Sometimes I think it is easy to ‘over plan’ things (OK, stop your chuckling…what? Was that even an outright laugh I heard? Don’t make me come back there!!!).We’ve not been to Venice before (except for having a drink along the canal in the Venetian in Vegas), but I’m
anticipating what it will feel like to be there. I’m guessing it will be a lot like standing in the middle of Yosemite Valley http://calberry.org/Page4.html . Just being there evokes such a feeling of awe, and doing ANYTHING else is just gravy. So I don’t want to ‘plan’ things to the degree that we felt we needed to for Rome. Additionally we will have four days & nights in Venice before we ‘set sail’ (3 in the hotel and 1 on the ship) so we will have plenty of time to mix ‘doing’ with ‘relaxing’. (And with the 
view of the activities from the balcony of our room, why not just sit and enjoy it!?!)Our Venice ‘experience’ will begin (well, after landing of course
…and schlepping our luggage to the water taxi dock) by taking a water taxi from the airport to our hotel. We understand that it is quite the experience approaching Venice by water. And we can visualize cruising along the Grand Canal to our own ‘private boat’ bock right in front of the hotel. I’m psyched!Most of what we want to do is just ‘hang out’, wander around, and absorb the ambiance. Another ‘men
tal image moment’; I suspect that it will be lot like going to Disneyland http://calberry.org/Page7.html and just walking around and not going on the rides (well, the vaporettos I guess could be called a ride…sort of an adult’s Small World) But we have made some plans. One day we plan to take the vaporetto (water ‘bus’…we bought a multiple use pass that we will pick up at the airport) to some of the outer islands (Murano, Burano and Torcello). There is a great restaurant on Torcello recommend to Janna by someone at work, so we have made reservations for lunch. And th
en we will check out the glass and lace making on the other two islands…at our leisure. We have also made reservations for The Doges Palace ‘Secret Itineraries’ tour. And of course there’s Piazzo San Marco, or St. Marks Square…I suspect we will spend a LOT of time there.Other than th
at we have a list of all those things not to be missed (including a gondola ride), and will hit them as time, and mood, allows.OK, enough blogging…today there is one of my favorite things to do; A home Cal football game. Tailgating, cheering, and celebrating another Golden Bear victory. “How sweet it is!”
Go Bears!
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