On the Grand Canal.

This morning my husband took off by bus for the airport to meet our daughter’s flight. With the change in her schedule she was going to arrive three hours later than originally planned; but we found out this morning the plane had an incredible tailwind and she would be about an hour earlier than planned. So he moved fast, and got there just in time to see her come through arrivals wearing her easy-to-spot UF Gator hoody, which she immediately removed in 85 degree weather.

Mom and I took off on a water taxi for Murano to see the Signoretti factory. Even though we’d both been to Venice a couple of times, we had never visited the famous island of glass-makers. It was a beautiful ride over and we enjoyed the experience. After some contemplation, I decided not to buy the $25K glass turtle I so admired . . .

We were dropped off in Cannaregio, and decided to walk towards Rialto. We had all managed to communicate and decided to meet in that area for a late lunch. Once we were able to locate each other in spite of the incredibly large crowd (there were 4 cruise ships in port), we had a nice time catching up over pizza and pasta at a café on the Riva Del Vin along the Grand Canal. After taking the vaporetto (water bus) back, we rested and caught up with some necessary work back home.

But here in Venice, the water is sparkling, the air has cooled and when the sky darkens there is a large, soft-edged, golden half-moon. At sunset we took the express vaporetto north all the way to the end of the line at San Zaccaria where we walked around the Piazza San Marco, eventually having a great dinner at Trattoria al Leoncini before taking the water bus ‘home.’

Although we have all previously seen the requisite historical sites around San Marco, we did pay a visit – but I much prefer skipping the crowds and sticking to the back alleys and canals that make Venice so intriguing.

We have now traveled the entire Grand Canal waterway by boat and have enjoyed every minute.