……………….VENICE……VENICE……VENICE……….What a MAGICAL CITY!!!!………Jac had been to Venice a few times for work…..Twice she did extravaganza fashion shows for Armani, and once for Frere……I had never been…..She said we must go to Venice! The first trip we took we called our “CANAL TRIP”…….First we spent a week in Venice, and then we spent a week in AMSTERDAM…….Two incredible cities built on canals…..and that was the only similar thing….On our first trip to Venice we stayed at the Danieli, an incredible 5 star hotel. We had a marvelous room on a high floor with a balcony overlooking the Grande Canal……It was splendid!….We walked all over Venice. We found a wonderful chocolate shop near the hotel which became one of our first stops of the day…..We spent a few hours on the glass blowing Island of Murano ,and watched them blowing the glass. It was in August so these furnace rooms were really hot!! We bought a gorgeous complete set of glasses, service for twelve, all were etched with grapes and vines. We used it once, and it remains packed away. It was just too delicate. I think we were carried away with Venice and Murano. We also bought three very thin glass decanters in different sizes, also beautifully etched with different designs. We both loved the movie “Summertime”, directed by David Lean, staring Katherine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi, When we saw “The RED GOBBLET” like the one in the movie, in St Marks Square, we had to have it!….It is perched on an open shelf in the kitchen for all to see….On another day trip we went to the Island of Burano [photo second in from the top right]…where the rainbow fell. Each house is painted a different beautiful color. The Island is know for its’ lace making….I’m pretty sure we bought a few table cloths of different sizes and shapes…..Then we went to the Island of Torcello which has a famous restaurant in a garden setting where we went for a marvelous lunch……On our second trip we stayed at the famous Gritti Hotel. Again, we had a beautiful corner room with a wonderful view. We did all of the tourist things….antique shopping, going to the incredible cathedral in St Marks Square, the Doge’s Palace, the historic Cafe Florian, the infamous Harry’s Bar. and in the evening we sat at one of the cafes in St Mark’s Square listening to the wonderful orchestras….sipping Campari and soda……Our trips to Venice are some of my most cherished memories.
