La Vie en Rose

During dinner in Sacile on Friday night, Christine kept trying to convince Christer to leave Caneva and move to Venice for a year.  Christer, who would have an hour commute to and from work everyday, was not too fond of this idea, but he also sees Christine's passion and love for the city, and sees why she would want to move there.

Saturday morning we got an early start on our commute to the city and had our luggage dropped at the hotel by 10:30 am.  A combination of dinner Friday night, jet lag (for Kathy and Jessica), and our early start and hour long commute made us all ready (or in desperate need of) caffeine.  First stop?  Our favorite cafe for cappuccinos and croissants.

I mean, really.  This is the hardest I have ever worked in my life.  Sometimes, after little sleep and running around all day, I just can't even remember why I came to Italy in the first place. (I kid, of course).  We were just sitting there soaking up the sun, enjoying the breeze from the water, people watching and living life.  It was the perfect way to start the day.  We had just been discussing how life couldn't get any better, and this catches my eye:

Look very closely, and you will see that this is none other than a Venetian gondola wedding happening right before our very eyes.  A-MAZE-ING.  

How stinkin' adorable is that?!  I'm sure the wedding for them was absolute perfection, but they shared their moment with all of us watching from the campo.  Everyone was so happy for them, and we all wanted to start cheering and clapping.  It's the perfect morning, then we see this, and Christine says "It's a sign that we're supposed to live here."


Not even 5 minutes after the wedding, we're still sitting there sipping on our cappuccinos, and this boat drives by:

Surely a sign.

After we had our caffeine it was time for the usual "Christine Tour."  Christine has been to Venice so many times and knows Venice so well that she's the perfect tour guide...just giver her + or - 100 years for dates.   I went into a lot of history and detail about sights on my last Venice post so just enjoy the pictures for today.

The leaning tower of Venice?  This is just one of many examples of the effect the water has on the buildings.

As we all know, Venice is sinking.  Every few years, they pull up all the stones in St. Marks Square, lay a new layer of sand, and then replace the stones so that they're higher.  This building is a great example of how much the buildings have already "sunk" into the water.  Just take in the enormity of the building, and the size of the top layer and the columns of the middle layer.  Proportionately, the columns on the bottom layer should be the widest and tallest so the building looks like it has a solid foundation.  These columns on the bottom layer used to be proportionate with the building's other layers, but so much has been buried over the years that they now look midget-like.

This is the world's oldest digital clock.  See the 11:45 up there above the round clock?  Roman numerals...it's actually 2:45 pm.

I absolutely LOVE these street lamps with the rose colored glass.  I can't help but break out in "La Vie en Rose" when I see them, and that's honestly what I think when I think of Venice.  Venice is like looking through rose colored glasses; It's the perfect city, but when you take the glasses off, it, like everything in life, shows some flaws.  When I am in Venice, it's as if I were looking at 'la vie en rose,' and nothing bad could ever happen.

Remember when I referenced the dinner table looking like I was playing the water glasses?

I couldn't make this stuff up people.  Some random guy had CDs FOR SALE and was playing the water glasses for tips.  It's a "serious form of art" now.

Our perfect Venetian Saturday had so so SO much more that I just don't have the time to post tonight.  Believe you me, I can't wait to share the beautiful memories and stories I have from the wonderful people in this town.  For now, my final parting picture:

Today we just relaxed, caught up on sleep, and played with Jameson who was being SUPER sweet today.  Tonight Blake and the boys, Christer, Jessica, and I drove to Pordenone to meet up with a few of their co-workers to watch Italy in the World Cup.  We ate and drank at a place called "English Pub," and got 2 beers, a hamburger, french fries, and an Italy World Cup t-shirt all for €15!  The Italian 'ahm-boog-ay' was like ordering spaghetti in America...just not the same, but still good.  Watching soccer was a blast though...these people seriously get into this game!  Screaming, shouting, high-fives, standing during intense moments, and horn blowing all throughout the game.  It was a bit intense at times, but still fun to watch.

Today my favorite thing about Italy is:  How the rain showers bring the cool wind and weather.  Italians say Americans get sick so often because we are always running the air conditioning in the car, home, and work.  They are very into the fresh air, and rightfully so.