Once again, we were mistaken for twins... Other than that (in Rocio's opinion) somewhat bitter situation, today was spent exploring the beautiful city of Venice. First, we went on a water bus ride through the Grand Canal. From there we visited several churches, one in which I believe Rocio created some kind of sin, having spent about ten minutes praying for a fire to start in Oregon. Then, we went to a 18th century costume museum. Definately not what we expec...

We both really like Venice even if it is in "magnificent decay" because city laws don't let property owners change their buildings (tourism plays a major role). To get to the main island of Venice from Giudecca where our hostel is, we've been taking vaporettos, or water buses. We saw the hordes of tourists at St Mark's Square and then into the quieter (but still busy) St Mark's Basilica where the saint's remains are supposed to be below the main altar. Unfortu...

Today we saw a castle and we were called "Julieta" by an admiring male passing us ad we walked into the grocery store. We relaxed the rest of the day in preparation for the hectic and SuPeR busy days we have planned for Venice, Florence, and Rome.

Today was all about Rick Steves. We took his self-guided tour of Verona to see the sights at this quieter and calmer city. At "Juliet's house" we saw the balcony and, at Rick Steeves' suggestion, walked up the flight of stairs at the nearby embroidery shop into Giulieta Club that replies to letters from all over the world. It was incredibly interesting to read the questions women and girls wrote to Juliet asking for advice. Dinner is a cheap mixed salad with c...

Yesterday we went to the Matisse museum, walked, and went to the beach for the last time. Random quote from Constanza: "hey look, my legs are tanner than the concrete!" ~~~~~~ Today it took us four trains to get from Nice to Verona. We also realized that the Italians are the sweetest Europeans. First, we were given a chair next to a lady that had been reserving it for her husband, at least that is what we gathered from her five sentences in Italian. When the ...