overlooking one of the canals and enjoyed our wine. A great way to end our day.

Our 3rd day in Venice:

We got up a little earlier this morning. We have realized that we were spoiled with an amazing continental breakfast in Vienna because our breakfast in Venice at our hotel is just so so. I will say though that having our own bathroom is very nice though. Today we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Peggy Guggenheim was this eclectic woman who was very rich and supported the arts and made people like Jackson Pollock famous. While her main home was in New York, she also had a home in Venice that was and is full of paintings and sculptures from contemporary artists who she was personally friends with. Picasso, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Mark Rothko and others. It was a really nice museum and it was refreshing to see contemporary works after seeing so many Renaissance works.

After we when to Café Duchamp and stayed there for probably about two hours at least sitting on the patio enjoying a couple of glasses of wine and cypress salad. Then we were off to the Frerai Church. It was very beautiful and ornate. Had the tomb of Titan which was a very famous Venetia painter. San Marco's Square to listen to orchestras play (for other people who were actually paying, but you know) Sean and I danced in the street for a little bit to go along with the music. We played with the pigeons in the square as well because they are so used to people they will hop onto anyone and everyone to see if you have food.

For dinner we went back to the Doroduro district and sat on the patio of another café and drank more wine, ate fish, prosciutto, oranges, and buffalo mozzarella. And then topped it off with banana and chocoalte ice cream crêpes. (We have also ate a ton of gelato through out the day) Again, we were there for a number of hours. I love the pace here. NO one is in a hurry. Servers aren't trying to rush you EVER. Listening to people speak Italian and French and many other languages is wonderful. I'm trying out my Italian more and more and getting more comfortable with it everyday. It's hard though. ANother thing to note is that Italian fashion is beautiful! I wish I could by a whole new wardrobe here. THe styles are everything from totally outrageous to simple and elegant. So many of the women just look ravishing.

SO tomorrow we are off the Florence for part 3 of our dream adventure.

Buona notte!