VENICE, Italy

This is the man who picked us up from the airport in Venice.  We had our own private chauffeur.

He brought us to the loading deck on the canal, where we took this 'taxi' to our hotel.

Each side of the canal we were on had houses and hotels just like this, lining the whole way.

This was our hotel room in Venice.  Fit for Royalty!!

This was our hotel from the outside and was right on the canal.

There are no cars in Venice, as it is an island.  All travel is done by boat. And they have little back canals everywhere, taking you in and our of the city.

This was the evening of my birthday.  We took a 90 minute gondola ride that was both beautiful and romantic.  I felt like I was in a fairytale!!

My birthday dinner in Venice!  I had lasagna while Del had tortellini.

Our first gelato of the trip.  Del had pistachio while I had fruit.

We went to the island of Murano, where we were introduced to the famous Murano glass blowing.  This was uncle George, who in ten minutes, created the following photo.

Uncle George's glass horse.

Then we went to the island Burano, famous for it's lace making.  We watched this seamstress as she hand stitched lace for us.  Del and I ended up purchasing a lace tablecloth with matching napkins.

The streets of Burano were BEAUTIFUL.  The houses were all different bright colors, right along the canals.

I purchased an oil painting from this sweet artist right outside our hotel.  It sits in my office here at hoe to remind me of our beautiful trip to Venice.

Our first pizza in Italy.  And it was DELICIOUS!!! 

Nighttime in Venice.

Caught this gondola driver just lounging around, so I pulled up a light post to visit.