Venice, Italy

I love the transition of Summer into Fall, the cool breeze wrapping its chilled arms around me. As I got dressed this morning, I slid my boots on made my way to the kitchen table and gazed out my window into the purple flowers my neighbor has hanging over into my yard. I sat there Dipping my pumpkin Biscotti into my coffee and my mind took flight…I thought about Italy, if I could I would, I would leave California for a couple of years and reserve a huge piece of my heart for Italy’s new memories. There is something so great for me to be in a place where nobody knows my face, my name and I can start fresh-a new slate….make my presence in a coffee shop that I know I may not return to again- but that one time, I’m moving from place to place seeing as much as I can before I catch a flight back to these familiar grounds.

We stayed a couple of nights in Florence and took a day trip to Venice. After catching a train ride into the city, I had envisioned Venice to be surrounded by water and thought the only way around it was by boat. I didn’t do my research to know it was actually like being in a maze of alleyways, lots of walking with lots of people. The City is Beautiful, I think it was all the little shops of Venetian Masks and Murano Glass that I was standing in front of these shops with stary eyes. Maybe it was sitting in the little restaurant tucked down an alleyway that served amazing wine with small plates of Bruschetta and spaghetti or maybe it was the Gondola ride where we pulled up next to a school and little kids waved their tiny little hands out these windows at us.