Venice, Italy

​Venice   —   october 18, 2021

   Located on the northeast coast of Italy is one of the most unique and beautiful cities in the world. It is actually built upon 118 small islands inside a lagoon and connected by more than 400 bridges. This famous destination is slowly deteriorating from over-population and tourism. Although no automobiles  are allowed, the Grand Canal is teeming with heavy boat traffic.  The small, narrow canals, like the one Marco Polo lived on, is used mainly by Gondolas and small boats. 

  We spent the bucks and rented a Gondola for a couple of hours with Ron and Nancy. Steve and Rhonda had their own. It seemed dangerous creeping out into the Grand Canal. We felt more better on the quieter streets!  😎

   Piazza San Marcos was bustling with tourists, so much so that many people kept their COVID-free masks on. We caught a water taxi to get there. The remainder of our time was spent having fun , shopping and strolling back to the main entrance. 

   It was fun watching Steve and Rhonda enjoying their first visit to Venice. This was the second visit for the 4 of us. It was my third time as Joe Price and I came here in ‘68 during our military tour in Germany,  and spent a couple of days. Joe has passed on from this life so I can’t brag to him. 

   We hired a guide and vehicle for some more of that door to door service. Arian was the man. We had hired him for a Tuscany tour back in 2016 and had such a great experience we wanted to do it again with Steve and Rhonda. 

   As soon as we got back to the entrance, Debby made connection with Artan. We picked up our luggage from the train station storage lockers and dragged it across one of the 400 bridges to his waiting Mercedes. We felt like Federal Agents riding in that big 8 passenger black Mercedes!

   Soon we were on the road on our way to Florence. 

   Mike Thought