Guidoliers

Yesterday we left off with our Saturday in Venice going around on the "Christine Tour" and seeing all the beautiful architecture.  It is the beginning of the tourist season and since it was a Saturday it was especially crowded, as you can see.

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.

Venice is Always a Good Idea

You know that fantastic movie "Sabrina," originally with Audrey Hepburn and then remade with the beautiful Harrison Ford?  Sabrina's love affair with Paris is how I now feel about Venice.  Sure, the movie was romanticized and made for Hollywood, but I never thought anyone could have such a strong and beautiful connection with any one place.  Paris is beautiful, but how could you really love and feel so strongly about a city?  After this absolutely beautiful and perfect weekend in Venice, I completely understand now.  Whoever wrote "Sabrina" was a wise wise person.


My first trip to Venice, 2 weeks ago, was just a short day trip, and we spent a maximum of about 5 hours walking through and exploring the city.  After that day, I felt such conflict because the town itself is so incredible and unbelievable, but it also has such a tragic story and history, and you can see that pain in the buildings.  Venice has so much to tell, and I was trying to absorb it all at once in our few hours through the city and it was just so completely overwhelming.  The stories of the city are part of its charm, and no matter how long you spend, and how much you learn, there will always be another story to hear about the history, life, and culture of Venice.


I have too much wonderful material to even begin to organize into coherent content tonight, so let me give you this.  Venice is one of the most perfect people watching places in the world.  Okay.  I've only ever been to the United States and Italy, but as an experienced people watcher, I've got to believe this is world class quality right here.  I can never pass up a good people watching photo op, so here are my Venice friends: