Finally!

sorry it has taken so long to post. for some reason the internet in venice was so slow! this blog will not be properly punctuated. the italian keyboard is decidedly different that the american one, and i could be typing lines of hyroglyphics before i realized what is going on. oh, there are not any apostrophes either, so no contractions...get a cup of coffee and a snack--this post is a long one!

so, we landed in paris on sunday. little did we know that the airport transfer we needed to make was a 60 mile adventure. after we bought bus tickets to the airport in beauvais, we had lunch at a charming little parisian cafe. LESSON 1: parisians (and italians) bring their dogs everywhere--even in restaurants. we walk in and there is an english bulldog snoozing under a table while the owners enjoyed a leisurely sunday lunch. then, a second family walked in with their bulldog. we were a little unsettled by this, but we were repulsed when the dog actually got his nose into the salad of his owner. disgusting. tim evened us up the repulsion score when he apparently offended a group sitting by the bathroom door. he accidentally left it open.

we took the irish airline, ryanair, to venice from beauvais. if i thought the smith terminal at metro was a dump, this airport was a pole barn--no joke. and there were no toilet seats. no idea how that works. well, the flight would have been great had a couple of kids in the row behind us were not screaming the whole time. when we deplaned, the woman sitting in our row really let the little girl have it. i have no idea what she said, but tim thanked her afterward.

ah, venice. we spent our first hour there completely lost, but that is okay. it is an island. we were bound to find something sooner or later. and we did. piazza san marco is beautiful, but filled with pigeons. i actually saw a kid kick one. we were not able to make it into the bascillica or the palace of the doge, but we did get to murano, an island famous for blown glass. we toured several factories, amazed by the craftsmanship and beauty. we found a small mom-and-pop bakery and got some sandwiches and a cookie. we sat with our legs dangling over the canal, watching the boats go by. it was fabulous.

venice really is an amazing city. there are no roads anywhere. you really do walk or take a boat. all the bridges are just as charming as the next, with gondoliers taking their passengers around. last night, i was leaning out our window (no screens) and could hear a man signing opera and playing an accordian.

today we tried getting in to the bascillica, but it was a holiday, so it was not available. it is disappointing, but we had to move on. we took the train to rome. on the train, we sat with sisters from australia. they were great. it is so nice meeting people from different countries.

the hotel we are at now, caters to americans. we got a great last minute rate. they serve breakfast on a patio every morning. and the hotel starts on the fourth floor of the building. stairs, stairs and more stairs!

well, we are staving (it is after 9 p.m. and we have not had dinner yet), so we are going in search of pizza. caio!

oh, there are bedaes (butt washers) in EVERY room!