Venice

I am surprised by all the negative comments about Venice. The city is wonderful, especially if you love to walk. No cars and trucks and none of their noise! Yesterday we walked from our hotel near the Zattere water bus stop in Dorsoduro to the Piazalle Roma, visiting a great Franciscan church on the way. Then we took a water bus down the length of the Grand Canale to San Marcos, where we had lunch. Then we walked back over the Rialto bridge through the Mercato to Piazza Santa Marguerita, where we had a glass of wine and stocked up at the grocery store (supermercato).

The auto worked out nicely. We dropped it off at the airport and took a water bus to a half block of our room, a lovely little apartment connected with the Hotel La Calcina. Highly recommended hotel. Our major misadventure with the auto was entering Ferrara on the day of a large celebration. Our hotel was in the historic district overlooking the Estense castle, and the entire area was blocked off to traffic due to the celebration, which went on for hours, complete with locals parading in medieval dress. I thought the hotel would be easy to find, but their historical district is huge. We parked the car several kilometers from our destination, got some vague directions and walked. The city was quite beautiful and we returned later to get our vehicle. Then getting through the maze of narrow one-way and pedestrian-only streets presented another challenge.

Our drive to Ferrara was unnecessarily long as I wanted to travel on roads other than the autostradda. My comment on the Po Valley is flat and food as far as the eye can see. We did not stop at Ravenna, which on the outskirts was very industrial. Tita wanted to stop at a beach on the Adriatic and she was very disappointed. I no longer expect anything from European beaches. They are overrun with people and tacky buildings, reminding too much of my own country. Europeans are silly for going to the beach at every opportunity. Boring. If you want to see the sea, go to a cliff for a much better view.

Tomorrow we return to our own villa on Mt. Olympus. It has been a wonderful trip, but we are ready to return home. Tita's friend Daria has been taking very good care of our cats. She sent a picture of Fred today that made me want to give him some hugs.

We will hopefully come back to this beautiful country. There are still many places I want to go. Already planning the next trip. Arrivederci.