ON THE WAY HOME

We fly home tomorrow, so this will be the last time you hear from us until we arrive home.  It has been a great trip.  At the same time we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed and just being home. We will, of course, miss the maid service and the meals being prepared for us.  However, the price tag that comes with all of that will not be missed.

ODE TO NUTELLA

Your rich creamy chocolate,

With a hint of hazelnuts.

How I will miss thee.

You are a perfect compliment,

Smothered on my morning croissant.

How I will miss thee.

In large, medium or condiment sized packaging

You are the perfect addition to any croissant.

Oh, how I will miss thee.

Nutella sandwiches, Nutella desserts,

Nutella gelato, Nutella on a spoon.

Ah, glorious Nutella, how I will miss thee.

EXCITEMENT LEAVING VENICE

We woke up on time, ate with time to spare, walked to the vaporetto station in plenty of time, then Rex forgets his backpack on the bench at the station.  He remembered it only as the vaporetto was departing the station.  Fear struck us both knowing that the computer was in the backpack with all of the photos we had taken on the trip, and other necessities.

After arriving at the train station stop, Rex hoped on the next vaporetto going back to the prior station, praying the whole way that the backpack would still be there as I waited in the shade at the station with the rest of our luggage.

Once he arrived at the station, he asked the ticket booth about his bag.  They didn’t have it.  Then he asked the person at the station entrance and voila, he had the bag there for him.  Thank goodness!  When he arrived smiling with his pack on it was a huge relief to see that we hadn’t lost anything.

Of course, since I told Rex that our train left at 10:30 he was freaking out that we might be late, but until now he hadn’t really figured out that I had be baking in an extra 20 minutes on every train without telling him.  So, we had plenty of time to make the train without a rush.

Close call avoided, we were able to enjoy our final train ride to Milan.

SINGING IN THE RAIN

It was surprising today, we received a break in the heat and cool rain fell from the sky.  This evening in Piazza San Marco, James Taylor was performing.  It was hilarious watching crowd with their umbrellas fighting the wind to enjoy the show.  We didn’t buy tickets, however we could hear him throughout the square.  Rex and I were enjoying a gelato when we arrived in the square.  We tried to stand there for a bit to enjoy the music, but the wind was pulling our umbrellas every which way and Rex didn’t want to lose his gelato for the second time.  We listened to a few songs and then headed back to the hotel.

Right now we are packing for our journey to Milan tomorrow.  It is so sad to be this close to the end of our journey.

IMPORTANT ITALIAN PHRASES

ENGLISH	ITALIAN	PRONOUNCIATION
Good Day	Buon Giorno	Bwohn-jor-noh
Good Evening	Buona Sera	Bwoh-nah say-rah
Hello / bye	Ciao / Ciao	Chow / chow
Goodbye	Arrividerci	Ah-ree-vay-dehr-chee
Check, please	Conto, per favore	Kohn-toh, pehr-fah-vor-ray
Bathroom	Toilette	Twah-leht-tay
Entry / Exit	Entrata / Uscita	Ehn-trah-tah / oo-shee-tah
Yes / No	Si / No	See / noh
Please	Per favore	Pehr-fah-vor-ray
Thank you	Grazie	Graht-seeay
Excuse me (attention)	Mi scusi	Mee skoo-zee
Do you speak English?	Parla Inglese?	Par-lah een-glay-zay

MURANO GLASS

When in Venice the shops are filled with fabulous glass sculptures, vases, jewelry, and anything else that could be adorned with glass.  Anything with the authentic Murano glass is pretty expensive.  Of course, the less detail in the glass the lower the price.  Rex and I heard that you could arrange a tour and demonstration in Murano at the glass factory.  The water taxi ride was free.  Once there, we experienced a master glass blower make a small vase in minutes.

Then we were taken around the showrooms which displayed all styles of the art.  The prices were out of this world.  Even though the gentleman said that he would take 50% off and pay for insurance, and shipping to the US, one small piece that we liked started at 5000€ - OUCH!  However, he would gladly let us take it for 2500€.  Needless to say, we left without buying anything.  Although, we might bring home a “small” display piece, if the price is right.

the glassblower and the vase we saw take shape in minutes

THOUGHTS ON VENICE

Venice is a wonderful city and one we’ve been excited to visit for many years.  We’ve loved its beautiful canals, narrow streets and rich history.  Unfortunately, we’ve had to look past the crazy amount of fellow tourists crowding the streets, shops and restaurants to find it.  The population of Venice is 60,000 people and we were told on a guided tour today that Venice averages 20 million tourists a year.  Twenty million!  Tourism is the only thing supporting the Venetian economy these days.  We are told that the younger generation is leaving Venice to find work in other parts of Italy.  They are leaving to seek more high tech jobs but also to get away from the high cost of living here.  We asked a waiter at a pub if he had a recommendation for a good restaurant.  We asked “where would you go to eat?” he smiled and said honestly that he wouldn’t eat in Venice because it is too expensive. 

Speaking of expensive, we chose not to take a romantic gondola ride.  Why?  The rides cost €150 ($215) and that doesn’t include the gondolier singing.  If you want him to serenade, you need to pay even more.  It was something we wanted to do, but just couldn’t justify the cost.  Maybe we’ll take a ride the next time we’re in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel.  It won’t be exactly the same, but it will have to do.

THE CARBONARA FIASCO

One of my all time favorite dishes is spaghetti alla carbonara.  If you are on a diet, this would not be a dish for you.  However, since calories don’t count on vacation, I was in search of the best carbonara Italy had to offer.

Spaghetti alla carbonara is spaghetti pasta with a creamy sauce made with black pepper, crispy pancetta, cream, butter and a nearly raw egg.  The egg is supposed to be mixed in at the very end as the sauce is cooling, so the egg doesn’t scramble. 

However, we found that the” tourist effect” seems to be impacting the way traditional Italian food is cooked in Italy. 

The first time we had carbonara was in Lake Como.  When it was served I almost sent it back.  The egg was visibly overcooked.  It was like pasta with scrambled eggs.  Sounds gross, right?  Rex enjoyed it.  When I asked the waiter why, he said that the traditional carbonara was usually sent back because tourist didn’t like the thought of the egg raw, so now they cook it through.  Please people, try something new.

The second time was in Santa Margherita.  Now, the carbonara was only slightly over cooked.  But you could still see the bits of scrambled egg in the dish.  By this point I honestly didn’t believe I would actually find descent carbonara anywhere in Italy.

Finally, in Venice, I saw carbonara on the menu and almost didn’t order it.  I asked the waiter how they made their carbonara and he described what I expected from the dish.  So, I took a chance and ended up with carbonara made the traditional way and it was great.  We are actually considering going back tonight to have it again.  However, I think we will go to another restaurant and see how their carbonara is.

WHERE GONDOLAS RULE THE CANAL

Ah, Venice…what a gorgeous place, expensive, but still gorgeous.  Once we arrived at the train station in Venice, we needed to take a water taxi or a vaporetto to the Piazza San Marco, which is on the opposite end of the Grand Canal.  The water taxis were 80€ (ouch), however the vaporetto was only 56€ for a 48 hour ticket.  Although, there was a line for those tickets that was a mile long and in direct sunlight.  After waiting in the line for about 10 minutes, I started noticing some of the locals purchasing tickets at these automated ticket boxes.  So, off I go to the automated box and within a few minutes we were on the vaporetto to San Marco. 

The Piazza was packed with people and navigating to our hotel was quite interesting because of the small streets and bridges.  Thank goodness we had small bags.  We saw some people with these huge suitcases trying to get around. 

When we arrived at our hotel, the Albergo San Zulian, near Piazza San Marco, we were eagerly awaiting some air conditioning.  However, our air conditioning unit seemed to be on the fritz.  Our room was very warm and the air conditioner said it was on full.  Once the repairman couldn’t figure it out, he was very kind and moved us to a new room.  

Our new room is smaller than the other one and Rex says the room is too cold.  I gave him a blanket and said that “too cold” isn’t something to complain about in this heat.  Believe me, it is a relief after walking around Venice all day.