Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Back to work, slowly

No more wandering around Venice (as I am on the left) or the rest of Italy for me. It's back to reality and "catch up with secretarial stuff" day, plus laundry day and, if my still somewhat cloudy brain will cooperate, start thinking about the next book. I've already done some of the secretarial stuff, because I'm still not back on my regular wake-sleep schedule. It's amazing how much you can get done before 9 a.m. when you wake up at 4 a.m. I do note that I currently have a cup of coffee close beside me, although I generally prefer tea.

Recently, the good folks at Harlequin have posted about my crafts and recipes on Facebook and MySpace, which I still can't figure out how to back into! That's one of my secretarial tasks this week.

Speaking of coffee and tea, though, kudos to Italy for the generally fine cups of tea. I know they're into expresso there, but let me tell ya, those expresso machines also insure that the hot water for tea really is HOT. None of this lukewarm business! And the teapots in restaurants are generally at least two cups. That was an unexpected bonus.

Here are more pictures of Venice, from our first day. In the more popular areas, it really is wall-to-wall people. Further away from Piazza San Marco (which was slightly flooded by the time we returned), it's less crowded.

This is how crowded parts of Venice were - and we were there in the "slower" season, ie. not the summer. I can't even imagine....











The Rialto, where I have been twice, not "many a time and oft..."










The Grand Canal










A not-so-grand canal, but this gives you an idea of what most of the canals in the city are really like - really narrow.









Wash day in Venice!

Actually, hanging washing out the windows is extremely common in Italy. They have special contraptions you attach to your balcony to do so.





How could I not include a picture of a gondola? Having seen just how narrow those canals can be, the design of the gondola and method of propulsion makes a lot more sense to me now.

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