Day 7- more sites around Florence

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In our way back to our hotel, I saw my old friend, Pinocchio, and took a photo with him. :)

Since I wasn't allowed to take any photos in any museums in Florence, I decided to take a photo of the fake David outside the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. Actually, I shouldn't call him a fake. The one here is a copy of the original, where the original originally stood before he was brought indoors for his own protection.

We also walked across the Ponte Vecchio again, which is always fun and scenic. Both last night and today, under different weather conditions, (it was raining today) I noticed how much the water in the Arno River reflects the bridges and buildings around it. So gorgeous.

Day 8 - Santa Maria Novella & around Florence

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What?! Only two photos for the day? WTH?!

Our original plan for today was to take a bus out to Siena, and as much as we would have loved to visit that great little Tuscan town, we decided to slow down and take a bit of a break. We've been so on-the-go for so many days that we've realized that we're tired, and need to give our bodies and feet a well-deserved break.

So, we slept in, ordered in breakfast and relaxed in our room all morning. Ahhhh!!! Felt much more rested after that. :)

We did head out in the afternoon to see a few sites. We walked to the Santa Maria Novella, which was a beautiful church. Beautiful architecture and full of frescos and renaissance paintings.

We went back to Pugi Pizza (which is served on focaccia) which has been our favorite place for pizza so far.

Finally, we did some window shopping. Florence is full of boutiques and designer stores. I didn't buy anything, but it is fun to browse!

Oh, and did I mention there was more gelato? :)

Italy: Day 9 - Florence to Venice

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What a beautiful country! Dick and I are both enjoying our Italian vacation very much. :)

Today, we took the train from Florence to Venice. It was about 2 hours, and a very pleasant journey. We booked our tickets 4-6 weeks ago, which turned out to be very helpful. It allowed us to book a specific time and seats in advance, so all we had to do was show up and wait to see which platform to board from. (sadly, it was not Platform 9-3/4)

Once in Venice, we took the water bus to our hotel. We are staying on the water, right off the San Zaccaria stop, so it was very easy to walk off the water bus, cross one bridge, and go straight into our hotel. :)

The second photo is one I snapped from the water bus. It's an enormous hand holding a tank. I have no idea what it is, but thought it was interesting.

The next two photos are taken from the window of our hotel room. Just stunning! The weather when we arrived was just perfect - around 70 degrees and clear. The last photo is a fruit platter waiting for us in our room by tge hotel. What a lovely welcome to this magical city!

Italy: Day 12 - Doge's Palace

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We started our day touring the Doge's Palace, which was the official residence of the 120 doges who ruled Venice from 697 to 1797. There were no photos allows inside, but I took several of the exterior. The fourth photo shows the Bridge of Sighs. It is the 17th Century Baroque structure that crosses to the palace prisons. It would reputedly caused the condemned to "sigh" at their last glimpse of the sky and sea.

artMRKT SF 2012

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Just as I had last year, I worked at the artMRKT SF again this year, at the booth for Adler & Co.

It was a great success again, and I believe the crowds were much larger than last year. Thursday night's VIP reception/fund raiser was swamped. I had the chance to meet a lot of interesting people, and also sold several pieces of art. A great experience all-around!

Thanks to all who came out to visit!

Day 9 - our amazing first meal in Venezia

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Remarkably, I haven't been blogging about the incredible meals we've been having all throughout this trip. It's quite shocking, really, as almost all of our dinners have been extraordinary. One would think that I'd be taking food photos at every meal. I can't explain it. Perhaps another time.

However, I couldn't leave tonight's restaurant without at least a couple of photos. First of all, I had homemade black fettuccini (blackened with the ink of squid) served with asparagus and red shrimp. Seriously, one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had!!

But wait - there's more! Dessert! First of all, this was a family-owned restaurant, run by a man and his wife. They were both utterly delightful. After we finished our main courses, the wife came to our table, placed down an empty paper placemat and started to draw a flower on it, explaining that it was the dessert menu. :) In each petal, she wrote the names of each dessert. She started with the Marscapone, and wrote the word "sex" underneath it. She said that that a customer once told her that their Marscapone was better than sex. ;) Eventually, she wrote "tiramisu" in a petal, and said it was one of the reasons why she married her husband - it was his Grandmother's recipe. :) With a description like that, I couldn't resist and ordered the tiramisu. It was indeed the best I've ever had!

To top off the evening, the husband came over after we had finished dessert and all three of our dessert drinks. He said he had a gift for me, and presented me with a burlap bag with a bottle of olive oil. (I had inquired about it earlier- it was do tasty- and learned it is from nearby Verona). So sweet! He also said he had a gift for Dick, and presented him with the bill. ;)

After dinner, we strolled around Venice a bit, and made our way to Piazza San Marco. I had just explained "The battle of the Orchestras" in Piazza San Marco to Dick this afternoon, and tonight he got to witness it firsthand.

I know it's kind of cheesy and touristy, but this city has a magical element about that I remember from my trip 16 years ago. Only this time, I'm finally here with the right person. ;)

Italy: Day 10 - Navigating our way through Venice (or, trying to, anyway...)

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We spent most of the afternoon wandering through the streets, canals, and bridges of Venice. We set out with a few specific points of interest in mind, and headed out. We intentionally and unintentionally got lost and turned around along the way. :) I had warned Dick of how Venice's streets are unlike anywhere else, and how easy it can be to get lost or turned around. We just planned on it happening, and added it to our sense of adventure. :)

Here are some photos from the Rialto Bridge, the super-cool fish market, and a pretty, random canal. :)

Rick Steves at the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

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Okay, this may be the funniest moment of our trip so far: Dick and I were touring through the Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, admiring the architecture and art, when we noticed a film crew setting up. Next thing we know, there's Rick Steves!!

"Who is Rick Steves?" you may ask? He's a travel writer who writes guidebooks, has his own travel show and podcasts of many locations throughout Europe. We had never used his books before this trip, but Dick's father is a fan, and shared his DVDs of Rick Steves in Italy with us when we last visited in March. My friend, Michael Gaines, also highly recommended Rick Steves' Italy guidebook, as he had used it on a trip last year.

Dick and I have found his book to be very helpful and full of good tips. (we also use the DK Eyewitness Travel Top 10 books for each city.)

We've also downloaded several of Rick Steves' podcasts of audio tours of specific sights we have visited. This included the Colosseum, a Renaissance walk through Florence, a few museums, and even a tour down the Grand Canal in Venice via Vaporettti (water buses) which we did today.

Anyhow, we've been listening to Rick Steves' voice via the podcasts, and reading his book at length over the past 11 days.

Imagine our surprise when we came face-to-face with him in a church in Florence today! He was busy filming, so we didn't want to bother him, so we simply held up out copy if his book, and gave him a thumbs up! Dorky, i know, but it really was hilarious.

Photos weren't allowed in the church, although I did manage to sneak one. Once we went outside, we saw a door was opened not far from where Rick was filming, so I got another photo from there.

Super Funny!!

Thanks, Rick! :)

View from the Grand Canal

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This afternoon, we took the Vaporettti (water bus) from the beginning of the Grand Canal, all the way to the end (just past Piazza San Marco). It took about 40 minutes, and was just fantastic. Along the way, we listened to Rick Steves' audio tour. (podcast) from my phone. It was a great way to see Venice and to hear about some of its history. We've decided that you just can't take a bad photo while in Italy. Everything is so photogenic! :)

Italy: Day 12 - Doge's Palace

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We started our day touring the Doge's Palace, which was the official residence of the 120 doges who ruled Venice from 697 to 1797. There were no photos allows inside, but I took several of the exterior. The fourth photo shows the Bridge of Sighs. It is the 17th Century Baroque structure that crosses to the palace prisons. It would reputedly caused the condemned to "sigh" at their last glimpse of the sky and sea.

Italy: Day 11 - a Venetian Glass souvenir and the Day I met another Trina!

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Dick and I don't generally shop much when we travel, but every once in a while, we find something that really peaks our interest. The area between the Santa Maria della Salute and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection had a lot of smaller, artisan shops - much less touristy than most parts of Venice that we'd been through. We found a small store/studio where an artist named George was making glass jewelry. I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but his work really struck me. He had gorgeous (and huge!) rings, bracelets, pendants and earrings. I chose a small, simple pendant with blues and greens fused with gold leafing. It is on a small, simple silver chain that shows the artistry of the glass well.

When he sold it to me, he had me promise that I would keep my blue hair because it compliments the blue and green in the pendant so well. :)

As we were finishing our transaction, he asked me my name. When I told him it was "Trina", he had a very strong reaction of disbelief! He told me that his wife's name is Trina, and that he's never met another! :)

His wife (the "Other Trina") is also an artist and works at shop a few doors down. He was getting ready to meet her for lunch, so he walked us over do the two Trinas could meet. :)

Trina is originally from Cincinnati, although she was lived in Venice for over 20 years. She's about 4 years younger than me, and was named after a Trina in a Joni Mitchell song. Does anyone know the song to which she was referring?

Dick took this photo of me with Trina and her husband, George. Around my neck, you can see the small glass pendant that George made that we had just purchased. Yet another fun little story from our Italian Vacation. :)