Venice Nov 4-5

Our last full days in Venice...
Wednesday
To get around in this town you either walk or take the city " bus" which is a boat called a vaporetto. It's been very nice hearing NO motor vehicles at all!  Today we took a vaporetto to several sites including city historical buildings & Bascilica di San Marco.

In the evening about a dozen of the group went to a concert of Vivaldi music at a church. There were 7 string instruments & a piano. I thought it was excellent. Lovely setting, excellent musicians, and Italian music!  After the concert, 5 of us didn't want to wait a long time for the Vaporetto so we walked..  Now, that entailed navigating all sorts of winding streets at 10 pm.  Fortunately the guy in our group used google directions & did a good job of getting us back--- actually before those who took the boat!  ( our walk was over 45 min.). That was a fun adventure.

Thursday
We began the day on a Vaporetto to take us to the island of Murano where Venitian glassmaking is done. We watched an informative video before watching the men work with glass. We learned that glassmaking used to be done in Venice proper but centuries ago the kilns tended to cause fires so it was decided that this job should be done on another island.  Makes sense.
I got videos & pix of the men at work. Such skill!  I did buy a few little trinkets back in Venice.
My friend Jan and I did some shopping & returned to the hotel to get ready for our last event: farewell dinner at the hotel.

The group of about 28 became very at ease & friendly over the weeks, so it was a lovely evening. We got some whole group pictures and have each other's contact info.  I think I may keep in touch with several of them.
Everyone else is leaving early tomorrow but my flight isn't till 8 pm so I have a bit more time here.  I'll fly to London, spend the night in an Ibis hotel, then depart for SF at 11 am on Saturday. That breaks up the trip a bit.

I'm tired now but I'll try to write 1 more time tomorrow and add some overall reflections of the trip.  But in short,  my earlier view that this was a well organized tour still stands.  I feel very lucky.
Looking forward to seeing my Swedie & puppy soon!

Venice Tues Nov 3

I am amazed at how unique Venice is!  I'm not sure if I love it or not but I can say it's unlike any other place I've ever seen. We arrived yesterday, so today was our first full day. I didn't have a great start because when I entered my hotel room yesterday there was a terrible odor. I had a friend & our guide smell it to see if they agreed & they did. We tried to get another room but the hotel said it was full. My Italian guide said if I leave the window open it could help a lot & sure enough it has. ( I can speculate with you later about the possible causes). Anyway I decided to stay in the room & I have kept the window open all the time.  It's pretty cold at night but the blankets are warm.  C' est la vie.

So about Venice:
We didn't see much last night but today we got around a lot.  At the top of the list was the gondola ride.  It was a cool but bright, sunny day so we were very fortunate.  We had 5 boats together for our group. I can say the gondoliers gave us zero attention but their water skills were excellent. We all enjoyed it.  I took a ton of pictures & videos. We also took the water bus for sightseeing& visited some historical sites.
The oddest thing to me is that when we walk around all we do is see other tourists. I know it's the part of town, but this really feels like walking around Disneyland minus Micky.  The population here has dropped ( according to our lecturer) so to me so far it hardly feels like Italy. But of course the physical attributes (  canals & architecture ) are amazing.

I'm exhausted right now & need to sleep cuz tomorrow is a busy day. We have 2 more days in the group, but while they all leave Friday morning, I don't fly till Fri night so I'll have more time here.

Nightee night.
Jane

Nov 1 Florence

It's our last day in Florence.  Off to Venice by train tomorrow.

Our day began with an excellent lecture by a professor about Florence's history and the Medici family. Once again I was very interested in the content and again it helped tie together the art, the history &  architecture  in new ways. Having read about these works & places is one thing but visiting them is incredible. The videos that friend Jackie loaned me to watch in the last month really set the stage for me.

This afternoon was free for the travelers ( Roger calls us "Roadies") to do as they choose. I met up with former Academic Senate colleague Richard & his wife.  He is teaching a semester abroad through his college. It was wonderful to see them!  I wasn't interested in going to more galleries so we went to the Pitti  Palace to see their gardens. This was another beautiful, sunny day --- perfect for strolling through gardens. High atop the hill behind the palace we had a super view of the city and environs.  Got some nice pix. All the while we were catching up on the last couple years since we worked together. This was a welcomed change of pace.

I have not worn a Fitbit here but my IPhone keeps track of the daily steps & tells how many flights of stairs we take.  Oh my!!!   Today was 15,500 steps and the equivalent of 30 floors climbed!!  The other night the 6 people at the  table were discussing their exercise routines & all work out regularly-- not surprising as that is needed for this kind of trip. It seems that nearly everyone is in their 60s or 70s with 2 who announced that they are 85!! Incredible!

I noticed the group dynamics of this group & mentioned to our group leader how interesting it is to observe everyone. She was curious to understand  more about that topic so I think I'll share some group theory with her. We are sitting together on the train tomorrow.

Florence has been super. As everyone promised, it's lovely and easy to get around. I now understand its attraction.

Can't believe I'll be home next Saturday!

Jane