Italia!!!

We left our hotel in the Bavarian Alps this morning with the owner and his staff standing outside waving good-bye to us. It was still cool and damp, with low-hanging clouds shrouding the mountaintops, but not raining.  The route was a very curvy road that is known all over Europe by motorcyclists who like the curves and grades.  It was easy to tell when we crossed over into Italy though, just by the riding habits of those same motorcyclists.  Suddenly they were all over the place, passing our bus and jumping back into the lane in front of us just in time to avoid being hit by the oncoming traffic.  Definitely some daredevil riding!

The mountains gave way to foothills and we stopped for lunch in the small town of Egna (pronounced ahn-ya), at an outdoor cafe where they served us a salad, then three different kinds of paninnis, followed by a dessert of gelato.  A little local red wine to wash it down, and all was good, and at about $1.50 a glass, the price was welcome too.  The little girl in the first picture had just gotten a drink from the fountain when I snapped this picture, then Dad used his hand and the fresh
water to wash her face.

We kept rolling South, watching the hills flatten out, seeing vineyards nearby and the Dolomite Mountains in the background, with villages and towns crouched at the base of the rocks

Around 5:45 we finally made it to our hotel, following the bus ride and transfer to vaporetto (water bus) and a walk of a few hundred meters.  There was a group of gypsies on the vaporetto casing our group, but when Rosa called out the one who felt up her pocket, then took her picture, they left us alone.  Go Rosa!

Dropping off our bags, we reassembled for a walk to our restaurant.  We passed through St. Mark's square (lots of pigeons), in front of the Doge's palace, and down the main shopping street in Venice.  Stephanie asked me to be one of the "sweepers", bringing up the rear of the group to make sure we didn't lose anybody or have any issues with the street hustlers.  Going past all the jewelery stores, high fashion clothing stores, and shoe stores as a sweeper was about like trying to herd cats! We made it without incident though, and enjoyed a great dinner.  Our choices were the
specialty of the house, seafood risotto,  spaghetti with clams, or lasagna, accompanied by red or white wine, and followed by tiramisu for dessert.  I didn't hear anyone complain at all.

Our guide Stephanie had also arranged for a gondola ride for us all, complete with music.  When  the gondolas all pulled up side by side in the Grand Canal, the singer serenaded us all, and one of the ladies in my boat made the mistake of saying loud enough for me to hear "Oh, this is my song."  I caught the eye of the singer and pointed to her, and he sang "O Solo Mio" to her.  Barbara protested, but I know she liked it.  The gondolier in our boat also was quite taken with Ivana, another of the ladies in the group.  Lots of smiles and laughs all the way around!  A great start to a new country...warm temperatures and sunny skies.  I hope all 8 days in Italy are just like this one.

It's late now and time for me to get some sleep.  Good night friends.