Day 15 Turning for the home stretch, grazie. So time to pack and leave Croatia with our final 2 days in Italy. I was going to give you a big line about setting our iPhone alarm to get up early for the ferry to Venice and missing it because the internal clock on the iPhone was still on Oly time. Shauna and Majken, Kathie would not let me do it to you again. Up early and with the exception that it seems the bags have been eating at the same restaurants we have and weighing more, able to lug our bags to the ferry. Nice quick 3 hours without any crazy events. Easily through customs and pop out on a canal. Imagine that in Venice. Then somehow we figure 2 short water taxi rides and get to the island of Murano. Kathie figures the little island just a mile or so from Venice will be special at half the price. Now I am not sure about half the price put it is twice as special and we don’t have to share it with 30,000 other tourists. Staying at Murano Palace. Sort of like Harry Potter going to town and squeezing between two buildings #76 and #78, then apparating through a door into #77. After a 15 minute introduction to Murano and Venice complete with 4 generations of family history and 1000 years of church history we are up to our room, unburdened of 2 weeks of dirty stuff and off for lunch at what turns out to be one of the innkeeper's son's great restaurants. So as slowly as you can say tagliatelli with mixed fish, cheese olives and balsamic vinegar, proceeded by real Carpaccio on a bed of arugula smothered with shaved parmesan and rinsed with prosecco and we have been converted to Italian. Good thing we have all afternoon to walk this off before we have to go back and do it all over again. Suspect they will be out of prosecco (don’t know how that could have happened) but hope they have some other flavor☺ Does anyone need anything made of glass? I mean anything. Have never seen so many shops selling so much glass. If the earth shakes here they will be sweeping up broken glass through the entire 21st century. Wander up and down canals and over bridges complete with little old men playing accordion, take photos without people in the way, visit extraordinary churches, almost cry witnessing a little old lady dragging a class chandelier down the street shattering as she tried to pick up the pieces, pass numerous outdoor glass exhibits by local masters and even get sucked into a glass blowing demonstration.

Liesl, remember your little glass horses. We watched a guy make one in maybe 90 seconds tops. Orange hot (1300 degrees when he starts) I don’t remember if that is F. or C. As Kathie says, who cares at that temperature? When he is done it looks like a horse complete with colored mane and tail and he puts it on a stone table to be admired. Looks normal to us. A few minutes later, as a demonstration to the group gathered not to try to touch, he places a scrap of paper on top and it bursts into flame. I guess when they say it takes 2 days to cool they mean it. Oh well dinner just two hours left for sea food risotto, wine, panna cotta with forest fruit, and lemoncello. Early to bed as Venice is to be concurred tomorrow.

Day 14 - Nutella?