The gondolas are indeed everywhere. And clearly being a gondolier is one of the last places women have not yet penetrated. Apparently the men guard this privilege quite intensely, the few licenses here are inherited (I think through the widows, but it's not really clear).

One day women, one day.

For now, it's nice to watch the burly men in black and white pushing people through the canals of Venice . . . .

Venice, yeah that's right, Venice

Who knew??? This place of 20,000 tourists a day, gondolas, impossible streets (how we found our hotel I'll never know, but it involved roaming and just sort of sensing the turns to a little courtyard with a little, almost impossible to read sign), the Grand Canal, and the most amazing Palace. 47 styles and colors and religions and types of marble and art just sort of slopped together and somehow it all works.

All of you, if you are reading this, must drop everything and come to Venice right now. What else is there to do????

Quan and Sarah in Firenze

Having a great time on the Ponte Vecchio!! (This is V's son Quan and Quan's girlfriend Sarah, who popped down to Florence from London for a few days to hit the museums with us).

Toilets, again

I do like checking out different bathrooms around the world. My first bathroom in Torino (Turin) was a squatter. Took me a minute to figure it out, not that it's so complicated but my mind was refusing to register.

Also, I love the two options for water usage. Little buttons for just pee, bigger buttons (sometimes with very graphic icons) for, you know . . .