Shop girls and signs of good luck.

Last night I got the best sleep I've had on this trip.  I woke up feeling refreshed and new, ran downstairs, grabbed and espresso, and then stepped outside into the streets of Venice to greet the sun and our local tour guide, Elizabetta.  I instantly felt drawn to her, she's a true Venetian, she tells us, with dark, very curly hair, light eyes and beautifully suntanned skin.  In manner, she reminded me of my Aunt Linda!  I got a little homesick listening to her talk.  Aunt Linda, if you're reading, I love you.  Also, I think you and Uncle John would adore Venice.  I'd like to come back here with the two of you one day!

Elizabetta led us through the confusing jumble of alleys, bridges and canals that comprise this beautiful place.  Fun fact: Venice in actually a series of 118 islands connected by a network of 409 bridges and 177 canals...so. cool.  She talked to us about the inner workings of the city and also it's rich and colorful history.  Then, she took us to meet a local mask maker who spoke nothing but Italian!  He performed a demonstration for us while she translated.  This was like crack for a theatre teacher...I was all but drooling when they broke into a brief explanation of Comedia del Arte!! She left us at St. Marks Basilica where we were able to see the lights come on to illuminate the mosaics on the ceilings.  I wasn't supposed to take pictures...but I snuck a couple just for you.  When the lights turned on it looked like the whole scene had been sprinkled with gold glitter!

When we left the church, Ally and I followed our new friend and trip tour guide, Lisa to her favorite Venetian glass jewelry shop, Rialto 79.  Sweet Teas and ladies of my life,...expect pretty things in your near future!  We shopped till we dropped, and then we had pizza and shopped some more!  We had a full free day and we used it to the best of our abilities!

Now, I do have to tell you all that there have been some strange "signs" surrounding my stay in Europe...The first happened a week ago in Amsterdam.  While we were walking there, a ladybug landed on my arm. A sign of good luck, as you well may know.  Then, again when we were walking through a garden in Austria, a butterfly landed on me...strange.  I didn't think of mentioning these little lucky forebodings UNTIL today when out of the blue, low and behold, a bird POOPED on my head!! Now THAT'S a lucky sign!  We don't know what it means...but I'm thinking something's a brewing in my future.  Something really big, and really lucky!

                                                                        Peace, Love, and Travel,
                                                                        Reba

What the heck!?  First a restaurant in Haarlem, then a shop in Venice!!  I think the universe is trying to tell me something...

Toph, this one's for you.  This is Venice's only hospital. Crazy, huh?

The lovely Elizabetta!

The mask shop.

The mask craftsman.

The demonstration!

The beginnings of a traditional Casanova mask on Mark, one of the guys on the tour, and a beautifully finished mask on Elizabetta.  These are types of masks that would be worn to Carnival.

I wish I had a practical use for masks in my everyday life...I'd totally rock it.

Okay...not a very good shot because I literally had to turn the camera on and just point it up and shoot, but you get the idea...gold glitter everywhere!!!

Again...point, click, hope for the best...sorry ya'll.

Chair at lunch devoted to holding our shopping bags!

This is cool.  Absolutely EVERYTHING is done by boats in Venice.  There are no cars here at all.  So, this is a quick shot of four different boats doing different things.  Postal boat, ambulance boat, boat bringing on palates of water, and boat taking trash away from the island.