Posted on Jun 26, 2009
I woke up earlier than everyone else and went for a wander. Venice is a city of alleys, and everytime I saw one with nobody in it, I'd turn down it. There were a few dead ends, but mostly a series of fascinating views. I saw Vivaldi's parish church, adn teh church of St. Zeccaria, where the art work is overhwelming, but the crypt under the church is awash in sea water.
We went out to Murano where Giles got to stand up with the glassblowers to watch them work at close quarters. Then back to the main island for a long wander around St. Mark's square and a gondola ride. One day in Venice was not enough, but it was better tahn miising it entirely.
We took off early the next morning for Paris. With two train changes, Milan and Genva, we spent a whole day on the way. The goal was to give Sam and Alex a view of Switzerland, even if we couldn't stop, and Switerland delivered. The eastern part of the Alps are more smaller than what you get in the middle of the country, but for those of us used to American mountains they are a revelation. We spent the Swiss part of the journey glued to the windows.
We got into Paris at 11:00 and cabbed to the hotel (just off of Rue Cler). It had been a long day, but we were wide awake and walked over to the Eiffel Tower. It was too late to go up, but we wandered around the base and took far too many picutres.