We left early in the morning, but because of traffic it took longer than usual. We didn't want to miss our tour so we took a water taxi straight to St.Marks. Our timing was perfect, the guide walked up within minutes of us arriving. She was very friendly, a nice change from our last guide. Our group was much smaller than our last tour, making it easier to see our guide. We had to buy cover-ups at the door because no bare shoulders or short shorts are allowed...

We slept in late and enjoyed coffee and brunch made by Tim and Doug. We could hear the kids practicing a show that they were preparing to show us. Mid-afternoon we drove an hour away to the town of Roncade, found between Treviso and Venice. We were looking for Castello di Roncade, a working vineyard/country villa/winery, that has been in continual operation for over 500 years. We recognized the winery from pictures we saw; two tall towers, a moat and ...

We left the house early and drove into Venice. The highway across the water ran parallel to a train. The smell of the water was funky and we hoped the canals wouldn't smell as strong. The parking garages were obvious as soon as we crossed the bridge. We parked and started our walk through the streets of Venice looking for St.Mark's square. There were endless bridges, connecting mazes of streets lined with doors and shops. Looking up were windows, many wi...

We were not in a hurry to leave our villa, so we decided to sleep in and spend the day relaxing. Tim made coffee with an Italian perk. It was delicious! We sat in the garden for a while having coffee, catching up, and exchanging travel stories. I looked online for Venice tours to book; we decided on touring Dodges palace Tuesday and St.Mark's Cathedral Thursday. The day was heating up quickly so we headed to the pool and cooled down. The rest of the afternoo...

We were all excited about getting to our villa near Venice and meeting up with Tammy, Doug, Deborah, Mila and Makenna, who just flew in from Paris. We arrived in Codogne, a village in the province of Treviso, 50 km out of Venice. I was somewhat nervous about the condition of our villa, because if it ended up being a lemon other families would be effected, and I felt responsible. We were an hour ahead of Tammy and Doug, so I knew if it was really bad we could c...