With dreams of gelato and vino rosso in our heads, we left Austin for Venice on Saturday in the early afternoon. Our normally relaxed departure was made a bit more hectic by the local news station wanting to get some footage of us and an interview at the airport due to our trip to Torino to support Nate. But, we made our plane and got in to Chicago on time. Unfortunately, our connecting flight there was late! Here, I kill a little time at O'Hare with a similarly delayed passenger with the foresight to bring a hackysack with him. Lesson learned: there's always room to pack your hackysack!

Having missed our connection to Venice, Kearson and I wandered Zombie-like and sleep deprived through the airport in Brussels trying to stay awake long enough to board the later flight we'd been booked on. At one point we actually shuffled along the nearly deserted terminal moaning "Braaaaiiins....BrAAAiiins" to one another just to try and stay awake. I'm sure airport securitiy got a kick out of that one. When you are this tired - even a flying red egg seems like a photo op. Note Kearson was too tired even to prevent this photo from being taken - now THAT's TIRED!!

At LAST, we arrived in Venice. Jon had mentioned that the flight in to Venice is an experience unto itself. First, you spend several hours flying over the Alps. Magnificent!! As far as you can see to the North and South is nothing but jagged, sharp crags and breathtaking valleys. We flew over two giant lakes - I'm guessing Geneva and Como. Then as you make the final decent into Venice, you circle the city - getting a spectacular view of the bell tower and basilica in piazza San Marco before touching down just on the edge of the mainland. From the airport, it's an hour-long shuttle ride on the Alilaguna to San Marco. We arrived just at dusk, with the sun setting on one side of the boat and the full moon rising on the other.

Picture of the pylons that form the levied border of the city's land mass. The wooden shafts are preserved due to the anaerobic conditions within the mud of the bay. This photo is looking back toward the mainland. San Marco is to the left and the airport to the right.

Though we'd had a long travel day, we got a few hours sleep on the plane from Brussels and the magic of Venice took hold immediately upon our arrival. Given the choice between a quick bite of pizza eaten in our hotel room and a leisurely dinner at Taverno San Travaso recommended by our concierge, we chose the course of less sleep and more vino! :) The recommendation was right on and we had a fantastic meal of seafood and prosciutto. Also our first taste of the regional star of red wines - Valpolicella. It did not dissappoint and I'll be looking for this round, complex and fruity, yet not too sweet red at my local wine shop! The proscuitto, too, was amazing. A dinner-sized plate covered entirely with the paper thin slices of smoked italian ham was presented, drizzled slightly with olive oil and sprinkled with slivers of Parmigiano Reggiano. It was like eating slightly smoky candy. Full and happy, we meandered our way dreamily back to the hotel - happily lost as often as not - through the deserted streets of Venice.

The next day dawned clear and cold - perfect for our planned sight-seeing! Having never travelled to Europe during the winter months, I was trepiditious at first about weathering the elements while still packing light enough to make for easy transfers between plane, train, boat and bus. Thankfully, Dana lent me her silk long underwear, which proved to be INDISPENSABLE! (Thanks again Dana!) I also packed several scarves and hats to perk up my otherwise basic black-dominated wardrobe. It's funny, each of my scarves were handmade and had sentimental value: one was a Christmas present from Dana, Sondra let me borrow her favorite "big bird yellow" scarf, and my fuzzy green scarf was a gift from Kearson's mom! This worked out wonderfully and I was toasty on all but a couple of occassions. The benefits of travelling in the cold I think far outweighed the drawbacks, especially in tourist-mobbed Venice. Our mid-winter experience was one of no lines, readily available transportation, and shopkeepers welcoming rather than dreading the entrance of another visitor to their stores. We spent most of the day exploring Piazza San Marco - seen here from the south end looking toward the Basilica.

The Basilica San Marco. Truly unique among great churches in it's meshing of styles and artwork. Considered an eyesore by some, but one of a kind nevertheless.

Four horses stand atop the center mosaic at the top of the basilica San Marco. The horses were pilfered from Constantinople to be set atop the basilica, then stolen again spending some time at the Louvre before being returned to San Marco. These are actually replicas - the originals are inside.

Almost as famous as the piazza itself are the hordes of pigeons (called "flying rats" by Kearson) that populate the square, drawn by the constant handouts from children and tourists. Vendors sell little bags of feed and for a few Euro you too can experience the life of a statue as this gentleman has. Think I'll pass on being covered in pigeons, though!

An aerial view of the piazza from the top of the basilica. We never did figure out who had played in the square the night before, but the stage was being torn down the day we were there.

Continue to page 2 of Venice photos.