Venice - islands in the stream...

The travel from Siena to Venice was uneventful except for it being a great opportunity to view the many different types of country along the route - from hills to mountains to plains and then to the sea. The train goes out this long causeway and there you are, right in the heart of Venice.

Rick Steevs recommends getting lost in Venice, he says just keep telling yourself 'I'm on an island and can't get lost' - well Darlene and I managed to do it.

The first day was hot but the evening was rather cool with a good breeze. The competing 'orchastras' in S. Marco Square were still fabulous. What beautiful sites everywhere - not the natural beauty of Cinque Terre but a great thing to see just the same.

Like everything, the more you have the more you have to maintain and Venice has been sitting on the sea for a long time. While much of it is being restored it has its share of 'shabbyness' as well but you just look past that and you see a neat sight around every corner.

The last evening was fabulous - great tempatures and a very nice evening. We decided to hop from place to place - cocktails at one place, dinner at another and dessert at still another. We danced in S. Marco Square (no we were not the only ones) and finished in a very nice hotel garden with cappachino and coffee liquer.

In the morning we caught the water bus (vaparetto) for the train station and headed for Lake Como - goodbye Venice.