Venezia
Bob and I spent the weekend in the beautiful city of Venice. No cars or motorcycles but lots of tourists with kids and dogs. Although the weather was cold and overcast, we took a boat taxi from Venice to the lagoon island of Murano to see the glass-blowing exhibition and view some amazing pieces of glass blown art - most of them incredibly expensive (the one I liked of the female torso with a baby in utero was 14,000 Euros, about $20,000). The Hotel Marconi is a very small but comfortable hotel next to the famous Rialto Bridge (see Aynne in photo) We toured t he Palazzo Ducale, which was the offical residence of each Venetian ruler (doge) and was founded in the 9th century. It was very interesting to walk through the prison area, the dungeons and the Bridge of Sighs, which was the passageway between the Palazzo and the prison (see prisoner at left). It takes it's name from the sighs of the prisoners being led to trial. We also took the lift up the Campanile (bell tower) where we co...