Venice

It was on January 5, 2011 that I reached Venice and got to No. 13 0n Doc Campbell's list, The Doge's Palace!! And wouldn't you know it, The Bridge of Sighs was under repair, but they do an interesting thing here, they cover monuments under repair with tarps bearing a picture of the structure, ergo, the picture of a picture of the bridge. We made two trips into Venice, one in the evening to see the city by night, and a second the next day to do the touristy things like a gondola ride. Our group travelled in a convoy of gondolas with one carrying a singer and accordion player. He sang exactly what you would expect a Gondoliere to sing, Love Me Tender, Yesterday, and Rock Around the Clock. I think we were on the Ryan Air gondola service. Actually he sang Volare and several other popular Italian songs, in Italian, and only switched to the rock stuff after encouragement (tips) from the rowdy Aussies.
We visited the Rialto Bridge, complete with its advertising banners, and then roamed around the city's tiny back
streets looking for leather bargains. Here you can negotiate over price and some people bought leather coats and
jackets at 50% off. Debby found a nice coat for only $1150 but they offered a 30% discount. When Debby came to
we went for a coffee to revive her.

The tide was coming in as we visited St Mark's Square so there were "duck boards" for people to walk on so you wouldn't get wet. These are like low picnic tables and ran from the dock to the main door of the bascilica and The Palace. The flood made the Aussies homesick.

The Aussies are upset by news of the flooding in Queensland but are confident that the government will do a better
job than W did in New Orleans. None of them are directly affected but they all know somebody who is. They live in
places like Tooliranga, and Bungadoolie but do manage to laugh over names like Ecum Secum and Tatimigoosh. They
love the way I say "out" and "about" and think "suck me arse you ignorant bastard" is quaint.