Merrily, Merrily, Merrily

(Ok, just so you know there are 3 other blogs that we put up today)

First of all, a weird start to the day as Giuseppe was not driving our bus. Apparently it was his registered day off, and so we went off with Veto as our driver - very disconcerting as he is about 3 feet shorted than Giuseppe. Giuseppe stayed with us anyway, just to make sure we were looked after and got there safely.

Today was just the best day of the tour so far. We spent the day in Venice, with a glass blowing demonstration to start. Bek has seen it before - I haven't. It is officially the most amazing technique I have ever seen! In the space of seconds, the master had created a carafe and a horse, both incredible and strong. The glass they have in Venice is called Murano glass - sold all over the world, but comes from a small island that we went past today, just off Venice city. After the demostration, they showed us all the different colours and told us how they made them, along with the gold leaf covering that just made them so beautiful. We could have bought everything in the shop, but for the price. There were also the most amazing chandeliers that apparently took 6-7 masters to create, using different techniques that they were each experts in. It takes around 25-30 years to become a master. Wow. One of the girls did end up buying a cup and saucer - 260 euros. :O

The glass blowing demonstration finished in time for Bek and I to get some gelati (banana and mint choc/hazelnut for Bek) and then meet the family for the gondolas. This was by far the highlight of Italy for both of us. Not all of the family came (we tried to persuade Papa to come, but he said he had been enough times) but they split us up into 3 gondolas. They put the 2 couples into one (so cute, one of our couples has been married 6 months and they are so beautiful!) and the musicians went in that one as well. There was a singer and an accordion player too (so wish we could put a video on here!). They put 5 others in another gondola, and 6 of us in the 3rd. It was a bit scary getting in, as it rocked precariously every time someone stepped in. Luckily we are in Italy and the Italians love to always be touching you and holding your arm as you get in or out of things, so we felt safe. Our gondolier wasn't wearing the striped shirt, but one of them was, so that was very exciting. We were serenaded as we drifted through the romantic little canals, the envy of everyone that saw us. It was just so... Italy. It was definitely 30 minutes we will always remember. Perfecto.

We had free time to get lost in Venice after the gondolas - we were actually very careful because in every other city Papa has told us it's ok to get lost, he can find us if we ring him, but in Venice if we get lost, 'you are lost to Papa forever'. So we made sure we knew where we were - he did give us 2 different maps and spent a long time explaining the city, so I think he was serious. It was very much a labyrinth and if not for the maps and signs, we would have been lost to Papa forever very easily. But we had a great time exploring the little alleyways and numerous jewelry stores. So much beauty in Venice - they love their glass and their fashion. We went to see the church (just the main one, not all the others) in San Marco square (St Mark's square) which was, like the others, just incredible. This one, however, had these amazing mosaics made from gold - so beautiful. (Right now Bek is playing back the video of Francesco serenading us and it sounds so funny! Very distracting...)

At 1.50pm (We did a lot today, the times were very important) we met Papa and the family to get back on the boat and we toured around the islands and the Venetian lagoon for about an hour. The water was like glass - just incredibly smooth. We passed Murano to arrive at Burano, famous instead for it's S shaped cookies, which we had. And fed some to the seagulls. The normal ones, not the giant mutant scary ones. Burano was very peaceful and pretty, and we saw a lace demonstration there. It was not as much of a demostration as an invitation to buy, much the same as the ladder/letter/leather demonstration. But still very intersting and pretty. They apparently were made famous in Burano for the lace stitch that they invented.

We left Burano to sail into the sunset, and back to the dock to find Giuseppe and Veto waiting for us with the nice warm bus (a little on the cooler side today and yesterday). A night in at the hotel tonight, and tomorrow Papa is evilly waking us up at 6am to make our way back to Rome. Very sad face. We are sad to be 'abandoning Papa', as he calls it, and have really been having the best time. It's a long drive back to Rome, but then we have the farewell dinner tomorrow night to make up for it. And then a very early start in the morning to make our way to Zurich. Papa has very kindly allowed us to tag along with another early starter to get to the airport.

Love,

Bek and Belle

P.S. Embarrassing moment of the day: We have learned a little of the Italian language on this tour, and proudly call out our words to Papa during the day. We also try to encorporate them into our days in Italian cities. Today we were being serenaded by a man with an amazing voice on the gondolas (do all Italians sing like that??) and so we called out Brava! Brava! As we have so often heard Papa telling us. When we got back to the hotel I asked him, 'Papa, I have heard you say brava, and brave (bravee) - what is the difference?' He then proceeded to tell us there was brava, bravo and brave - depending on the gender. That's right - we were complimenting our singer on his lovely feminine voice. :P