This was the last day of our honeymoon. Burk and I had loved it and we found that we traveled great together. It was a day filled with laughs. First, we discovered pay toilets. That was bad enough (and beyond gross) until the prudes in us realized the bathroom was unisex. Thinking back of how round our eyes were I’m quite sure we did not look particularly sophisticated. Next came lunch. I have been a vegetarian for years for animal ethics reasons and have been squeamish since childhood over dead critters on plates. I will NEVER forget the look on Burk’s face when the fish he ordered arrived staring back at him from the platter — he looked absolutely horrified. So he resorted to frantic hand gestures trying to convey to please have it deboned. I guess the waiter figured it out judging by the wan green color he saw that washed all over my new husband’s face. Afterward we headed out to Murano Island to see the world famous glass making factory. It was so incredibly hot I had as much admiration for the man’s centuries-old skill in blowing glass as I did for his tolerance to the extreme heat. They had two showrooms. The first was more of a display gallery for folks able to drop a TON of money on big pieces. What I resented though is we were each assigned a “handler” who followed us individually EVERYwhere. I understood them wanting to protect their wares but this was truly offensive. I could not turn around without literally bumping into the woman who was tailing me. When I asked if they had anything less expensive the woman smirked and directed me to what was simply a nice gift shop where they had smaller things like Christmas ornaments, vases, and paperweights. I got a dark blue bird and believe me it wasn’t cheap. Ha! Cheep! Punny and I didn’t know it. Anyway, after touring and shopping we headed back to the main island and passed under the ever-watchful winged lion perched high atop the city. Pictured here is the famous Rialto Bridge. One of four that span the Grand Canal, it is also the oldest, having been completed in 1591, and was the dividing line between the districts of San Marco and San Polo. That night we ate on the water’s edge right where this picture was taken. We watched the sun set and met a couple in their 80’s who had not been to Venice since their honeymoon. I remember thinking I hoped we would be like them: still traveling, still active and, most importantly, still in love. Of course we could not leave without taking a gondola ride. I found the one guy who knew a little French and tried to haggle with/cajole him probably to no avail. Ready for this? It was over 200 euros — 200 EUROS!!! Highway robbery but I felt to leave without having ridden Venice’s canals would have been the bigger crime. We passed another gondola where the man was singing. A churlish part of me wondered if they’d had to pay extra. We knew it was time for us to go to our new home and start our everyday lives together. Canadian entrepreneur Guy Laliberté said:
“I am blessed for what I have, but I believed in it from the beginning. Today, the dream is the same: I still want to travel, I still want to entertain, and I most certainly still want to have fun.”
The same holds true for me.
