Tuesday, October 26

Another grey day, but the weather forecast promised "partly to scarcely cloudy" by late afternoon.

We enjoyed another tasty breakfast at the B&B where I shot this unique pic. The actualfront door of the hotel is on a canal. You can see the water right at the door, and the second glass door reflects the charming lobby -- mable floors, glass sconces, woodtrim.

We set out for the Rialto Bridge produce and fish market. It was impressive to see thestalls of fresh fruits and vegetables, but it was the fish market that truly awed us.There were many types of seafood that we simply couldn't identify,

but in these picsyou can clearly see the octopus and eels -- yum, yum.

We took the #1 valparetto (the slow boat) down to St. Marks Square. Every bend in theriver reveals another beautiful vista; really too stunning for words. The city is amazing, but we continue to read that it is dying -- structures are rotting from the bottom up and Venice is unable to retain young adults and families. The projection is that with the next generation, Venice will be maintained as sort of a "Disneyland" just for tourists. So sad to think that.

After touring the Basilica and the Doge's Palazzo in the Square and we made some final purchases, afternoon moved towards evening, and we settled in at a water side table for a final glass of wine and watched the incredible traffic on the Grand Canal. It's quite a syncronized ballet of navigation -- some of the boats cut things awfully close!

We took a quick ride to the southern side of this island and watched the sun set andcolored the Vencie sky into beautiful shades of pink and gold. Yes, the "scarcely cloudy"forecast was accurate and we finally saw sunshine in Venice.

A last meal at an intimate Trattoria, and we embarked on the boat & bus ride to our airporthotel where in a flurry of repacking and arranging we managed to stuff our possessions andpurchases into 1 checked and 2 carry ons each. Next trip resolution -- pack lighter andbring empty bag for purchases!!!

It's 5:30 a.m. in the Venice airport and we are shortly going to begin our air travel day.If only there were a magic spell to wisk us home so we can retain our rested, relaxed frameof mind. Alas, no avoiding the day long travel task.

Will post one more wrap up blog with our favorite memories and a quirky events listing.
Thank you all for reading and enjoying our trip along with us. We will see you soon!

Lynne & Farley