Dry Land, Vrrrooom and a Dodgy Road.

This morning we got on a crowded water bus destined for the large parkade located on the Italian mainland. That journey signified and end to our visit to Venice.

At dinner on Thursday night we talked about our visit to Venice and our impressions of the unique city. We came to the conclusion that it is not an easy city to navigate around and see a number of sites in a day. It is more the type of city that you should take the time to soak in the atmosphere, and enjoy the here and now. Instead of trying to run around and see all of the "highlights" listed in your travel book, I think you should just wander around and take it all in. To me it's a city the begs for you to find a perfect spot to sit, have a glass of wine and watch the world go by.

Seeing the Grand Canal on our Gondola ride was a stunning on Thursday night as it was on that first view from the water bus ride on Tuesday afternoon. It is such a unique site, that I think you would be captivated by it every time you see it.

Friday was a travel day as we moved south west towards Tuscany. We will be spending the next 5 nights in a Tuscan farm house that is ideally located for exploring the many sites of Tuscany.

Enroute to our next stop we made a diversion to Maranello to visit the Ferarri Museum. The temperature outside had risen to a sweet 29C and it was a clear sign that things were about to heat up. As soon as we parked the car we were approached by a young lady from Ferrari asking us if we would be interested in driving a Ferrari. Seeing that we had two young kids she quickly suggested that the California model would be ideal as it has two seats in the back for the kids (much like my convertible). It was a rare opportunity, so I figured "why not". We were only in it for about 20 mins, but it was fantastic. The sound the car makes is absolutely awesome, worth price of admission alone.

Finrrari!

Bronrrari!

The Ferrari California. Considered the entry level Ferrari at$235K. Gulp.

After what Bronwyn claimed to be the "best 20 minutes of her life", and Fintan told the Ferrari guy "The best 20 minutes of my life would be after I drove in a Buggati Veyron", we headed to the Ferrari museum.

The museum is pretty small but houses some super sweet cars.

The Ferrari Enzo. Named after the founder. Made from 2002 - 2004. Only 400 were made. The current value? The Enzo typically sells for over $1 Million at auction. Double gulp!

Fin's favorite, the Ferrari 458.

Both kids had a go at the Formula 1 simulator.

Someone is competitive...

Someone just crashed...

We had quite the adventure getting to our Tuscan farm house last night. They didn't have a proper street address to enter into our GPS so we added the numeric co-ordinates (first time ever doing that). We ended up in the dark on a very dodgy windy, steep road. After calming the nerves and getting back to the main road we were able to collect our thoughts and figure out where we needed to go to get to our place.

Our place is absolutely awesome.! We will post some pictures of it later today.

A Lamb's Head, A Temperamental Basilica, Blow it Out Your Glass & Massimo!

We had some technical difficulties uploading pictures the last couple of days, so I am going to combine the 28th and 29th pictures from Venice in one posting.

Wednesday and Thursday were great days. We spent the days wandering around Venice. Man it's an easy place to lose your way in. Normally I am pretty decent with a map in my hand, but the last couple of days proved to be a challenge.

Wednesday March 28th

Today we got up and we were keen to start exploring the streets of Venice. The manager of the apartment we rented had suggested that we try out the Rialto market for the freshest produce in Venice. Amazingly, we found our way to the market fairly easily.

One of the most photographed sights in Venice is the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto area was one of the first areas in Venice to be inhabited.

Fish guys at the Rialto Market.

Ya, it looks fresh, but don't dare try and touch it! I got sneered at twice!

The Rialto market has been a part of Venetian life for centuries.

Fin found a lamb's head in the butcher shop. We opted to make pasta instead.

After the trip to the market we walked back to the apartment to make ourselves a nice lunch. Fin was in charge of fruit, Brownyn was in charge of plates, while Stacey was on laundry duty. We had an awesome meal, then took a much needed nap. After our nap we took a stroll to the Piazza San Marco to see the Basilica di San Marco. After we lined up we found out you can't go in with backpacks, so we decided to leave it for Thursday's itinerary.

Bronwyn keeps yet another Italian tower from leaning. Ironically, this tower replaced the original Campanile when it collapsed in 1902.

San Marco Piazza with the Basilica and Campanile in view.

The awesome Basilica di San Marco. It has a very Middle Eastern feel to its design. Apparently the Republic's empire overseas was a big contributor to the treasures used in the design.

Looking back to Piazza San Marco from the front of the Basilica.

Gondola's along the banks near Piazza San Marco.

We took a nice long stroll along the boardwalk from San Marco Piazza down to Arsenale. Not to be confused with those punks Arsenal FC from NE London.

We spent Wednesday evening in the apartment chilling and watching Champions League soccer.

Thursday March 29th

First thing this morning me made our way back to Basilica Di San Marco.... Closed until 1:30! Ugh, now what? As we were walking along the Piazza planning our next move I mention to Stacey that we should go to Murano to check you the blown Glass. Not 2 minutes later an older fella that worked for the city of Venice offered us a free water taxi ride to Murano and a glass blowing factory tour. He seemed nice enough so we jumped on board.

Sweet thing about the free water taxi was that we got to take more cool pics.

View of Santa Maris della Salute Church.

San Marco Piazza as we pulled away.

Going through the canals on the way to Murano.

Kids enjoying the water taxi.

Once we arrived in Murano we were greeted at the dock and taken straight into the factory to watch the glass blowers at work.

We took a walk through the gallery to check out the finished work. CRAZY expensive stuff, but very cool to look at. After walking around the island for an hour or so we headed back to Venice.

Waiting for the water bus back to Venice.

Boats at the bus stop at San Marco's.

After the required stop at a Gelateria, we finally made it inside the Basilica. I am not claiming responsibility for any of the pictures that show up in the blog that were not suppose to be taken inside....

The walls and ceiling of the Basilica are covered in mosaic tile work. It is an absolutely amazing sight.

Detail of the Basilica from the balcony.

Looking south into the Piazza from the Basilica Balcony.

Looking west into San Marco Piazza from the balcony of the Basilica.

You find the kookiest things perched on the balcony of the Basilica.

Fintom of the Basilica.

Beauty and the Beast.

After visiting the Basilica we took a walk around before heading back to the apartment for a break.

Fin gives us a good demonstration of how narrow some of the streets are in Venice, and how close the buildings are to each other. I guess the houses in the new developments in Calgary aren't as close to each other as I thought....

For our last night in Venice we decided to join Gondolier Massimo for a trip through some of Venice's 148 canals and 118 islands!!

Massimo gets us started on our journey.

Everyone knows Massimo. He was chatting to every person we passed by.

When he wasn't talking he was whistling.

What an amazing way to end 3 days in Venice. At first we thought the idea of the Gondola ride was a little tacky, but once we got on the boat and we were gliding through the canals, it became a calming feeling. All four of us loved it, and we are really glad we did it. Massimo was a wealth of knowledge, he is a thrid generation gondolier who says the the family tradition dies with him as he does not have a son.