Blog

By special request, I’m going to attempt to post my photos along with the original journal text. This is going to make some of these entries long…but let’s see how this goes. We begin our two-week photo recap of Italy with Day 1…the flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt (on United) and on to Venice (on Lufthansa). (The original journal entry from May 15/16 is here.)

And we’re off.

Once in Frankfurt, we made our way to our connecting flight like two seasoned travelers. A sweaty bus from gate to plane, and a quick flight across the Alps to Venice. (Our first time at this airport.)

We caught an airport-based water bus…Alilaguna…which got VERY warm when everyone closed their windows to keep the splashes out. We hopped (slowly) across the Lagoon…to Murano, the Lido (our first glimpse of this popular, car-ridden beach destination), and a couple stops in Venice before reaching the last stop in Venice–our stop–Zattere in the Dorsodoro. Our hotel–the Hotel Belle Arte–was only a short walk away.

A quick shower to de-sweat, and then off for a short welcome-walk and then dinner. After a long day, we went straight for the reliable Rosa Rossa. Pizzeria. Pizze Diavola and Pizze Funghi. Tiramisu to finish.

We ended the evening on the hotel’s loggia overlooking their compact garden. Oversized cushioned chairs and a cool breeze coaxed us toward sleep, which was soon to follow.

Most spam email gets caught and fitered away these days. But today, one made its way into my inbox, and I found the random spam-thwarting words (scatted before and after “Helen’s” appeal for “new friends”) to be calmly poetic:

interest

make least
job

Seems to fit my mood for the day. Thanks “Helen”.

Toni Basil and "Hey Mickey" don't belong in my head…incescently repeating…throbbing…with images of pom poms…when I"m trying to fall asleep 🙁

So, we arrive home last night to find a dried, flattened squirrel carcass lying on top of Jeff’s car. Two immediate thoughts came to mind:

1. Clearly, the squirrel clearly didn’t jump onto Jeff’s car, kill itself, and dry quickly to the consistency of beef jerky.
2. Who the hell picks up roadkill and puts it on someone’s car? Ick!

No…we did not make lemonade…or squirrel jerky. However, we have started wishing a pox of dead squirrels on stupid people who cut us off in traffic 🙂

I can report that both Jeff and I have at least DOWNLOADED our Europe photos…I’m going to guess nearly 3000 between the two of us. Since Jeff’s photos are on his laptop, he has actually looked at all of his, but I can’t report that much progress 🙂

One happy diversion from sorting photos was an all-too-brief visit from my Aunt Teela and Uncle Jim. They arrived mid-week from Virginia and spent a couple of nights in Yosemite before staying with us for the weekend. It was wonderful to see them and spend a couple of quiet evenings at home…including several rounds of Mexican Train.

On Saturday, we drove up to the Marin Headlands and walked out to the picturesque Point Bonita lighthouse. Along the way, we were joined by chatty park volunteer Tom…who eagerly pointed out breeding Harbor Seals, hundreds of floating Western Grebes, and all the poisonous plants along the path. He also introduced us to a wild cabbage plant who’s flower (the yellow one below) tastes like coleslaw…not sure if there is enough separation between the edibles and the poisonous plants for MY liking. We also spotted nesting gulls–perched on treacherous outcroppings–and swallows–tucked into every nook. Vultures and pelicans rounded out the wildlife. Matthew did tricks for the camera 🙂

After lunch at one of our favorite spots–Paradise Bay on the Sausalito marina–we took a winding scenic drive along the City coast, including a stop into the re-opened Fort Point historic Civil War-era fortress. The newly repainted and seismically upgraded underbelly of the Golden Gate Bridge’s was as bright orange as I’ve ever seen it. Brilliant.

On Sunday morning, Teela and Jim headed north towards the redwoods, Mt. Shasta, and Crater Lake. We worked in the garden a bit…and found a pleasant surprise. One of our grassy plants decided to bloom this year…small, beautiful flowers…we didn’t know it produced these 🙂