Rome to Venice

Tracy and I got up early today for a quiet stroll to Campo de Fiori which operates as a market in the mornings. The sights, sounds, and smells were incredible. We had a nice breakfast and got some fruit for a snack on our train ride from the market while Nora slept in. With apologies to our Northwest friends and family, we had what may be the best cherries any of us had ever eaten.

We could have spent hours at the market, but headed back to get Nora and then off to the train station.

The train ride was relaxing, quiet, and beautiful. Tracy and I both love to travel by train, but it was Nora's first time. There were other west coasters sitting around us heading to Venice before flying to get married in Monaco.

It was immediately obvious when we pulled into Venice. As we began to explore the city, we are all amazed by its beauty. Nora and I both commented that we felt like we ought to stop and take pictures of every building and thing we see here. It is just what we expected and more. The only drawback is that everyone here is a tourist. A little different from the other places we have visited.

We took the vaparrato (a water-bus) and got to our hotel just after 5:00 pm and in just the first evening saw a proposal in a gondola at the Rialto Bridge, a gondola with an accordion player and a singer in addition to the gondolier (more staff than patrons), a man in fuchsia pants (watch out guys...brightly colored men's pants and men's Capri pants are all the rage here), and orchestras playing outside two different cafes in St Marks Square.

What a day!!