26

VENICE is a magical city and, upon arrival, the water dance begins.

After exiting the train terminal, we hired a water taxi for our first dance down the GRAND CANAL and through the alleyways to our hotel. Along the way, we passed centuries old churches and palazzos and witnessed shop owners unloading their wares from skimmer boats. Along the canal’s edge, there were grandmothers walking with their grandchildren and business people sitting on benches eating their panini. There were huge vaporettos filled with tourists rambling up and down the canal.

As we cruised, I took lots of photos, but at one point I stopped because I wanted to soak it all in and capture a memory that could never be destroyed. As my mom would say: Sometimes, it’s best to just be.

After checking into our hotel, we walked to PIAZZA SAN MARCO to see the beautiful basilica, which was under repair, but still beautiful all the same. We watched as parents covered their children in pigeons for that iconic VENICE photo and listened as competing live bands entertained patrons outside of CAFFE FLORIAN and CAFFE QUADRI.

We walked along the piazza arcades and fantasized about owning an apartment high above all of the cultural chaos and even wondered aloud — should the abandoned buildings be developed or not? A conversation we were assured by a dapper Italian gentleman (or eavesdropper) that only Americans would consider.

After lunch we took a water taxi to view the PEGGY GUGGENHEIM collection followed by another must-see museum, the ACCADEMIA. To say that I learned alot about the Italian Renaissance on this trip would be an understatement. I now accept that everything is truly connected to everything.

The Italians enjoy aperitivo everyday, and we joined right in. We settled into comfy canal-side seats at the BAUER PALAZZO and watched the world go by, listening to the gondoliers sing and water-lapping against the side of the hotel was close to operatic, or as that infamous commercial says…priceless.