DAY 37 WED JULY 19 MORE VENICE FUN AKA BOCA DOUBLES DOWN ON SHOPPING

Boca brilliantly left her computer on the coach at the last stop of the tour.  Never happened the 2 weeks riding around, she waited till it would be really inconvenient to retrieve it.   But through phone calls and figuring it out, the computer was retrieved.  So Boca is back in business.  Without blogging daily, ol'Boca tends to forget where the heck they were 2 days ago so blogging is now SOP for recollection.

Ok Boca up and at'em.  Breakfast on the terrace please. You can stare at the church as much as you want- and we both know that will not make you holy.

Right Bubs, that's exactly what I am staring at.

Daily prayers a must.

















Get back to staring at the church would ya?  You're no Cougar.















Or Boca could look at the table next to us....the couple got up from breakfast and in swooped the pigeons.  Ewe.



















When was the last time you saw room keys?














Yes Bubs, you can barely fit through the elevator door.








Boca loves another church right outside the back door...



Cut the crap Boca, you like the shopping on this street.



Have at it and I'll go back in and read the paper....come get me when you're done.  That would be in 15 mins.  Keep that dream alive Bubba.



I guess this poor soul (begging in prayer fashion) thought she might have some heavy hitter donations coming her way if she perched in front of Bottega Veneta.  On one hand Boca does not like the concept in any way (lots of gypsies in Italy doing this) and on the other hand sometimes I feel like I am looking at the face of Christ and should give them something.  How do you handle beggars?



This fine saleswoman did what I have not been able to do for 41 years- she got  Bubs to buy a pair of Todds.  Bravo!





















Topped off by a 45 euro haircut for a guy that likes Supercuts- I was double shocked.



25 million tourists visit Venice each year and many of them like to feed the flying rats. All it takes is a handful of birdseed to transform any tourist visiting Venice's historic St. Mark's Square into a human perch for a fluttering mass of pushy pigeons.   Ugh.  Who is on pigeon patrol?  The local government enacted a law in 2008 making it illegal for tourists to feed the pigeons and we can see that is working-NOT.  One person told us they are feeding the pigeons birth control to limit the numbers.  And now they have sea gulls on the loose- a lot more aggressive than the gross pigeons.  The Italians used to eat the pigeons- I say mange mange!







Time for a cold one and a little lunch.  The Peroni beer was only 12 euros.  A bargain.   Nothing like a lunch with a gazillion pigeons and tourists.
















Back to shopping while Bubs hunted pigeons on the terrace.




The staff gave him the pigeon stick to make sure he had some fun hunting.




All that shopping makes a gal hungry.  However our dinner was a real bust.  We had dinner at Piccolo Martini.  Managed by an Asian gal, all of the waiters were from India- the food and service sucked.  Note to self:  when the restaurant is empty, run.  It encouraged Boca to post on Yelp and Trip Advisor-a first for Boca.  Does anybody body pay attention to those postings?  Do the posts matter?  Do you post?

DAY 36 TUES JULY 18 ROMEO, ROMEO, WHERE ART THOU? VERONA OF COURSE THEN ON TO VENICE

Nothing says safe driving like watching the bus driver next to us barreling down the highway staring at his phone texting.




MaMaMaMa My VERONA!




VERONA- THE PERFECT PLACE FOR STAR CROSSED LOVERS -al la Romeo and Juliet or per Bubba "more like The Taming of the Shrew".

Verona is a city on the Adige river in Veneto, Italy, with approximately 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven provincial capitals of the region.  The metropolitan area of Verona has a population of 714,274 inhabitants. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy, owing to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows, and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient amphitheater built by the Romans.  That old coliseum comes in handy these days- who'da thunk it?  Three of Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew. It is unknown if Shakespeare ever visited Verona or Italy at all, but his plays have lured many visitors to Verona and surrounding cities many times over. The city has been awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.

New rules, no tour buses allow to drive in the city so they developed a drop off system.  Love walking from a bus to a bus to go see somethin.  At least the Murray ladies had some fab gams to show off so Pleep had a nice view on the schlep to the old town




How about that crypt of one of the holies?  On the side of a church? Now that's a first for Boca.





Boca is all Romeoed up while....



Bubs is more interested in the Rock and Roll Store.




More of the same- hot and crowded.  Damn Hot.  I bet half of these people don't know who Shakespeare is.





And lots of Romeo and Juliet graffiti to see.  Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet made Verona a household word. Locals marvel that each year, about the 1,600 Japanese tour groups who break their Venice-to-Milan ride for an hour-long stop in Verona just to stand in a courtyard.   I think we saw half of them today!  The House of Juliet, where the real-life Cappulet family once lived, is a crass and throbbing mob scene. The tiny, admittedly romantic courtyard is a spectacle in itself, with visitors from all over the world posing on the almost believable balcony and taking snapshots of each other rubbing Juliet's bronze breast, hoping to get lucky in love.

The city is so famous for love that it gets countless letters addressed simply to "Juliet, Verona, Italy." There are even volunteers to respond to these mostly lovesick people (see www.julietclub.com). And they're getting even busier, thanks to the movie Letters to Juliet, about a girl (Amanda Seyfried) who finds a letter while visiting the House of Juliet and travels through Italy to help reunite the author with her lost love.  Oy vey.  Missed that movie-did you see it?

Even the nuns couldn't resist the love story.



Yes, your oh so very star crossed lovers.




Ok, enough of the Shakespeare...how bout a little shopping?




It's always fun to shop in foreign lands and see the version of the latest and greatest particular to the local culture and visitors...Gucci?  Must be those 1,600 Japanese tour groups influence.




The requisite Italian coliseum.  Despite the romantic fiction, the town is packed with genuine history. Because ancient Romans considered Verona an ideal resting spot before crossing the Alps, the city has a wealth of Roman ruins. The well-preserved amphitheater — the third largest in the Roman world — dates from the first century a.d. and still retains most of its original stone. Over the centuries, crowds of up to 25,000 spectators have cheered Roman gladiator battles, medieval executions, and modern plays — including Verona's popular summer opera festival, which takes advantage of the arena's famous acoustics.  Lots of actors and musicians roaming the town.




Ok Bubs, time for lunch- you pick a place.



Yeah sure, all the menus are the same- how do we pick the "right" one?



Ah no thanks Mr. Ressurectoris, that would be the Verona graveyard.





Back on the bus, as we watch another high speed train whiz by.  High-speed rail in Italy consists of two lines connecting most of the country's major cities. The first line connects Turin to Salerno via Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, the second runs from Turin to Venice via Milan, and is under construction in parts.  Trains are operated with a top speed of 190 mph.  Passenger service is provided by Trenitalia and, since April 2012, by NTV-Italo, the world's first private open-access operator of high-speed rail to compete with a state-owned monopoly. 25 million passengers traveled on the network in 2011. In 2015, ridership increased to 55 million for Trenitalia and 9.1 million for NTV, for a combined 64 million passengers.  Holy Moly!  And I fondly remember my "Eurail Pass" in 1972 on those rickety ass trains.  New ballgame today, that's for sure.





Boca manges to leave her computer on our coach at the last stop of the trip...couldn't have picked a better day.  As our bus driver sped off to Milan to pick up a bus load of Chinese tourists.  How will Boca blog?  How will she be the bank for the wedding extravaganza across the pond?  How will she not receive an email telling her she has been awarded all those millions of dollars from Nigeria?  As Bubba mumbled, "life will go on- believe it or not".

VENICE- an aeriel view puts this famous island city into perspective- no cars allowed.




Same idea with a birds eye view of the Grand Canal.

Venice  is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is situated across a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by 400 bridges. The islands are located in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, an enclosed bay that lies between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Parts of Venice are renowned for the beauty of their settings, their architecture, and artwork. The lagoon and a part of the city are listed as a World Heritage Site.

In 2014, 264,579 people resided in Comune di Venezia, of whom around 55,000 live in the historic city of Venice. Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area , with a total population of 2.6 million. 

The Republic of Venice was a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. The City State of Venice is considered to have been the first real international financial center which gradually emerged from the 9th century to its peak in the 14th century.  This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history.

It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. After the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna, the Republic was annexed by the Austrian Empire, until it became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1866, following a referendum held as a result of the Third Italian War of Independence. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi. Venice has been ranked the most beautiful city in the world as of 2016, however, the city is facing some major challenges however, including financial difficulties, erosion, subsidence and an excessive number of tourists in peak periods.

Our water taxi drops us off at our new digs- The Bauer Hotel.  A superb location.



The Bauer Villa/Hotel.





right next door to Chanel, LV, Gucci and Ferragamo, Bulgari, Dior and more- a dream for Pleep and Boca as Bubs went pale.

Sitting on “Bar Canale” terrace for a quick libation, gazing at the 17th century Church of Santa Maria della Salute across the Grand Canal, I could imagine the lazy mornings of the Venice nobles who once owned the Bauer Il Palazzo. They might have finished their coffees and walked the five minutes to the Palace of the Doges, where government business was carried out.  They or their servants might have stepped into a gondola to travel quickly to the Rialto, the market at the site of the famous bridge. That might have happened in the 18th century, when the Palazzo was built.

By a century later, in 1880, this elegant building was a hotel, reputed for thermal treatments with the water from the canal. Patrons could take it in their rooms for sea bath treatments. Arnaldo Bennati, a Genoan shipping tycoon, bought the palazzo in 1930. In the 1940s, he added an original 17th century gothic-Byzantine style façade and a modern addition, The Bauer. .

Bubs does not like "old" hotels (you're on the wrong tour Bubs) and was happy to see our hotel had a split personality- 1/2 modern, 1/2 vintage.

The newer building, fronting on the Campo San Moisè, has a façade typical of the forties and was quite controversial when it was built, with the design ordered by Rome. It shares the piazza with the baroque church of that name. Gondoliers wait for passengers at the San Moisè canal bridge near the hotel entrance.

Francesca Bortolotti Possati, granddaughter of Bennati,  became CEO in 1997. She returned to live in Venice only nine years ago, after spending 11 years in the US, where she took a degree in English literature and lived in Dallas, Blooomfield, Michigan, and New York City. In New York, she was a consultant to interior designers and decorators. She refurbished and expanded the properties with a passion illuminated by her experience in design.

Inside the hotels, the results of her sensibilities are evident. The Palazzo rooms have marble floors, silk brocade walls, gilded furniture and other antiques.  Shall we call this genetics of enhancement?

Pleep and Boca could sit out on that Terrace for along time enjoying the water action.

Oh yes, yes, yes!  Boca's absolutely favorite bookstore on the planet!  And it's in the lobby of our hotel.  Yes Yes Yes!




And Bubba said NO NO NO!  I gave away several hundred of those Assouline books (of which they published 1500)  there is a reason they spell the name like that Boca.  We don't need to schlepp or send any books home.  No room at the inn for those jumbo coffee table books.



Boo Hoo.   Time to meet the gang for some gondola riding- right out our front door.



Are we having fun yet? yelled over the family from Delaware.



The parade of Insighters sail around the canals. This unique boat was developed to fit the local condition and  a marvel of engineering- 38 feet long and weighing about  1,36 pound-yet it is easily  maneuvered by one person with only one oar.  The gondola is flat enough to float in a few inches of water.  It's asymmetrical and curved design allows it to go straight under the push of one oar, and its curve is calculated based on the oarsman's weight, so hypothetically each gondola is built for its owner.  Designed to transport people, it's decorated with elegance, gilded edgings, velvet  and brocade over comfortable cushions.  Tricky getting in and out but the ride is smooth.



Boca, tell me that guy is not texting and driving.  Yup.




Love love love Venice and so many buildings in need of serious repair.  UN/EU/UNESCO to the rescue?




Yes, the perfect fixer upper Bubbs.   How much does property run here?  How much does the renovation run?  You are looking for a project.  Make'em an offer!




I'll take a pass Boca.  And so glad our driver put the damn phone down.



Insight sent a lovely opera singer and accordion player to serenade us.  Bravo!  And Pleep and Boca couldn't help but break out in a sing along- a little off key Pavoriti never killed anyone Bubs.


The famous Rialto Bridge- always a stunner.



Back to the hotel for a pit stop then on to St. Marks square.  Boca strolls out to the terrace for one more look.




Our view is of the oh so architecturally fantastic Saint Maria Church.





After our pigeon outing- VENICES VERMON- in St Marks square, the group is thirsty and hungry.



We stop for a drink of some Apersol.  Some what?  Is that the organge  liquor or whatever I bought a case of?  Yup.  Bottoms Up.



Plumbers crack?  Nah, painters crack.   The town is filled with would be and wannabe artists.  Boca and Pleep enjoy chatting it up with the many many young people swarming this town.








Bubs said enough of painters crack, let's dig in.



 On the stroll home, Bubs eyed potential wedding garments for Alex and Eric.  "Why not?  Everything else for that wedding is over the top- this dress and suit should fit right in".



Pleep thought Bubs remarks were funny but reminded us that he will be a part of the festivities and we should start thinking about his threads.







Pleep couldn't get enough of the Pistachio Gelato.









How much more could we pack into a day.  Are you exhausted just reading about it?  Bub and I now fight to use his cane.  All this walking and schlepping and I gained weight???  As Bubs reminded me, "you can't outrun the fork Boca".