On a Gondola Singing “O Sole Mio”… Where Else?

I spent a week in Venice over the millennium. There is simply no city that compares. Made up of over 100 islands separated by canals and interconnected by bridges. It is a walking city and nothing is more enjoyable than meandering through the maze of squares and bridges. To go further distances the mode of transportation is either gondola or water taxi. Upon occasion you may hear off in the distance a gondola pilot singing “O sole mio”.

Venice has been the back drop for so many movies. Standing on the famous Rialto Bridge or in San Marco Square you can’t help but picture yourself in one of these stunning movie scenes. One of my favorite finds, deep in the maze was coming across an old mask making shop. Known for their carnival masks, the proprietor was kind enough to let us watch him finish up the mask he had been working on. Perhaps impulsive but we ended up buying two, and both still hang on my wall in the living room.

A fun day trip was taking the water taxi over the island of Murano. Known for its famous glass making. We went to one of the many factories and watched a demonstration of glass blowing. It’s quite amazing to watch them take a piece of glass and transform it beautiful shapes and colors. I ended up getting a paper weight with a beautiful lunar landscape that still sits on my desk today.

Each day is full of a different adventure. A must see if Italy is your destination.