Venice visit May 2018

We started our Rick Steves' Italy trip in Venezia. Lovely city. 

 This young lady was advertising Venetian entertainment...musical, I assume.

 Domo broke out of his suitcase to welcome us to the Venetian ship museum. 

 They had pretty ornate ships.

 And lovely churches.

Alex had a Bellini. I had a Campari spritz, which has Campari, prosecco (the Italian version of Champagne) and sometimes soda, with a slice of orange. Alex found it bitter. I found it heavenly, especially in the heat.

 The Cat who Laughs bistro. We didn't go, but found it amusing.

 Churches.

 Same church, but with a seagull. I hadn't realized that I missed seagulls. Those, and hummingbirds, don't exist in Hawaii. They can't fly long enough to make that long journey.

 Domo enjoys pizza with egg.

 And the Grand Canal.

 Domo found the Campari spritz bitter too. 

 More boats.

 Alex, my faithful naviguesser, poring over a map. I really would have been lost had he not been there to figure out where we were!

 Musicians on the square, setting up for the lunchtime crowds. And boy, were there crowds.

 We visited Burano (with lace shops), not Murano, with glass. But we did see many examples of the wonderful glass in the shops in Venice.

Hard Rock from a distance. We didn't go in. It seemed very odd to see a restaurant over a canal.

 I was fascinated with some of the light fixtures, especially these with the lace covers.

And the glass ones.

 This was a hyperbaric chamber, for when you have trouble with the bends in diving.

 Very important signage. I stayed away from Diet Coke on this trip, so didn't have any bathroom emergencies.

I first started being interested in chimneys in France, so I noted these in Venice, too. Odd shapes.

 I love the Kleenex in Europe...these were marine-oriented. And no, they didn't show octopuses. 

 A little wall hanging plaque I found of the last supper.

 The Venetian type of love locks. We first saw this phenomenon in Paris, where you lock a padlock to a bridge and throw away the key. This is supposedly a way to keep your love alive. Unfortunately, at least in Paris, it made the bridges so heavy that they had to cut the locks off the bridges, so they wouldn't fall in the Seine! 

 Before we left for Italy, Alex had discovered that there were many narrow alleyways in Venice. Here's one.

We were told that some buildings in Venice, since the city is sinking, couldn't use their first floors anymore. Sad. The whole city looks rather in decay. But lovely nonetheless.

 Masks are very big here.

 Also started in Paris, I looked for pretty doors in Venice too.

 Murano glass octopus.

 Octopus picture on the menu. Alex was faithful in telling me places to avoid the real thing.

 Octopus marzipan. And Marzipan fish. Some folks are so creative!

 Naval Museum.

 I laughed at this sign. 

Can you believe these pizzas were for one person? Luckily, we got salad too.

 Some of the European showers were really small. But we got clean clothes drying there, too.

 The Grand Canal.

 View from our hotel, Hotel de Fenice.

 More canals.

 There were several fountains where one could fill water bottles. The water is very good.

Gondola. It is a pretty amazing series of boats. I wouldn't have the balance to steer one! And I stubbed my toes getting off the gondola we were on: There was a big brick block and I didn't raise my legs enough. Ouch! We walked our tushes off on this trip, but learned a lot and enjoyed our visit. 

Jetlag swim

We got back from our visit to Italy and France and boy were we tired! I will post some pix eventually. We walked so much during our trip that when we got to the hotel we crashed. Just downloaded the pix and didn't even look at 'em. Now, that's tired!
So I took the day off of swimming on Friday, our first full day back and swam yesterday. The water was rocking and rolling but I did manage to spot a small octopus, a Devil scorpion fish and a Spotfin Scorp. Very nice.

This Devil Scorpion Fish was hanging out where I once saw an octopus. Hope it escaped.

 This small Spotfin Scorp was hiding in a hole. They are fascinating ambush predators.

This small octopus was hiding, too. But it would peek out as if to ask Is she gone yet?!

The octopus did that peeking up at me several times. Hopefully, it will learn to hide and stay hidden. I don't catch octopuses, but others do.

A Rock Mover wrasse, showing its clown face.

 Snowflake Moray eel. 

This is the adult Yellow Tail Coris.

 Ambon Puffer, staying out of the Goat Fish group.

Sleeping Honu.

 Blue Spined Unicorn fish and the juvenile of the Yellow Tail Coris. So different than the adult!

Male Trunk Fish.

A guy taking a photo of a honu or seal (couldn't see it well from my distance) and staying away far enough. Thanks, photog!

 Money Cowry. I put it back down because I couldn't tell if it was empty.

Pinktail Durgon and a damsel.

Two seals...I think.
It was nice getting back into the water after two weeks away! 

The last swim before we travel

So, I debated about swimming: pack, re-pack or swim? Guess which one won? :)
So here's what I saw...I really do need to re-pack. I would hate to forget something important...

3 kinds of trouble: urchins.

 I'm not sure if this is a new nudibranch, but the colors definitely are!

 Brighteye Damsel. I wonder how long it will take before I get tired of these? Just so cute and quick!

 Rock Mover Wrasse clown face and its compadre..

The Cone shell and the fish hook. I find these all the time! And usually, there's lead weight attached, so I drag it all up. I carry scissors to cut lines if I need to. They came in handy today because a piece of lead was stuck in a hole, so I pried it out with the scissors.

 Cowry hiding.

 Drupe shell, attached to a rock.

 Father and son surfing. I would be scared out of my mind if that were my son!

 Octopus #1 and only.

Leaf Fish. I guess the algae that attaches to the rocks attaches to the Leaf Fish, too.

 A little tiny cornet fish. So adorable!

So if I can, I'll post on our visit to foreign climes. Being careful not to be distracted enough to get robbed. Praying for safety, health and fun!