Monday, July 16, 2012

Don't write on 700-year-old walls



We woke up in Italy again today. At the farmers' market in the square, I bought strawberries and peaches from Italy, and sprinkled them with 100% Italian sugar. They were delicious with pancakes made with 90% italian ingredients- I brought baking powder from home.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we spent in Venice, Padua, and Verona. Allen is in front of a beautiful mosaic on the front facade of the Basilico di San Marco in Venice. Saint Mark's bones are buried here behind the altar in a gold-covered sarcophagus.

We camped in two little mobile homes on the Lido of Venice (an adjacent island) in a tranquil spot away from the crowds of Venice. To get there, we boarded water taxis that circled the lagoon, the grand canal, and a couple of lesser canals. We visited the Piazza of San Marco, with its bell tower, basilica, and doge's palace. Due to the long lines, we were limited in what we were able to visit. Two of my favorite things were the bell tower, the top of which gives a stunning panorama of the city, and an English tour of the basilica. We met very kind people, one of them a guard who showed us to a restricted area so Sam could use the bathroom. The owner of the campground was another. Our reservation dates were a little later than we thought, which we found out while standing at the window. The owner was willing to honor our reservation early and miraculously had two mobile homes (the size of half of a single-wide) available for us for the entire time we were there.

We found a little church called San Samuele, so we took Sam there. When it was time to go to church yesterday, Sam asked if we were going to go to the church of San Samuele. I asked him if we should go there or to the church of Jesus Christ and he said to Jesus's church. Names do make a difference.

Today is laundry and cleaning day. Arrivederci!
The rocking sensation finally stopped yesterday in church.