Italy 2014

Monday, May 5

Today is David's last day in Vicenza. He will be leaving early tomorrow for an assignment in Africa. We drove to Aeolia Ristorante in Longare for lunch. It is a picturesque little town, and Cynthia and David have been wanting to eat at this restaurant. We were not disappointed!

A comma is like a decimal in English. Choice of two dishes for ten euro.

We ate alfresco -- see the table and chairs on the left under the vines?

The dining room

The bar area where the gelato case is


In The Odyssey, Aeolus is Keeper of the Winds.

We did not have room for gelato after our meal.

Another gorgeous spring day, perfect for outdoor dining.

Patrick had pumpkin soup, risotto with asparagus, and a salad.

A delicious local wine

I think this is the risotto.

Fagottini - pasta pouches with smoked Prague ham and fresh pear. Those are thinly sliced pears around the bowl. This is the best pasta dish I had in Italy!

Dessert is sfogliatina - baked, caramelized
ice cream that tastes like creme brulee.
Patrick liked it better than I did, so I gave it to him.

Cynthia, David, and Patrick topped off
their meal with a cappuccino.

We had a wonderful time laughing and
enjoying a fabulous meal together.

May 4

What a beautiful day after the thunderstorms of yesterday! We decided to take advantage and go to Venice for the day. We did not get to visit St. Mark's last time. David dropped us
at the train station where we met some women from Allen and Plano who were visiting a friend who works at Ederle in Vicenza. They were going to Venice for a few days. Another
small world story!

The train ride takes about 50 minutes. We ate lunch at The Old Wild West upstairs on the patio. A friendly couple took our photo.

Not exactly the Mexican food you get at home, and no chips and salsa, but not bad.

View of vendor and foot traffic from our table

One entrance to St. Mark's Square; the Clock Tower (Torre dell'Orologio)

This must show the 24 hours in the day.

The Clock Tower (facing the Square) was built in 1496.

"The bronze men (Moors) swing their huge clappers at the top of each hour." The lion of St. Mark

Signs of the zodiac and hours of the day

The "digital" side of the clock showing 3:50: the minutes change every five minutes.

We did not take this photo of the exterior of St. Mark's Basilica. We went inside and took photos of the horses (replicas on the balcony), the mosaics, and views from the balcony.

St. Mark's is known as Chiesa d'Oro, the church of gold.

View from the museum level onto the main altar

These four horses were installed on the balcony in 1254. They could be from ancient Greece (4th century B.C.) or from ancient Rome. Legend says they were taken to Rome by Nero. They were taken to Constantinople by Constantine and to Venice by crusaders. Napoleon took them to Paris in 1797 and they were returned to Venice in 1815. After being exposed to the elements for years, they were restored and put in the museum in the 1970s.


The detail is amazing!

You can get up close to these mosaics in the museum.

The gold glass pieces of mosaics make the interior of the church glow.

Piazza San Marco - St. Mark's Square

Replicas of horses in museum on the balcony


The Doge's Palace; the doge was "the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice"

The Grand Canal

The Campanile

Detail on the Campanile

The Doge and the Lion of St. Mark on the Basilica (taken from the balcony)

North side of the Basilica

Detail from previous photo - top of tower on right

Also detail from previous photo

The Doge's Palace on the right; the Bridge of Sighs connects the Palace to the prison on left. Prisoners might get their last look at Venice through those small windows and sigh.