remembering venice

I never could have imagined a place like this.  

It is amazing.  The whole city, right there on the water.  An amazing city.  

 When my sister-in-law worked at this museum, I just never could have imagined such a beautiful building.  

  I tried to enjoy the place for its beauty but when I thought too much I got freaked out by all the water and the garbage and got a little claustrophobic.  

The main plaza was flooded when we got there.  It was quite the scene to see the dueling orchestras at all the surrounding restaurants and the waiters finding dry spots to stand while waiting for diners.

 This guy and this purse.  Something I will never forget even if I don't blog about it.  A lady dropped a purse that she had just bought.  A couple of gondoliers tried to get it for her.  One succeeded but when he threw it up onto the bridge, it just hit the side of the bridge and fell right back into the water.  The lady tried to reach for it and the guy she was with pretended to push her in.  He ended up reaching for the purse, grabbed onto the pole to stop himself from falling in, then ended up accidentally sliding down the pole and barely landing on the dock.  By the time he got the purse he had a huge audience.

 Five hours of driving each way.  And this is the (blurry picture of the) car that we made the trip in.  A Smart Car on the Autostrada.  

 We made it back to Florence at 5 a.m.  I actually got some sleep in the car.  But Karl?  Play now, sleep later, I guess. After all that driving, he had the energy to take these photos of Florence.  

 The food:

That licorice treat.  I still think about it (surprise surprise).  It wasn't my first time having such a treat but it was my first time having it housemade.  Cooked fish is one of my aversions this pregnancy so I couldn't enjoy the local fare to its fullest.  But we did sample some.  

Next stop:  Cinque Terre