VENICE

Back in September we took a long anticipated vay cay to this beautiful country.  5 cities, 6 days + 2 full 

days of travel.  I get tired just thinking about it :)   I was going to post all at once but it would be such 

an overload, we'll start with Venice.  Perfect weather.  70 degrees and partly cloudy every single day of 

the trip.  8 days away from the kids was too long, but glad we went!

A little history lesson for you:  Venice is home to 60,000 people and has nearly 20 million

visitors per year, out numbering the locals so greatly that they are moving out of the city at a rate

of 1000 people per year.  Experts expect this beautiful city will eventually be nothing more than an 

adult Disneyland.

In the last 100 years, Venice has literally sunk into the sea over 9 inches.  In 2003 a project called

MOSE was implemented to hopefully stop the problem, but only time will tell.

We're standing on the boardwalk at sunset and up walks this couple.  I just about DIED, grabbed my

 camera and shoved as many tourists aside as I could.  This made hauling my 15 pound bag all over the

 country worth every shoulder and back pain I had!!  He should have been rockin a skinny tie in true Italian fashion.

 Gondolas sitting outside of our hotel room.

 

Her dress was sooo different from Utah, I loved it.  The corset was sheer front and back.  I wish I could 

have zoomed in for close ups but no way was I taking a zoom lens.

 She smiles?  Not kidding, this was the weirdest couple ever.  I couldn't figure out if they were models
or really getting married because they didn't say a word to each other, didn't seem happy, didn't look at
each other, and this literally was the only moment either of them smiled.  Her parents were there all
dressed up so I finally assumed they were for real.  I was standing right behind and to the side of the
photographer and he didn't say anything either.  Seriously it was so odd! They just kept changing poses
while he was snapping away - I don't get it.

Glass factory on the island of Murano.  Got stuck here for hours due to a boat strike :(

Grand Canal - think I'll print this black & white for my house!

 Grand Canal at night

BTW, did you see on the news that Venice flooded in October 2012?  Just a few weeks after we left.

It floods a few inches per year when the Adriatic Sea swells, 

this swell was over 5 1/2 feet, the worst in 20 years and the 6th highest since 1872.

Next up:  Rome, Pisa, Florence, Vernazza in the Cinque Terra