Sunday March 29th

Up at 8 and downstairs for a great breakfast! The hotel has a nice-sized buffet with eggs, sausage balls, bacon, lots of kinds of bread, cheeses, slices of ham, turkey and salami, several fruit juices, lots of pastries and lots of coffees.

After breakfast Randy and I had to pack our bags for room swap this morning. Our tour starts today but when we arrived a day early they put us in a room that was only available one night. Now we move to a different room for the next couple of nights. Oh well...

The tour didn't start until later so we 6 were on our own again today. Randy and I took our lightest backpacks and joined the others downstairs. I asked the lady at the front desk what she would recommend besides St Mark's Square and gondola rides (since we would get those on the tour). She recommended we go to the Jewish Ghetto. It was a bit of a walk but we are all good walkers, so off we went! We were armed with a map with did us no good whatsoever, and a phone GPS. We did not take the direct route anyway; basically we shopped our way. In one store we learned that there are 6 parts of Venice's gondola tail and each part means something. We walked by this beautiful bridge, which is one of the spots we will visit on the tour. 

Nearby is one of my favorite buildings. I just love the windows, the flowers, everything!

We stopped in a nice little grocery store with a lot of great-looking meats that we couldn't get. 

Like everywhere else, they do not have Coke Lite or Diet Coke so we regretfully got Coke Zero plus a couple of cannoli. It was tricky finding the way out of the store; you enter in the front but exit at the back of the room next door. Outside we heard the church bells again. 

One shop had personalized aprons. They looked very nice and well made so I got one for Randy. Note to self: Do Not Put It In The Dryer.

Jack and I talked photo editing products as we walked along. He takes lots of photos and recommends VSCO photo editor; I'll have to check that out. 

About this time we needed a restroom. We found one in the Gelato Di Natura, where, for the price of a small snack which we wanted anyway, we could all use the restroom. 

Then we continued our walk. So many things to see!

We finally arrived at the Jewish area. There is a sizable and very empty square with plaques on some of the walls that recall the holocaust horror. It was emotional and moving. To our dismay there were also a couple of armed guards. What a shame that this place needs guards. 

Now it was time to head back to the hotel. Jack told me that just outside our hotel was an artist selling her work so I impulsively bought a painting of a gondola in the canal. Randy found some truffle items for sale; that's probably much more useful! Then we joined the rest of our gang at an outside restaurant.

Randy and Jack ordered an aperitivo spritz before the meal. 

I had the lasagna and it was excellent!! The sauce was just a bit similar to Bernardos (in East Peoria) and the whole thing was very tender and totally delicious. 

Randy ordered prosciutto pizza which was also delicious.

And for entertainment we watched Aaron take about 40 little bitty clams out of their shells as he tried to eat his clam pasta dish.

Nearby we found this gorgeous lion. Lions are very important in Venice because of their affiliation with St. Mark. I just think they are beautiful.

Then we went back to our hotel, the Bonvecchiati. 

In spite of being a big hotel, it has a tiny elevator. Even so, it was larger than the one in our hotel when we visited Rome in 1999!

We moved from room 326 room to a room on the 4th floor, which was a little smaller and had a harder bed. After a short nap we went downstairs at 5:30 to meet our CIE Tour director Giuseppe (which translates to Joseph). While he talked to us about the upcoming tour, we enjoyed Prosecco light champagne, water (still and fizz) and potatoes chips. 

We learned that we should leave tips in cash on table, never on credit card (charged tips won't be given to the staff). He recommends 10 percent for restaurant tipping and 2-3 euros for miscellaneous services.  And 20-25 euros for each of us to the bus driver. 

He walked us to St. Mark's Square where he told us that many of cafes in the square have excellent musicians. In to avoid conflicting sounds that ruin the vibe, the musicians take turns. And exspresso that costs normally 1 or 2 euros will cost 20 euros here - location, location, location! In 1902 the tower fell into square at night without hurting anyone (except a stray cat) and was rebuilt. Giuseppe also said that the square is the lowest point in Venice and sometimes water seeps up through the plaza floor.

We walked back to the hotel for dinner: flan with spinach and crustless mushroom quiche. Excellent lasagna as a first course, very creamy and flavorful. After that we were expecting great things of the second course, but that didn't happen. Randy had veal and I had chicken; they were both barely OK, and I didn't like the vegetable at all. 

After dinner our little group walked back to the square. Along the way we passed the gondolas, packed in snugly for the night.

St. Mark's Square is beautiful at night. We discovered that there was a wet spot in the center, where early in the day it was dry. 

This is a good group to travel with! Natasha was with us tonight, which gave Jack someone closer to his own age to talk with. 

The sides of the square are extra beautiful at night, with long rows of lights, several stories high.

I love being able to enjoy all of this with Randy! He set this up for all of us, and I am so grateful!

One of the bands was playing near us - lovely Italian airs. During one song Randy pulled me into the center of the square for a sweet slow dance!

The next song was quick and lively, and one of the guests started grabbing people for a circle dance. She got me, I got Jack (Randy was farther back), and away we went!

As the night got darker, the water kept bubbling up in the center of the square.

Before we left it had filled the whole center section. Beautiful, wonderful, lovely, fantastic!

Leaving on 5/27 and arriving in Italy on 5/28

Got up early and had scones for breakfast. Then to the airport parking lot where we parked the truck and caught the transport to the airport. It wasn't difficult to get through the lines but Glenda's book bag was pulled aside for manual check - this seems to happen to her a lot! No problem for the rest of us, even thought there was a fresh scone in most of our bags. It's going to be a long flight and it helps to be prepared.

Our the arrival in Toronto was pushed back to 4:30. When we got there we got late lunch in the airport; there were not a lot of choices and we needed something hot and not sweet so we went to Custom Built Burger.  It was Ok but it cost over $30 for 2 cheeseburgers, 1 order of fries, and 1 bottle of water. It hit the spot though. 

We were able to board at 7:15 but our departure was delayed, so we didn't leave until 9 pm. We heard that Joe and his grandson Jack were delayed, also. Toronto airport seems to be having trouble today.

Fortunately the overseas flight was smooth and the individual screens with movies helped pass the time. Dinner was OK - chicken and vegetables in light cream sauce, bread, and cake. We all watched movies until breakfast arrived; a packaged croissant and yogurt cup. 

We arrived in Italy at 11 (time zone change of 6 hours ahead). We were surprised that we did not have to go through customs; just scanned our passports and let the machine compare it to our faces. We met the welcoming lady from CIE but we couldn't leave yet; another couple were missing.  We waited until 12:15 when she gave up and led us to a water taxi. These are generally beautiful boats that ferry people to and from the airport. (There seem to be a lot of tips to give out: Cie lady, airplane porter, water taxi.)

Our driver was very good and drove quickly through the channel which was well-marked with buoys. I thought the water was pretty rough but nobody else seemed to mind. And the waterway was busy; fast-moving boats sped right by us and we bounced along in their wake.

Our water taxi pulled into Venice, passing huge old buildings sitting right at the water's edge. The first few were kind of rough looking, then that gave way to beautiful mansions. There were thriving businesses set up in the street level of most of these.

Right before our hotel is a pretty bridge over the canal.

At the hotel we couldn't check in just yet but we could leave our bags and go for a walk around the area. Sounds good! The downstairs hotel had a lot of lovely blue chandeliers; glass is a very big thing here. 

I also liked that the room keys were attached to pretty old-fashioned bell pull tassels. 

We met up with Joe and his grandson Jack here and we all headed back outside to walk around. Tourism is Venice's big industry so we didn't have any trouble being understood, even though we only spoke English. We stopped at a nearby shop and bought 4 tapa-like snacks, an espresso, and Coke; it costs $40 which seemed high but it was very good!

We passed an old church that, at first glance, looked like a great cleaning and reconstruction was underway. It turned out to be an "art" display that covered the floor. Not to my taste.

Onward! We stopped at a little food place where we got a little spinach and ricotta cheese pizza, and a prosciutto and mushroom pizza -  excellent! Then we continued walking and looking around. So many pretty gondolas here!

And on to St Mark's Square! It's full of amazing sights and we will be able to spend more time here tomorrow as part of the tour. For now we just walked and stared.

Then it was time to go back and check into the hotel. It started sprinkling on the walk back, just before we reached the hotel. The rooms are nice with large bathrooms and free toiletries but no washcloths. Why doesn't Europe use washcloths? No matter, we brought our own. Time to nap.  

We awoke to the sound of church bells outside our window - how nice! Aaron, Glenda, Randy and I went out again. Most stores here are specialty stores. Since Carnival is so important here, there are several mask stores. Some are reasonably priced, but it is possible to spend several hundred euros on fancier ones.

Because these old buildings have been here so long, a single building can have a lot of variations in trim, facing, even windows. 

The canals are the roads here; you either walk or take a boat. 

The canals are all flanked with wide walkways. All the other streets are quite narrow, tucked between tall, old buildings. 

We ready to eat so we stopped at Al Theatro for a bite; these were pricy but very good!

 And it was in a pretty area, too.

And later we found some gelato!

We were going to walk back to square after dark to see the lights but heard thunder and felt sprinkles, so we decided against that. 

Preparing for the trip

One more day before our trip to Italy starts! We began today with bacon, eggs, toast, orange juice, and taking the stove apart to see why it wasn't working. A damaged element, that's why. So off to find one of those. We didn't find one, but we did find a big nest with two ospreys and a third one bringing in fish for breakfast. 

Then it was off to Walmart again, for more essential things that we didn't know we needed until we saw them. That often happens when I go to Walmart.

We got a few things and went over to the church to bake Irish scones. We got a great receipt for scones at the Rathbaun Farm in Ireland, and Glenda has since perfected them. Randy wanted to learn her secrets. 

Of course he added a few pointers of his own, too.

Everybody contributed (except me).

These are SO GOOD!

Back at home we cleaned the fridge of leftovers for dinner and watched a little TV until we all turned in early. Tomorrow is a long travel day that will start quite early.

The start of another adventure!

We picked up Aaron and Glenda from the airport at noon and headed home. But everyone was hungry now so we stopped for lunch along the way, at the Peach Valley Restaurant - a good choice! Then we stopped at Walmart for some last-minute shopping - just essentials, like makeup. And finally we made it home to relax. Glenda played with Shorty and he taught her a trick...he gave her his paw and she gave him a treat! 

Pete and Donna joined us for a great dinner of Publix fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and key lime pie. Then we headed to Spanish Springs Town Square for live music.

We didn't stay late because, as the lead singer said "we stop at 9 because 9 is The Villages version of midnight"! But it was time enough for Aaron and Glenda to enjoy a dance.

It's that time again - Cooking with Chef Randy at the Block Party! This is the traveling event that gives people access to food, counseling, jobs, health screenings, etc.

This Saturday we were in Groveland, which is one of our favorite Block Party locations because right across the street is a genuinely awesome Hardees, with biscuits that taste like homemade instead of the assembly-line stuff at other Hardees. 

In the food truck Randy is the king of "mise en place", with everything ready for 3 demos and 3 servings.

Then, when the camera rolls, it's just a matter of putting it together in the right order, at the right time, at the right temperature, mixing it properly, while explaining it all on camera - child's play!

Obviously it's not really, but he loves making good food for people!

After each demonstration  my job is to dish up portions for the volunteers and guests. Glad to be able to help!