Italy part one- Venice

Italy was amazing! Jon took me for my birthday and for one last hurrah (sp?) before the little guy comes. We were there on a 14 days trip and covered pretty much all of Italy. Jon set up a tour for us, since life before Italy was totally crazy, and we wouldn't have too much time to plan things before the trip. Our tour took off from Rome. Jon, myself, and 16 other couples all toured around together with our hilarious gay guide Daniele. (Well, the gay part was not confirmed but pretty apparent to us) There were only 3 of us from the U.S including Jon and I. We absolutely loved not only getting to know Italy, but also Australia, Singapore, Canada, and New Zealand. It was a trip that opened our eyes in many different ways. We left the trip with 16 new friends and some free rooms to stay in should we ever venture to these other countries.

After having 1 evening to recuperated from jet lag, we woke up bright and early and headed in our tour bus to Venice. The two days spent there were some of our favorites. We had heard many people say Venice is magical, and it really is. There really is no other way to describe it. We took a gondola ride at night while being serenaded by an Italian man playing his accordion. The next day Jon and I took a taxi bus (there are no cars) to 2 near- by islands. We were taught how glass is blown and purposely got lost wandering around in these small villages. We felt like we had stepped back in time as we soaked in the simple lifestyle these beautiful Italians still kept. It was just like the movies. Their houses were bright reds, yellows, blues...laundry was strung across the street from one house to the next...we even saw one lady out her window 3 stories up drop her bucket with a rope on it to the man below and then hoist it back up when it was filled. We were in heaven!! We watched everything and took so many pictures.
And here they are...our first 2 days in Italy.

This is famous San Marco square with the Doges palace on the right.

This is on the island of Burrano. How would it be to have to use a boat to go anywhere...looked pretty nice to me.






Our gondola ride with the sun setting in the background. Italians really do speak with their hands. You can see with the guy on the left trying to explain something to his buddy. Totally cool!