Is Venice sinking? The word on the street says that it is. I don’t know – but during our time in Venice I was often up to my ankles in water. By the end of the day I was wet to the knees – but we were not sinking. It was more like drowning in the rain.

Rain! Schmain! I thought Venice was magical! This is probably my only visit and it was very wet – I would love to see it in the sunshine. Should romance ever enter my life again he had better have the means to afford to take me to Venice because I can tell you this – if I missed my husband in the medieval cobblestone streets – I was sure wishing I could hold his hand as we explored the bridges and alleys of this incredible island city.

I guess I had always ignored Venice – I figured the canals were kind of like the canal that ran through our property in Wyoming. Somehow I was never curious enough to know that the canals are the ocean! I loved it. There is movement and personality in the water. I was intrigued.

We saw far more of Venice than we had planned. Stacey’s one hope was to tour the opera house. Her phone played a practical joke on us and sent us to the opposite end of the island. Finally a shopkeeper turned us around. We spent most of our time that day going the wrong way – but it’s such fun! Over 14,000 steps all said.

We finally made it to the opera house but our time was running short so Stacey went in and I went shopping. I was wearing the necklace Mark bought me in Greece. We thought it was fun to get jewelry as a souvenir so I found myself a ring and pretended that Mark bought it for me. The opera house, by the way, was worth the trek – Stacey loved it and her photos are beautiful!

Stacey’s USAF brother-in-law happened to be near Venice for a few days so he joined us for dinner. Our trip back to our hotel was once again a series of wrong turns and backtracking- all in a downpour of rain. Do you know many of those alleys are no wider than an umbrella. There is an unspoken system in which one person holds their umbrella higher than the approaching person. Actually very few people figured that out and tried to tilt sideways – but I just held mine up high and we passed in peace.

This is the birthplace of Murano glass and they sell it in many forms. Next time I may have a wishlist… all that I really wanted was to be dry. What fun when I showered that night only to discover that I had flooded the entire floor and continued to slosh around in water while getting ready for bed. My shoes were soaked but – thank you Europe for having towel warmers. I jammed the shoes between the warmer and the wall and they were almost dry in the morning.

The Venice hotel may have been our most expensive but we ranked rather low on our list. I think Lucy and Ricky Ricardo may have enjoyed it during its heyday. My suggestion would be to overnight elsewhere.

We left the island and attended church. How grateful we were for the young American missionary and his translation skills.

With several hours before our flight we drove to a town called Padua and visited the basilica of St. Anthony. He lived in the 13th century and was a priest or a monk. He studied deeply and rarely spoke to anyone until the day a speaker didn’t show up to a meeting and they asked him to speak off the cuff. He spoke so powerfully that they sent him on a speaking tour. More importantly he was known for his kindness toward everyone he met. His story reminded me of the priest in Les Misérables. Anthony only lived to be 36 but immediately after his sudden death they began to build this basilica as a monument to him. I think he was sainted within a year.

Here’s the thing – when his body was exhumed they found that the bones were turned to dish but his tongue, vocal cords and lower jaw bone with teeth were all preserved! Is this because he was such a great speaker? They are relics and are on display!

Lunch was bleh but our after-lunch treat made up for it! That’s lemon cream inside and both the cream and the cake are super light. I could’ve eaten several of these! Two weeks of good food with so much sitting in cars, cafes and airplanes! I hope my walking buddies are ready to whip me back into shape in a couple days!

Our final activity before heading to the airport was the one we had been dreading. It was time to get organized… everything into the suitcases so we could return our rental car. And both suitcases equally balanced and under the allotted weight. Fortunately we found a residential area with a park!

En route to the airport we again had a few wrong turns with backtracking followed by an unconventional car rental return and a short hike to the airport. I’m getting better at managing these bags but…. While I wasn’t looking luggage began having two (8) wheels rather than one (4). This makes Stacey’s bags handle like a Cadillac while mine are more of a Yugo. We both dream of owning Mercedes styles luggage – but I do hope to upgrade a bit if I ever find myself overseas again.