So A Couple Of American Women Walk Into A Bar...

... And discover that you do get chips with your drinks in Italy, potato chips - I'm not kidding as evidenced by the picture below.

Hey look Kara - a wall of wine corks!

That was Monday in Venice 

Buena Sera

Eleanor

More Scenery

Ah Venice!

San Zacharria church which is right behind our hotel.

Another beautiful canal view from the Castello .

Gorgeous  flowers in an alley-way.

Monday: Murano A Really "Glassy" Place

This morning we took an exclusive boat ride to Murano island (Cathi and I were the only 2 people to go early in the morning being the crazy Americans we are). We took a tour  of one of the glass factories  - but I only took 2 pictures during the tour because we were so enthralled by our tour guide Roboerto. We'll explain when we return.  So, here are a couple of pictures of the glass maker creating a blown glass horse.

Eleanor''s Museum Visit

I went to the Peggy Guggehiem Collection this afternoon. It's modern art, I like modern so I'm going to make you look at a couple of pictures from the museum.

By Rene Magrritte  -one of my personal favorites.

By Alexander Calder

This museum has a Nasher sculpture garden too.

See that wasn't so awful was it?  That's all for today folks.

We are headed to Murano Island in the morning for some "glassy" shopping.

Grazzi!

Eleanor 

Meanwhile On the Grand Canal....

...Life is beautiful.  All of these pictures were taken from Academia-Dosoduro side of the canal.

The Doge's Palace or How We Wound Up In Prison

The Doges were the somwhat figurehead rulers of Venice during it's reign over the seas and trade. The Doge's Palace is almost next door to our hotel -so we had to visit the palace.  It's a place of great splendor, intimidation through art and a maze of prison you don't want to get caught in (like we were).

The Grand Staircase into the palace with the statues of greek gods at the top - to remind you of the power within this palace.

One of the many ornate entry ways into the palace.

Cathi in the prison yard. - we  still hadn't found our way out.

More Pictures From Saturday: The Daylight Savings Time Edition

A furry Venice resident keeps an eye on things above the street 

Really typical street scene: a Saint above a doorway surrounded by modern shops

San Marcos at night. Cathi on a cell phone talking to my sister - now I've really seen everything!

Luggage Finally Arrived at 4:30 pm Saturday All Is Well

Meanwhile, I took more pictures today:

This church is Saint Moses - seriously - that's its name

The Rialto Bridge

The Grand Canal from The Rialto Bridge

By Request: Pictures of Food

The thing to keep in mind is that most of the restaurants do not like you to take pictures of their meals, don't ask me why, they just don't.  So, the food photos you'll see below we're taken serrupticiously, when waiters and Maître D's weren't looking.

This is from Al Covo - it was my main course cuttlefish (aka squid) in its own ink. It was fabulous

Wild Asparagus risotto and Sole with lots of good stuff at  Harry's Bar (note I am drinking their signature drink - the Bellini). We met the granddaughter of the original owner, her name is Carmella - had a delightful conversation  with her.

Warm Pumpkin Soup, with roasted pumpkin seeds and a little glass of Proseca on the side at Vino Vino

The best Tiramasu ever at Vino Vino

A Room With A View Part 1

Relaxing on Cathi's balcony before going out to.......

....a fabulous dinner at Al Covo

That's all for tonight kids, and just remember: you never know how much you like your underwear until you can't change into new ones.

Eleanor 

No Luggage - No Problem

We checked out he neighborhood near our hotel - the Bridge of Sighs is a 2 minute walk from our hotel, San Marco is about  5 minutes away.

At the Bridge of Sighs

Cathi at San Marco Plaza

We stopped at Cafe Florian for some refreshment

Things We Saw On Our Way To Venice

France (trust me it really is France).

The Alps (trust me -these are the Swiss Alps)

Cathi drinking champagne on the plane (trust me -she really did!)

Our first glimpse of Veniice

We Made It - But Our Luggage Didn't

Cathi is still smiling even though our luggage is still in London, and won't be delivered till Saturday at Noon. This is the view from Cathi's room - Kara please note the church in the background.

No Underwear Till Tomorrow - More Pictures Later

Countdown: I'm Making A List, I'm Checking It Twice

There is paper flying all over Czajka Secret World HQ tonight. Boarding passes are printing, to do lists, to pack lists, and last minute "don't forget lists".

The suitcase is 98% ready (a couple of the don't forget list items go in tomorrow) I'm pretty proud of myself - not overpacked - room to bring home a few things :)

Boarding passes printed and ready, movies downloaded on the IPad for Cathi, plenty of Werthers hard candies in the purse for my inevitable coughing during quiet times.  Camera charged up and ready to take pictures of Cathi on plane (as some have requested).

This road trip ...um....make that Gondola Trip is ready to shove off.  The next time I write we'll be living the dream in Venice.

No Sleep Tonight!
Eleanor

Countdown: Am I Ready?

I've started counting the hours and minutes: 44 Hours, 25 minutes (as of the time I write this).

But, back to the major question - am I ready? Or have spent too much time worrying about the M*A*S*H unit aka my team -The Texas Rangers. I don't feel so bad about missing their home opener since it will actually be a Triple A squad (with all the regulars on the DL) Or have I spent too much time brooding about Will Gardner's demise on "The Good Wife" - Josh Charles is the reason I started  watching that show - if they kill off Alan Cummings (Eli Gold) or send him to jail: I'll be done with them.

Who am I kidding - I have checklists all over the place, and even "practice" packed my suitcase Sunday night (just making sure I'm not over thinking what I will need) Of course I am ready.  Now all I have to contend with is a 7am meeting Wednesday (thanks a lot Natalie) which will make for an even longer day at work tomorrow. Then it's arrivederci Texas!

And it's now 44 hours 15 minutes ......

Anxious Eleanor

Countdown: Mr. Bruce and The Suitcase

Mr. Bruce either doesn't want me to go or he wants to join our adventure - you decide.

Countdown to Venice: Euros! Don't Go To Europe Without Them

Cathi and I traded in our dollars for Euros Saturday. Cathi said it looks like Monopoly money - which is an accurate descrIption. The exchange rate right now is not in our favor:  $1.57 US dollars = 1 Euro.  We are ready to spend them just the same:  4 days till we take off - it's going to be a long week until Thursday.