Friday

I debated this morning whether to go to Burano and Torcello and visit the lace makers and the museum, or to hit the road and visit some Roman ruins and set up camp. Hitting the road won, so I drove a couple of hours to Aquileia. I'll be camping two nights here. 

The happy tent and the cute car. I'm liking it more all the time. I never thought I'd like a vehicle as much as I like the Jeep, but Lorenzo is climbing the charts. 

It has been quite rainy here today and my campsite is a bit muddy, but I tried to choose the drier of the sites.  Not a lot of people here and I'm the only tent so far. It also a bit cooler here, but that might be because I'm lounging outside instead of inside. No worries. 

So here's what I've seen today...

This is part of a Roman riverside dock. The river is actually not running here anymore, obviously, and by the small hill on the opposite side you can tell that the ground level has changed in the last thousand years. 

The brick columns were recent supports added so that the top part could be displayed. 

More of the dock area. 

And more...

Here from a different angle. 

The church tower in Aquileia. 

And the church, another beauty. 

And more Roman ruins from 1 BC to 1AD. This was the forum

Restored columns, the restored sections are quite obviously brick. 

And then just to show that we are all really the same, here is a giant slug on the trail in Aquileia next to the ruins.

Another example... A couple with a small child just pulled up in their campervan and the mom has been singing and talking to the little one constantly in German. I laughed when she started singing the muppet song "Menamena."  I kinda wanted to sing along. :)

Italian-style breakfast is the best! Croissant with chocolate filling. Thank you, I think I'll have another. So much for maintaining gluten-free. Oh we'll, I'm only here for a few days. Back on the wagon when I get home. 

I discovered a solo travel habit that I need to change. Instead of stopping once in a while to eat/use the facilities, I wait and wait until I'm ready to pee my pants before I stop. We'll, today I did the same thing. Duh!  Then I saw the IKEA sign! I knew they would have food and clean bathrooms. So I stopped... Free parking, free bathrooms, and food! What more could you want?

Saturday I'm off to Grotto Gigante and the lighthouse in Trieste.

Ps I'm currently drinking apple juice from the Czech Republic that I bought at the supermarket. 

Thursday

Hi I took a few pictures from the ferry today. This is the cemetery island from the side that faces Venice. 

This is also the cemetery island, but on a different side. The ferry stopped at the island and people could walk through, but I didn't. 

On to the walking tour that I actually made it to today. I was glad I made it because our guide was very animated and informative. 

This is the back of the church facing the Grand Canal at the Rialto Bridge. There is an inscription there that reminds merchants to do good business. Also, our guide said that this is not the oldest church in Venice, but most Venetians will tell you that it is because it was in the center of commerce for so long. Here is the front of the church which faces a square where the Rialto Market used to start. 

I took this pic because of the greenery growing out of the rocks. Green things grow everywhere, even little cracks in rocks. 

I just liked this house, so I took a pic. 

Most of the buildings face canals and back onto squares. This building, however faces the square. Can you guess why?  We'll, I'll tell you. The used to be a canal between this house and the square which has now been filled in. Also interesting is the buildings on this side I the square are curved and not straight. 

After this we went to the Friari church. AMAZING!  Didn't take any pics inside because it felt weird. The funerary monuments in the church were amazing and the are no words to describe the paintings. You'll just have to come and see them yourself. 

Other cool things about the tour. Every year 30 million people visit Venice. The average stay used to be 3 days. Now the average stay is 5 hours. There is a cruise ship dock, so that explains a lot. The population of Venice is declining to about 1/3 what it used to be. People are leaving because it makes more sense financially to rent your place in Venice to tourists and have a not-so-crowded home on the mainland. Interesting to note that when you get off the tourist routes to popular places, it is quite silent. Ketchikan friends will recognize that for sure. And locals avoid the tourist attractions like the plague when possible. Ok, enough of that. 

Laughed today when I saw a guy in a boat talkin on the phone, driving with his bum. Yep, his bum was controlling the rudder. 

And then the ferry ride back to my B&B...

This boat. 

And the island of Burano

Leaning tower of Burano. :)

People watching also known as Wednesday

The first of my lighthouse pics. This one is called Murano Faro. Faro means lighthouse in Italian and this one is on the island of Murano in the Vanetian lagoon.  Pic isn't so great. I suppose that comes from being on a boat while taking it. :)

So my observations... Only tourists wear white tennis shoes. LOL!  Men and boys wear their pants properly. I like it. Old women and men ride bicycles. I want to do that when I'm old...and when I'm young. Guess I'd better get my bike out and get the tires pumped up. Children are children. They go to school, play soccer, misbehave, and get tired after a long day looking at things their parents are intersted in, and not enough gelato. People love their dogs and take them on the ferry and for walks on cobbled streets.

Now more pics...

From the Rialto bridge

This building is being restored. What you see is actually a big printed picture of what it will look like when finished. Pretty crazy what they do here so that tourists have a nice view. Notice the crane on the roof. The word for crane is gru. Yep, same as in Despicable Me. I laughed when I learned that Italian word. 

This is the Palazzo d'Oro on the right. The arches used to be gilded with gold to show how wealthy the owners were. 

A treasure I found during my Wednesday wandering. 

Another Wednesday wandering treasure. 

Ground level windows all have metal grates of some kind. Many are decorative.

Another Wednesday wandering treasure. 

Yet another Wednesday wandering treasure. This pwas the the upper part of the former hospital entrance. All of the statues have metal halos. Very interesting. 

I finally wandered into St Mark's square which was flooded. Many people of all ages had no shoes on and were playing in the water. So fun! As you can see the church is undergoing renovation. I didn't go in, but the mosaics under these outside arches were amazing!

Another pic of the flooded square. 

Around the corner and facing the water is the Doge's Palace or Palazzo Ducale. This is the inner courtyard. On the right of the pic is the water well that can be found in every square in the city. Once a man was elected and sworn in as Doge, he was only allowed to leave the palace with the Venetian council's permission. And leaving the city was a really big deal. I learned that before I toured all the rooms. Then in the three hours it took me to walk through the place, I realized that it wouldn't be so bad to be stuck in that palace. 

A fancy gondola under the portico in the courtyard. 

This was interesting... If someone knew of a crime someone had committed, they could write it down and put it anonymously in the mouth of this plaque. It would fall into a box inside. The complaint would then be investigated. Thousand year old "tip-a-cop" started by Venetians. 

The next few pics are from inside the political chambers of the Doge's Palace. There were rooms for each governing council: the Council of Ten, the Councils of Forty who were represented by a head council of each group. Anyway, this is actually one of the smaller rooms, but it gives an idea of the intricacy of the artwork and guilding in the council rooms. 

Not only did they have a clock that showed 24 hour time in this room...but also a face with astrological signs. Wish the pic was better. 

A view out one of the third floor windows. 

Another third floor window view looking down on the courtyard. 

Other direction out the same window. 

Detail in the wall of the courtyard. 

This photo is one of the paintings in the largest of the political assembly rooms. Can you find the man scratching the dog?

There was also an armory with an AMAZING collection. Swords, armor, crossbows, lances, guns. WOW! Speechless. There were about 12 cases like these two in one room. Impressive. 

I was quite tired after all that wandering. Took the ferry around the south side and discovered a place I want to go tomorrow.  It was a great day. 

First night in Italy

Where to begin?  The flight from Paris to Venice was mostly uneventful. Two notable items...LOVED listening to the flight attendant speaking four different languages asking, "tuna or cheese" sandwich? Tuna or cheese? Tuna o cheso? Tuna o formaggio? Tuna o fromage?  So silly! He was a hoot!  Item number two...as we descended into Venice I felt like I was in "City in the Clouds" from Empire Strikes Back. So beautiful...I wish I had my camera out, but alas no.

Here is my little Fiat that I'm driving. Cute little car with lots of get up and go!  It is parked at the B&B I'm staying at in a little beach town just a vaporetto ride away from Venice.  

This is the front of the B&B. My room is on the second floor

Here is my room. 

This photo I've titled "Showering with friends" but of course I took this little gecko out of the shower before I got in.

Here is the view out my window.  The countryside is mostly farms. I've mainly seen corn. It is quite humid and VERY green.  

Went for a walk tonight at dusk, or I would have a ton more pics of houses that I'm in love with.  Guess I'll have to walk again tomorrow when there is more light so I can take care of that.  Then the full moon came up and was bright orange sitting on top of the trees.  SO gorgeous, but a cloud got in the way before I could take a good pic.

A couple more funnies from my walk...a car playing loud music passed me, yep they were playing Tina Turner. AND of course the two drunk guys on bicycles who passed me ...twice... saying "Ciao Bella!" and then went back to their conversation in German.  HEHE!

Great day today...another one tomorrow with a walking tour of Venice, vaporetto ride, and gelato! And more pics of the houses here...so cute! Large, but cute...is that possible?  You decide... 

This blog has been travel-jacked!

I suppose you know it is going to be a great trip when you open the window shade in the middle of the very short night and see the Big Dipper framed perfectly.  But then as I gazed at the dipper for a minute I realized that the reflection in the window wasn't a reflection at all, but a dim bit of northern lights!  As I watched for a minute they got brighter! Green dancing lights from 39,000 feet...Amazing! Oh, and by the way, we had a tailwind of 102 mph, and it was -75 degrees F outside. I love technology.

I sat next to a very nice lady from Logan, UT who was going to Berlin among other places.  Her excitement was contagious and I enjoyed sitting next to her.  I also watch the movie Maleficent, which I hadn't seen before and I quite enjoyed it.  As many of you know, I love people watching.  The Paris airport is fantastic for that.  People really are the same wherever they are in the world.  The airport itself is also interesting.  It is mostly glass with a metal shade covering.  I'd like to take a picture, but I don't want to look too much like a tourist.  I'll see about sneaking a pic...

So there is your sneaky pic. :)

Almost to Italy. Give me a few more hours.

So if you are reading this and wondering what happened to the tiny house blog, this is still it. I'm just taking a little vacation to Italy for a couple of weeks. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my adventure.  If you aren't interested in Italy come back in a couple of weeks and the bungalow will be back in the spotlight.

Just a Mom funny

Mom, what are you eating?

Who me?

Yeah you. Are you eating beets from the garden?

Why, yes I am and they're delicious!

You got any more of those?