We're in Venice! It went so smoothly for us this morning. Cab arrived at exactly 5:00 AM, airport was very easy to negotiate, plane flight was a breeze. Deb arrived from Chicago just a few minutes after us. We found the bus with no problem. The only little blip was in the tram when Ann lost her balance and almost fell. (I think it was her new suitcase that threw her off balance. She's going to ditch it here in Venice.) Luckily I was there to break her fall, so she's OK. When I say things went smoothly, I really mean to say they went smoothly up to a certain point. The problem was once we got off the bus and went to get on the vaporetto, the water bus, to take us to the island of Venice. Remember the Metro in Paris? Yes, just as bad. Think packed Metro but with all of your luggage on a boat. There was that familiar look on Ann's face again! She asked how much the private water taxis cost, and I thought it would be about $140 for us. She said that she would pay it all! But we were at the point of no return. We were trying to read the number of stops, and we missed our stop before we realized we should have been reading right to left instead of left to right! A nice British tourist tried to help us, but it was too late. We were able to get off at the next stop, but then we had to wait for a vaporetto going in the other direction. After that, though, we were back on course and found the B&B with nary a problem. I'm not sure Ann and Deb are impressed with Venice as much as I am yet, but I LOVE this place! We're staying away from the touristy areas. We're in a HUGE corner room overlooking a canal, we have our windows open with the breeze blowing our curtains, and the sounds of the neighborhood are serenading us. It's music to my ears! Our hotel was built in 1650, so cool. We took a little walk and stopped to eat at a place recommended by the owner of the hotel. It was a little hard to find at first, but that's Venice for you. We had a carafe of wine with our pasta dishes, and when it came time to pay for our meals, we had a little difficulty splitting the check evenly with the change we had. Eventually the owner brought over a calculator! How embarrassing! Oh well, there are lots of other places to eat. Although I sorely miss the pastries of France, we did have our first gelato today. Actually, I had my first, second and third. I couldn’t resist my favorite, nutella. We walked around eating pizza tonight and exploring Venice. It’s pretty small, and everything is within walking distance. We ended the evening with a gondola ride and now we’re ready to crash. No alarm clock tomorrow!