Venice...If I Could Give Her a Standing Ovation, I Would!!

Today may be the first, & possibly the only, day that I've managed to blog the events of the day in relative real time...though, right now, it's about 2:50 in the afternoon for all of you, & here, it's 10:50PM & I'm in a dark corner of our hotel room, computer on my lap, with the sounds of dear ones in their slumber dream lands.  It's with mixed resolve that I don't first post our chronological order, but as you've continued to hear me say, it's a significant challenge to stay on top of a blog when there's no 

wi-fi for me at night in Orta after we've loved our full days & the dear ones are finally sleeping!  We've had so many wonderful experiences in several different places & I'm excited to share, but I've decided to try posting our current adventures & then working backwards when time permits!

We left our quiet & sleeping piazza this morning at 4:40AM in order to catch our 5:35 train from Arona to Milano, then after a waiting period, Milano to Venezia (yes, Milan to Venice), so that we could arrive in Venice by 11:30 this morning, thereby giving us most of the day to drink it in!!  And she is every bit as stunning & beautiful as the enlightened Venetians boasted!

Chris went to get tickets for our vaporetto (water taxi), so we could get to our hotel to drop bags, eat our picnic lunch, that was prepared in the wee hours, and get out to see what we could see!!!

We wound through dozens of alleys & I was reminded of how proud I am that the Wright kids have become such great travelers during this experience!  They were exhausted from the early rally time, but they were thrilled to be in this City we had so long discussed & anticipated.

This is right outside our hotel!!!

YES!!  A standing ovation indeed!!