Venice

Before Venice we stopped in Pisa to see the leaning tower for a bit. Today is our last day in Venice and the final day of the honeymoon, (sigh) it’s been nice and I don’t want to leave but it will also be good to come home as well. Today we took a water bus out to the island of Murano. They are famous for their glass blowing, we toured a little gallery with some sculptures that were really beautiful. Last night we went to a local Irish pub and met a couple from Waterford Ireland (yes like the crystal, that’s where it’s made) they were really nice and we closed the bar down with them, the bar was only open until 12:30. On our first day here we went to the San Marco Basilica. The ceilings are decorated in tiny mosaics of golden glass tiles and are very ornate. Saint Mark is the patron evangelist of Venice the church holds his bones as well. Tonight we’re going to have a nice dinner of seafood and take a gondola ride if weather permits. The city is pretty cool, everything is built on huge wooden pillars sunk down through the ocean into the soft mud below until the pillars hit harder mud. They then put a layer of wooden beams much like a wooden floor on top of the pillars to make a stable “ground,” THEN they put 2 layers of thick bricks and then built the city on top of the bricks. So the city does kind of float in the water. Canals cut through the island as ways for people to get in and out of their homes. This was also a way to protect the city because no ships could get close enough to it because the water is so shallow unless they knew the way to navigate through the deeper sections of water that exist around the city. Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and we’ll see you soon!!

Philip in deep thought