Greetings from Venice, Italy

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your messages especially Quaid and Aryan who commented on my last post. Thanks so much for your lovely letters Room 5, I enjoyed reading them. By now you should have received a post card from London and one should be on the way from Pisa Italy.
Soon you will be on holiday, so keep putting in your best effort into your work and aim very hard to get your work finished before next Friday. I am looking forward to seeing you all in a months time.

Today I was in Venice. Venice is famous for St Marks Square and the Basilica. Today we went to a glass blowing factory, where they made all kinds of glasses, vases, jewellery and ornaments. The glass blowing was fascinating to look at. The guy made a Vase. After this the man took us into the sales room. He introduced us to the glasses and wine glasses they made. These were very expensive and I thought not suitable for me. Then he pulled out a tray for the ladies which was full of Venetian glass necklaces and matching earrings. I bought a pair of earrings with a matching necklace. More of a purple/pink colour which suits me. So far I have been pleased with the souvenirs I have picked up as they have been locally made. I've been mist impressed.

After this we window shopped around St Marks Square. Then at 11:15am we met Truus our tour director and she took us to the Gondolars. It was fun going through the canals. The tour director grouped the young ones together, which was great and she organized each group to have a bottle of champaign each to make the trip even more memorable.

After this I did some independent site seeing on my own. I went to the oldest cafe in Venice to have lunch. The cafe was called the Florian. It was expensive, but I had the cheapest thing off the menu which kind of reminded me of home: a ham and cheese toasted sandwich. I had a hot chocolate to go with it. I had it sitting down inside their beautiful dining area as there was a lot of beautiful art on the walls. I was prepared to pay to have lunch sitting down and to have a toilet stop. In parts of Europe you have to pay to use the toilets, so going to the Florian Cafe, I could kill two bird with one stone. I really loved how men in white jackets served you and how formal it was.

After this I bought a Gelato across from Square. Today it was high tide and the water came up from under the cobble stones at St Marks Square. It was amazing how puddles appeared from no where then the square became flooded. Luckily there were platforms people could walk along.

After this I took an excursion to an island called Burano. This island had these cute brightly colored properties along this lagoon. This area is famous for lace making. I bought a table cloth for the flat and some matching napkins for 42 Euros. The table cloth is machine made, but is machine washable which is handy. Beautiful table cloths. Another great day out and yes I think I am sold on Venice as well. It's Shoppers Paradise I have discovered and yes I have purchased a medium sized Venetian Mask. It is jester shaped with bells on on with lots of red and gold glittery paint. It is made in Italy and is ceramic. Can't wait to hang it up in the flat. When I get back my flat will have a taste if Europe in it.