When the moon hits your eye...

Ciao! I am just leaving Venice on my way to Austria. It's been a great couple of days in Venice but before I tell you about it, let me share with you what happened on our cruise to Ancona, Italy. We were travelling on an overnight ferry cruise (it carries 1,800 passengers, has sleeping cabins and swimming pools, but also transports 18 wheelers). A passenger on the ship had a heartattack but we were 3 hours from the nearest port. The gentleman wasn't breathing and a truck driver went down to his truck, ripped the air brake hose from his truck and stuck it down the guys throat to get oxygen into his lungs. The crew then performed CPR on him for the next 3 hours. It was unbelievable what the truck driver did and I spoke with a crew member before we ported and it turns out that the heartattack victim will be okay. So onto Venice...Venice has watercraft of all shapes and sizes that are skillfully navigated through the impossibly tight canals by a singing gondolier. In Piazza San Marco, sounds of a 5 piece classical band waft around the people that are delightfully sipping champagne under the bright stars. It is a little bit like paradise. A little education on the gondolas...The process of building a gondola is a time honored tradition and is only practiced by one family (based in nearby Arsenal). Only 3 or 4 gondolas are produced each year and the owner must get a permit from the city to use it. Only 400 permits are issued each year and because they are handed down from father to son, space rarely becomes available. Due to so many tourists desiring a romantic gondola ride, gondoliers are quite wealthy. The whole lagoon of Venice is made up of 114 islands...one of which is the fishing island of Burano. There are colorful fishing houses and amazing seafood restaurants. I enjoyed a dinner of seafood pate, steamed fish, calamari, and shrimp. I was getting a little worried that dessert was going to be trout-flavored gelato. Well...I better go practice up my German... Miss everyone lots!! Ciao bellos e bellas!! Giff