Vivid Venice & A Lucky Winner

Hello dear friends.  I hope that you had a good week.  All is well around here.  I attended another Supper With The Authors, which is always a delightful way to spend an evening. 

Can you guess which one is the before picture?

The biggest news around here is that Chili got groomed!  It's been five months due to her surgeries, and no one is happier than her Mama.  We celebrated by buying her a new hoodie with the words I Love Dad painted on the back.  
It never hurts to advertise your sponsor.
Stay classy, Chili.

***** 

A few days ago I was deleting some pics from my phone and realized that I never wrote about the last stop on our cruise that we took last Summer.  My camera went on the fritz, so I had to use my phone, and that's how I missed including it in my 2018 Cruise posts.  

We docked in Venice, and the Mister and I stayed a couple of days there.  If you would like to read the other posts, you can find them here, here, and here.

It was hard to say goodbye to our home away from home.

I spotted this suave guy the minute I hit land.  I told the Mister that we needed to hit the closest Men's store ASAP for some new threads for him.  Vineyard Vines and bowties were not going to cut it in Venice.

Move over, George and Amal...

the Clooneys are in town!

Our hotel was located in a quiet, residential area.  There were plenty of restaurants that we could walk to, but very little shopping.

All the chandeliers in the hotel were made out of Murano glass.  

Which one is the concierge and which one is the American tourist?

We found a great restaurant near our next stop.

Goodbye Uber!

Hello Gondola!
Can you tell how jealous the gondolier is of the Mister?

The next day we hired a guide who took us to the three famous islands of the Venetian Lagoon.
Our first stop was Murano which is the most commercialized of the islands.  It is famous for glasswork.  We visited the Murano Glass factory and showhouse.  

One of the glass blowers showed us the steps that went into his craft.

I couldn't help but wonder how many tourists came home with a picture of this gent on their phones.  

We also visited the store.  I had a salesman on my back with every step I took.  I couldn't look at anything without the guy telling me that he would give me a deal on it.  

Ugh... I finally pointed out the Mister and told him to go tell my Dad about all the great buys.  He had money that was burning a hole in his pocket.

As soon as he approached the Mister, we were out of there.

Our next stop was the colorful island of Burano.

Burano is famous for its lace.

I bet the kids on the island have no problem remembering which house is theirs.

By the way, our guide was wonderful.  It fascinated me that the only way to get around was to walk or to take a boat.  I asked our guide if anyone has cars.  He said that a lot of families share cars. 

He told me that he used his shared car twice last year.

Our last stop was the island of Torcello.  Unlike the other islands, very few people live here.  It is the home of a beautiful Catholic church and a charming restaurant called Locanda Cipriani.

We got there early and by the time we left this place was hopping.

The food and service was nothing less than superb.

In the lobby, there were autographed pictures of all their famous guests.

I hope they make room for a snapshot of the Mister and me.

Our last evening we walked to Algiubagio. I took this pic from their website.  We were lucky enough to sit at this table.

I highly recommend this restaurant as well.  It was the perfect place to bid ciao to lovely Venice.

And last but not least...

Our winner is...

Peggy Mae
who mentioned the book
The Secrets of the Bastide Blanche

Congrats, Peggy Mae.  
Please e-mail me your address.

Until next time...

Tinkerbell the Dog


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