Lori thought it would be fun for the kids to see Venice, so off we went (about a 5 hour drive. Personally, I'd recommend the train next time!!).
We thought we'd drop by the glass blowers of Murano... Lori and I each wound up making frantic phone calls to our husbands back home to ask (beg/threaten/plead) if we would be all right if we each brought home a treasure. Lori found a truly beautiful mirror done in the traditional Venetian style, and I found two beautiful chandeliers that now hang in our home here in Wellesley! (These photos of the chandeliers were taken with my phone's camera and sent to Alan at about 6 in the morning his time with the demand that he make a decision - preferably the "right" one - re: their purchase.. pronto!!). (He did.)
It rained that day, much to our surprise, so Lori bought is all sweatshirts and umbrellas and we soldiered on. I had lost my bifocals about the 2nd day after our arrival in Orta and for two weeks had delayed purchasing another pair, hoping the originals would turn up... surviving with my prescription sunglasses in the meantime.
Once we got to Venice, however, it occurred to me that I couldn't possibly drive home the next night, as we'd planned, peering through more forcasted rain in my SUNGLASSES with 3 children. So, I blindly (literally and figuratively) walked into an optometrist's and tried to explain my predicament. Typcially, he spoke no English, and I of course speak no Italian, but somehow we managed. He copied my prescription off my sunglasses and talked me into a pair of Channel frames (something I would have considered hideously ostentatious at home, but somehow, in Venice, they seemed just right!). With Keaton and Lori's approval, I bought them - besides the chandeliers, they've been my best souvenir of Italy so far! :)
We of course visited St. Mark's Square...
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