VENICE!

Oh finally, I have been dying to get the Venice Post done, but I wanted to keep things in order. We arrived in Venice on Saturday and were so excited this part was the Presidents conference which was kind of the best of the best. I was so proud of Chris for making this part of the trip because only the top 30-40 agents in the nation qualified. Pretty awesome for the first trip he had made. We immediately boarded our water taxi and headed over to the costume shop for our final fitting for the masquerade ball. It was pouring rain and there were about 50 of us who descended upon one tiny costume shop. Half of us had to stand out in the rain outside the shop, and by this time the 5 Euro umbrella we had purchased in Florence was broken on one side, so we stood under an awning for a while until we got inside. I finally got fitted for my cloak. I have to admit I had fantasies about this masquerade ball and when they asked for our bust, chest, waist and height measurements I was certain we were going to get gowns, but no, all we got was a fancy cloak, satin gloves and a decorative mask (that we got to keep). The men on the other hand got the works. They had tights, knickers, buckles for their shoes, velvet vests, billowy satin shirts, a cape, and a hat. I still don't get why if they had to cut back on costumes why they cut back for the women. We LIVE for that stuff. But I have let it go, and we still had a ball (haha). It was pretty awesome to get Chris in a purple satin blouse and tights, I mean when do you see your husband with that on! I so should have gotten pics of Chris pulling those tights up.

While we waited for the rest of the group we found a little cafe and had some hot cocoa and freshly baked croissants with apricot jam baked inside. Oh my goodness they were fantastic. We stayed and chatted and then began the exodus to the Trattoria de la Madonna for lunch. My umbrella lost another support and was drooping terribly, so on the way we quickly purchased a 10 Euro umbrella. After quite a walk down winding alleys, and over many bridges we arrived. There are no cars allowed on the island by the way not even scooters. You are on foot or on boat.

Every restaurant offers bread, pasta, a vegetable dish or salad, main course, dessert and coffee. So you are stuffed completely for every meal. I have no idea how I managed to avoid gaining weight but I didn't gain a pound. If you have ever travelled and had one of those experiences were you eat something so amazing and delectable it practically haunts you forever because you know you may never have it again. This was one of those moments. They had a Lasagna that was about the most incredible thing I have ever tasted. If I ever discover the cheese that just oozed from that wonderful creation there will be no hope for me. It was made with a white sauce and had pieces of ham and peas inside. The pasta was so tender and fresh and that CHEESE! Oh my gosh. Someone asked what type of cheese was in it and all they could remember was that it started with a P. It was a melty soft cheese so it wasn't parmesan, and I searched every market. But someday I am telling you I will find it. The same thing happened to me in France. I had a almond croissant pastry that I still can't forget and a melon sorbet that tasted like the ripest sweetest canaloupe you have ever tasted that melted in your mouth with perfect texture. Italy's melon gelato was very close but not quite, it was too creamy. Sorry I am obviously obsessed with food, but at least only excellent food. Thanks heavens I have tolerated dairy very well for having U.C. it usually is a taboo for some people with the disease, but frankly even if my system couldn't tolerate it, nothing could keep me from gelato and cheese in ITALY! Ramble, Ramble, Ramble.

Ok I'm back on track. We then took another water taxi over to the Molino Stucky Hotel. It was a new Hilton that they had just converted from an old flour mill and turned it into a huge Hotel. It actually had a POOL (not too common especially in Venice)! The rooms were big and just beautiful. Every inch of the bathroom was marble. Our other hotels didn't hold a candle to it and they were supposedly at least 4 star. We had the night to ourselves (no Horace Mann activites). We found a nearby laundromat and watched some interesting italian TV while our clothes were washing. On the walk back we passed our exact cruise ship heading down the canal on it's way out to the mediteranean again. It was hard to believe it had only been a week since we had been the ones leaving. We were getting hungry so we took a water taxi with friends over to St. Marks square and wandered around to find a restaurant off the beaten path. We had some great pizza, and then took in the square and the shopping surrounding it. We decided to wait to go on a Gondola ride for a night we could be alone.

The next day we had an awesome breakfast buffet at the hotel. It was so good they had every type of fruit you could imagine, different cereals and granolas, one whole wall was different types of cheeses, another table was different types of cut meats another table had bacon, sausages, potatoes, eggs, and waffles, a juice bar, and a whole table of different breads, pastries and croissants, and a juice bar. They even had the different foods color coded into low fat, low carb, high energy, etc. After that massive breakfast we then went on a tour of the Murano and Burano islands. Murano is famous for their glass making. We got to see a demonstration of a glassmaker, and tour their gallery. They were so amazing if you were loaded you could pick up chandeliers, stemware, vases, sculptures etc. There were a few things under a hundred Euros but most of the stuff was over 2,500 Euros ($4375). Even the stemware was still over $80 for a wine glass. Their chandeliers were all over $10,000 it was just scary to walk through some rooms.
Then we went over to Burano island. They are famous for their lacemaking. As we were pulling around to the dock all of the houses were painted very bright colors. It is a local legend that the wives of the fishermen painted their houses all different colors because when the men came back from the pubs they were a little inebriated and the island can get quite foggy. So with all of the houses different colors it helped their husbands find their way home. It was a very clean and charming island we headed over to a restaurant for lunch where we had bread, spaghetti with clams, salad, a variety of breaded and fried seafood (the tiny little calamari had eyes) that was very good (apart from the eyeballs). The shopping was great we found glass WAY cheaper than the gallery had it. Chris' mom had really wanted some venetian glass so we got her a dolphin and a big angel fish. We found Cate a Burano Lace umbrella and a decorated mask for her room and were running back to the boat to get back over to the hotel. That night was the masquerade ball! When we got back to our rooms they had already delivered the costumes so we showered and got ready in our costumes. We headed down stairs to catch the taxi's over to the Hotel Monaco where the ball was being held. I guess it was a famous spot that Cassanova had frequent rendevouz at. I will never forget the looks on people's faces when they saw 80 people dressed up like us getting off the boats near St. Marks square. Even the locals were stopping to take pictures. We all stopped and got individual pictures on the bridge in front of the bridge of sighs. While we were waiting for our turns there were a few couples who had lines that had formed to get their pictures taken with them, it was pretty funny. We were sure we were going to end up on You Tube somewhere. We all walked a short distance the the Hotel Monaco. It was a neat hotel. The bottom floor was ultra modern in it's decor and then through a doorway and up some marble stairs you felt like you were going back in time. They claim that everything was as it was in Cassanova's time. They served cocktails and hors'deouvres while we mingled and talked. They had a String Orchestra playing, and you felt like you were in some kind of fairytale. Then we all went into the dining room for dinner. They had a live band in there too, and after a few announcements from Corporate we had dinner: Rissoto, a beef filet encrusted with olives and herbs, and a crispy merengue dessert it was all amazing! We ate and danced and socialized, and then took tzxi's back to the hotel. Everyone thought it would be hilarious to stay in costume and head up to the hotel sky bar for drinks. We went up and talked while everyone drank, fortunately by this time people had stopped offering us drinks because they knew better. It was areally fun group and we made a lot of friends. After a while the jokes were only funny if you were drunk so we went back downstairs to our room to catch some sleep.

The next day we had the whole day to ourselves besides the farewell dinner so we took a taxi to St. Marks square again and got right in line to tour the Doges palace(pronounced DOH-jay). The Doge was an elected sort of king who served until death. The architecture was incredible. When the palace was at it's peak (the 1300's) it was a place that struck every visitor with a sense of their power and prestige. It was built to intimidate. You could not take pictures inside, but even outside on the balconies the ceilings were covered in 24 k. gold leaf. The inside had amazing tile work and oil paintings by Tintoretto everywhere. The largest oil painting in the world was in the room where the Venetian senate met. We then were able to cross the bridge of sighs over to the prison. The bridge between the two buildings was called the bridge of sighs because after their trial prisoners let out their last sigh before being put to death or imprisoned. It was so crazy to walk through that prison where you know thousands of people were tortured, died or lived out a miserable life. We went back across the bridge to the Doge palace and went under a large alcove from the palace to St. Mark Basilica (the private chapel of the Doge at the time). It was interesting to note that the long bridge /tunnel to the basilica from the palace was meant to symbolize the connection between the church and the government. The architecture of the basilica is unlike anything in the world. It is so ornate. It is a mixture of gothic, renaissance, and even middle eastern architecture, it was amazing. The campinella or belltower (the orange brick tower with the gold angel on top) is actually a reproduction. The original tower was leaning like many towers in Venice (as you probably noticed in the pictures) and actually toppled over in the 60's. It is said that the angel on top landed right in front of the basilica entrance standing upright.

After touring the basilica we wandered through the streets heading over to the Rialto Bridge (one of only two bridges that cross the grand canal). We found some interesting sights along the way. A gondolier patiently waiting on a bridge for the next passenger, a large building with an exterior winding staircase similar to the tower of pisa (this was tucked away in some winding alleys, what a discovery). We took some pictures of the Rialto but it was COVERED in people. I couldn't get over how crowded it was. St. Marks square wasn't that bad. We did some shopping and toured some really neat churches and opera houses along the way. We found a great variety of decorative pastas for family, I found my dad some Italian Pepperocinni peppers, and got the kids some of the famous venetian "S" shaped cookies (shaped like the canal). I found a beautiful silk scarf, and we bought an oil painting by a local artist. We were hoping to hit the Peggy Gugenheim museum at the end of our tour that day, but didn't make it. We were pretty pooped out by the end, and took the taxi back to the hotel. We took a little nap and then went to the farewell dinner. The dinner was a bit of a dissapointment. It was a buffet, and our table was called second to last so pretty much all of the good food was gone, and there was no real organization to any of it. I think the event coordinators wanted a buffet, which Europeans just don't do. They do everything in courses. So they tried to put all the plates in different spots on the buffet tables to accomodate some kind of course menu, but with the American mentality it was a disaster. We were most excited for the lasagna as it was so spectacular at the restaurant the first day, but it was gone. The waiters kept saying they were bringing more out in ten minutes, then twenty minutes, and then they brought out a tray of french fries, which didn't sit well with anyone and was frankly insulting. Finally after everyone had just finished dessert they brought out a tray of lasagna that was obviously a last ditch effort and still cold in the middle. We were pretty ticked about the whole thing. I mean everyone talks up the presidents conference like crazy saying how they treat you like royalty and it is so extravagant. It was for the most part, but some things like that dinner just should not have happened. When the event staff came to our table to tell us the order of the tables they assured us that they would not run out of food, and when they did the event staff was nowhere to be found to patch things up. After the dinner, everyone felt pretty down and underappreciated and we really did not want it to put a damper on the whole evening especially the last night. So we decided to head back to St. Marks square even though it was like 11:00p.m. and go on our gondola ride. We found a gondolier right off the taxi and he offered us a tour for 80 Euros which was pretty standard. I think he was the last one out there because the canals were empty. We only ran into one other boat on the entire tour. It was so awesome. To see Venice at night from a Gondola, when it feels like you have the whole city to yourself was indescribable. It was so romantic. It left all the negative feelings we had earlier in the dust. We were so glad that we waited to go alone at night. After the tour we went to St. Mark's Square to see the dueling orchestras. There are two restaurants that have their own orchestras outside that "duel" for applause and the crowds it was pretty funny to watch. Most of the square was empty also. There were only a few other couples out. A man came up to offer me roses, which is usually a scam, (beware of the rose guys) we had experienced this many times in Rome. But with an assertive "we are not interested in anything but the rose" Chris bought me one, and we sat down to listen to the music. The rose guy even started dancing, it was pretty funny. We took some pictures and headed back to the hotel completely enchanted by Venice.

Corfu, Greece

Yikes, sorry it has taken me so long to finish this up. So Corfu was kind of a whirlwind tour. We had pretty limited time and we really wished we had time for the beach here. It was so beautiful. The first place we stopped was at a palace. It was built by a woman named Elizabeth I think in the 1700's. Funny that that seems so recent compared to the other places we have been. The 1700's is practically as old as it gets in U.S. history. Anyways Elizabeth was fleeing her mother-in-law from Italy and loved Greece and traveling. Apparently she was very adventerous and her mother and law and her differed in the way they wanted the 2 grandchildren raised.So she decided she would take the children and build a new palace on the island of Corfu. One of the two children died in an accident while they were traveling which devastated her. The mother-in-law insisted that the other son come to live with her. She didn't see much of her son after that but he did go on to inherit the palace after she died. She was kind of a Princess Diana type to the people, as the mother-in-law didn't care for the bride her son chose. She had a taste for ancient greek mythology so the house and gardens are full of greek gods and goddess statues. Everything was very beautiful.

From there we went to a monastery on one of the peaks of the island. It was a greek orthodox monastery and the grounds were amazing. When we entered the church one of the monks got very upset that some of the visitors were not dressed appropriately. Bare shoulders and knees are taboo. I could definitely understand his point. The church was a sacred place and is very much in use and should be respected. We were racing for time, due to traffic and had to travel quite a ways back to the port. Our tour guide let us stop in town for about 30 min. and insisted that everyone had to board the bus back to the boat together, even though we still had two hours before we were due back at the boat. She got a bit upset when we wanted to take a cab back to the boat, for some reason she felt like she picked us up at the boat and had to return us to the boat. Although some friends we had who took other tours said their guide encouraged them to stay. They are all so different. We told her we were staying and she could wash her hands of responsibility for us. I am so glad that we were assertive. Corfu was a very beautiful town. We had some great pork souvlaki and pitas and then wandered around the city and shopped. We found an awesome shop that had carvings made of olive wood. They had about everything you could dream of made out of wood. We bought a mask that made me think of primary. If you look at it one way it is frowning and if you turn it upside down it is smiling. We ended up just walking back to the boat we weren't far from the water, although you had to walk about a mile to get around to the dock our ship was on. We were so glad we took the extra time.
We really would have missed the feeling of the people and the flavor of the city.

Santorini, Greece

By far one of my favorite places in the world. Santorini is exactly what I think of when I think of Greece. White washed houses with blue dome roofs lining the Adriatic Sea. As we approached the Greek Islands the tops of the mountains looked like they were snow capped, until you get closer and realize those are buildings. Santorini was so beautiful. We wore our bathing suits under our clothes hoping to sit on the black sand beaches for a while, but we just didn't have enough time. We were able to wander around Oia city for quite a while and take it all in. The shops had beautiful jewelry better quality by far than what we had seen anywhere. They also had great art, pottery, olive oil soap and olives of course. We spent quite a bit of time shopping. There were also an abundance of dogs everywhere. Just lying on the streets and in the squares. I'm pretty sure that they all had owners, they just wandered around without leashes. We then loaded back onto the tour buses and headed up to the tallest peak of Santorini to take in the view of the island.

From there we headed over to another winery for a "snack" of some of the most traditional dishes. If that was a snack, I can't imagine their idea of lunch. They had a buffet table loaded with a paste of beans (kind of like refried but I think it was made of garbanzo beans) topped with olives and cut tomatoes, some very uniquely shaped tomatoes, olives, pastries filled with different cheeses, grilled pork, a variety of different cheese slices, cherries, and grilled pita slices topped with olive oil. It was soooo good! I am drooling as I type just thinking about it. We totally gorged ourselves. During our meal they brought out dancers who showed us their traditional dresses and dances. It was a lot of fun. From the winery we went over to another area of the island I think it was Thira where we had a chance to shop and explore some more. There were fine jewelry shops all over the place and some great cafe's we stopped for some ice cream (which was amazing) I had a caramel and pistachio. We found some jewelry, pottery, a painted glass scene of Oia, some olive oil soap, and a pumice stone to remember the island (they have large pumice deposits and a mine). Then we had to decide if we wanted to take a donkey, or a cable car down the cliffs to reach the sea port below. We opted for the cable car. We heard the donkeys were pretty entertaining, but with glass and pottery we didn't want to chance it. The cable car was very scenic, it is amazing that those cities are perched up on cliffs like they are the views are just unbelievable. We definitely need to make a special trip back to Greece someday. We would really like to see Athens on the mainland and the island of Crete at least.

Kusadasi, Turkey

Pronounced Kush-AH-dah-say, was interesting but probably my least favorite. We took a tour bus to Ephesus, which is an ancient city built by the Romans. It was found when some men where building a road and unearthed some of the ruins. Since then they have excavated a portion of the site, but there are huge mounds all over just waiting to be excavated. They say an estimated 14% of Ephesus has been uncovered. The large library is the largest piece they reconstructed over many years. The city was destroyed when earthquakes and mud slides caused the city to become uninhabitable, and it was relocated several times. We had to travel by bus quite a ways to get to it, and apparently at one time it was a sea port city, so the topography has changed significantly since then. The asterisk looking symbol is a secret symbol that early christians used to indicate their secret meeting places. You can see the symbol carved into stones in quite a few places around the ruins.








The woman flying above is the goddess "Nike" see the swoosh! Just behind us was a huge ampitheater that could hold approx. 20,000 people. Our tour guide was telling us that the romans had hot and cold running water of sorts with huge public baths and central heating. they used large terracotta pipes that ran through furnace rooms and then through their houses to heat the water and their homes. They used fountains to cool the air around the city during the hot summers. After wandering through the ruins for a few hours I really wished there were some fountains still in operation. We were sweltering.

After the tour of the ruins they took us to a Turkish rug shop where we got to see how they still remove the strands of silk from the cocoons and how the Turkish women make their silk rugs by hand tying each individual strand from very complicated designs. They go so fast you can hardly believe it. Then they use special scissors to trim the ends to form the desired length of pile. The rugs average 600 knots per square inch, although the finer silk rugs can have as many as 2,000 knots per square inch. They took us into a show room and brought in red wine, coke, tea, and turkish pastries to eat while we watched them roll out $40,000 rugs right in front of us. I never realized why their rugs were so expensive until I saw how they were made. The $40,000 rug took two girls four years to make. I still can't believe they let us breathe in there let alone eat about six inches away from them. Besides the rugs the shopping in Kusadasi was much less expensive than other places, but the shopowners were much more pushy and aggressive. They would literally call out to you on the street to come into their shops, and they loved to haggle. Our tour guide said it is practically insulting to them if you don't haggle. All the tags and signs show a much higher price because it is simply a starting point for bargaining. There were fake designer purses, belts, sunglasses, and t-shirts galore. So if you want Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton plastered all over yourself you'd be in heaven. Although the quality was not so great. And in my opinion if you have to wear Dolce and Gabba like it's a billboard, you're probably wearing it wrong. They had far more fakes on one street than in all of Italy and it is apparently legal there because unlike in Italy the vendors don't gather their stuff up and book it when they see a cop. Also the pharmacy will give you about anything you want prescription or not, even Viagra. Which was prominently displayed for 15 Euros. Not that we partook (although we had the whole next day at sea! (J.K.)).
Word to the wise however do not even bother with their ice cream, it was absoloutley terrible. It has probably ruined me forever on kiwi ice cream. Not that it is readily available anywhere, but still, YUCK! It had to have been made from goats milk or something funky. Also if your curious about Turkish Delights (referenced in Narnia) not too tasty either. It reminded me of some crap me and my sisters found in my grandma's closet when we were little, or a fruit cake that someone forgot about for a few years. Not to bash theTurks cuisine they have fabulous kabobs, and their apple tea is very good too if we had more time we probably would have found more yummy stuff.