Italy Adventures - Murano and Burano (Venice Pt 3)

Happy Italy Tuesday! Thank you for joining me as I re-cap our trip to Italy.  Rounding off our trip to Venice was a visit to view a demonstration of creating hand blown glass in Murano, and, later in the afternoon, to see all the colorful houses of Burano.

Our first stop of the morning was to the CAM glass studio, a beautiful shop featuring certified Murano blown glass products hand crafted by their glass masters.

One of their glass masters gave us a beautiful demonstration of how he went about making his beautful creations. Here he is shaping a Unicorn.

This is the finished product!

(Today's video, at the bottom of the post) will give you a better idea of his process)

Later that day, we visited the island of Burano.

Know for its colorful houses, I may have been a bit crazy with my picture taking. 

Luckily I have a patient assistant.

We had beautiful blue skies as a backgroud

How awesome to see this home's laundry blends right in with its coloring

Like most of Venice, there were no cars on the island, but they did have quite a collection of boats.

All the islands of Venice were so beautiful, but Burano was definitely the most colorful!

Below is more video of taxi rides, glass blowing in Murano, and Burano:

Thanks again for reading, I'll be back Friday with a look at the Italy's Northern Lake Region.

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

Sisterly Couching

 SQUEEEEE!!!

"What's the big deal Mama?"

Mama always acts like it's something to celebrate when we are voluntarily sitting next to each other on the couch....

Silly Mama, we sit next to each other all the time during photo shoots!

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop!

Italy Adventures - The Quieter Side of Venice

Welcome to Nature Friday where we get to meet new friends and share a picture or two of what nature looks like around Blogville. This Friday Mama is back with some of her Italy stuff. I'm hoping that, in return for sharing my Nature Fridays with her, she'll get me a real pizza instead of the squeeky one!

Thanks again for being so understanding Rosy, how about we compromise and make sure you get the bones next time we order pizza??

 Today, we're gong to take a little stroll around the quiet island of Lido, where we stayed while visiting Venice.

During our travels, we were lucky enough to stay in a few family owned boutique hotels. These hotels were small and usually our group of 39 were the only guests. This was the case during our stay in Lido di Venezia, one of the islands of Venice.

We woke up to the most colorful sunrises....

The hotel itself was nestled in a residential neighborhood and featured a lush garden terrace.

 

They had an array of flowers including these beautiful daisies!

It was a beautiful place to linger over breakfast.

Our hotel was within walking distance of the local beach, Ed and I took advantage of an evening free of plans to check another body of water off of our bucket list!

We strolled past some of Lido's beautiful canals.

The one mile jaunt was filled with the, almost orange blossom, scented Japanese Pittosporum.

We passed this literal "party bus". It was filled with youngsters enjoying an evening cocktail (or 2 or 3 :-).

Before we knew it there we were, looking out over the Adriatic Sea!

Here is my complete video/photo collection, this also includes footage of our ferry ride back to the mainland (This is one of my shorter videos coming in at under 3 minutes ;-))

....and here is a typical view of the tired and happy looks on our faces after a long day of walking and sightseeing! Stay tuned next Tuesday as we wrap up Venice with a look at Murano and Burano!

Those sure were some pretty flowers and waters Mama. Not quite as pretty as this pizza tho. When did you say we were getting takeout??

We hope all our friends get out and see some nature this weekend!

Show us your nature! It can be flowers, your current weather, a scene out of your window, or maybe a picture from a vacation, walk or other journey! Any kind of nature picture will do! If you don't see a link below, click HERE  to go to our Hoppity Page.

July Thankfuls

 Happy July (well July 2nd)!

July is my most favorite month with so much to be thankful for.

First up is Independence Day, I am not too fond of the fireworks, but we do get the chance to taste yummy burgers and maybe a french fry or two! Gotta be thankful for those french fries!

Next up, Shark Week! Yes we do have to dress in silly shark costumes, but it is the one week during the Summer that Mama sits on the couch and watches the sharkies during the day. Guess who is thankful she gets the prime snuggling pawsition? 

Yep....ME!

Then there my MAIN reason that July is the month I am most thankful for.....

 It is my birthday month!!

This year, on July 20th, I'll be turning the big OH NINE! 

Let's get this pawty month started!!

Thank you to Maxwell and Angel Brian for hosting the

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop

Fountain Towhees

Do you remember those silly black, orange, and wite Towee birdies that used to flit around the Birdy Block?? Well, for the first time in three years, TC actually caught them flitting around the fountain:

They sure are twitchy little birdies!

Thanks for all the well wishes  on Monday! Mama says I should  give you an update on my Hypo Thyroid thing. I am taking some medicine that has already been helping. It is a little pill called levothyroxine sodium. It is something that I will probably have to take forever. They will check my bloods every month to adjust the dosage if needed. The best news is I haven't been snappy or as grumpy, so it must be working!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop this week!

Italy Adventures - Venice

Happy Italy Tuesday! Thank you for joining me as I re-cap our trip to Italy. Today, we are heading to Venice. 

Founded by refugees escaping invasions from the Huns, Venice has been around since the 4th century. It is built on wooden piles which were pounded deep into the mud where they were protected from oxygen and the decay that it can bring. 

As soon as we arrived in Venice we boarded Water Taxis for a tour of the Grand Canal.

We saw beautiful churches, amazing architecture....

...and the most beautiful bridges I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. Above is the Rialto Bridge, the oldest bridge spanning the Grand Canal.

Here is the Basilica Di Santa Maria Della Salute.

I so enjoyed the baroque style architecture found throughout Venice.

After our Water Taxi tour, we boarded a Gondola to see the quieter canals of the city.

There are only about 400 Gondoliers (Gondola operators) in Venice, it is a coveted and very well paid profession.

In such a tourist intensive city, it was nice to escape into the more peaceful areas of Venice.

We did get to explore the non-water streets of Venice. Did you know Venice is made up of over 100 islands all connected by bridges? There are no cars allowed on most of the islands.

With Venice sinking 1-2 millimeters a year, while sea levels rise, the area is prone to flooding. Taller structures are starting to lean a bit like the church tower above.

One of the most beautiful sights are the reflections you find in the canals.

Venice was one of my more "photo/video" intensive cities, so the video is a bit long:

I'll be back on Friday to show you Lido, the island of Venice where we stayed!

Thanks for tagging along!

We are joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the 

Happy Tuesday Blog Hop this week!

 

Sunny Smiles

 

Why yes, I AM a very good girl Mama....

I am smiling because June, or what I call "Vet Month" is just about over!

The first week of June I went to see Dr. N, my therapist (aka Behaviorist), for my biannual visit. He said I was doing pretty good except I am still a little too grumpy sometimes.

Then last week I visited my regular dogtur and she told Mama all my bloodwork looked fine EXCEPT my thyroid was hypo something and my levels were very low. The Vet said this may be why I am extra grumpy.

All I know, is I am sick of dogturs (and I think Mama is too)!

Mama says we will fill you in on my silly thyroid once we know what exactly is going on. 

We're also joining Comedy Plus for the 

Awww Monday Blog Hop!