Saturday we went to Murano. I would not have done this but it was OK. It was a beautiful day and the ride out was pleasant. We saw a factory and the glassblower making a statue of a horse. It was interesting. The large chandeliers are amazing and some of the specialty items are exquisite. Just not in my budget!

I left and went to St. Marks. I agonized over a few pieces of art and walked around the square again. When I returned to the hotel it had been decided to return to Taverna San Trovaso for dinner. I would have tried something else even though it is very good.

Sunday morning was amusing. I had rinsed some small colored shells and left them in the shower to dry Saturday night. My TC stepped in Sunday morning (groggy and without his glasses) and thought there were beatles in the shower =-o HE was not amused!

We are staying at Casa Rezzonico in June and Matteo has been our email contact so yes, he is still there. Can't wait to get to Venice!

Thank you SeaUrchin! The Huck Finn solution had crossed my mind!

Jocelyn: yes, he is still there and still very nice. Did you have gorgeous weather?

As a matter of fact we did have great weather: high 60s, low 70s.

Mollmatt, have a great time. I have yet to read anything negative about Casa Rezzonico, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.

Hi gom,

Thanks for an interesting report.

((I))

They used to dig up the bodies buried on San Michele and in other locations after a certain number of years and dump the remains on some other island in the lagoon--to make room for the next batch. I don't imagine they do this anymore.

Similar to New Orleans where bodies would be interred above ground in mausoleums. There is a shaft at the back--when there's a new body to be interred, they push the bones of the prior occupant down the shaft to make room.

Actually in Italy, or at least northern Italy, the deceased are buried for twenty years. And then the graves are emptied to make room for the newly deceased. I don't like that idea but that is what is done.

Thanks RufusT & LoveItaly. LoveItaly, if you see this, what happens to them? This may be too much information but I'm curious!

Mollmot: The gelato I loved came from the "Gelateria Il Doge." Just go over the first bridge on the left and walk into S. Margherita. It is on the left, the first or second shop. From there, look to your right. If you go down the middle, there is another one on the left that has great mousse gelato.

Have a wonderful time!

Hi gomiki! "What happens to them?" That is exactly what I asked. And almost wished I hadn't!!

I am certainly not an expert on this subject but it happened to come up as one of my friends in Veneto and I were going to meet a friend of hers for lunch. That morning my friend told me that her friend would not be able to join us as she had just been advised "they were going to move her mother". I was confused because I had been under the impression this woman's mother was dead. Well gomiki, she was! It was explained to me that after 20 years the bones are removed and put in what I guess you would call a common grave. Even though my friend speaks excellent English I was not sure if there wasn't some kind of a comminication problem. I asked her son later about this and he confirmed it was true due to there not be enough land space to have cemetaries the way we do here in the US.

A week later I asked another friend and he too confirmed it. His grandmother had died just 2 years before and he said to me "oh yes, in 18 years they will move her bones to make way for the new dead people". Mama mia!

I questioned my Rome born and raised son-in-law (who now lives here in my city) and he also confirmed this.

However, having said that, I have been to cemetaries in small villages (villages that friends parents immigrated from) and there are graves going back decades, actually have seen some that were in the early 1800's. Mostly crypts with a photo of the deceased on the crypt. So obviously it is not true in all of Italy. I do not know when this custom started either.

There certainly is a lot of "open space" in Italy but guess the people or the government does not want them used for cemetaries. The next time I sit down and visit with my SIL I will ask him to explain in further details. That ought to make for a lively and fun conversation, you think?

BTW, did you like mother natures electrical storm when you arrived in Venice? I am always awed with these storms as we don't get many where I live, and certainly not the intensity of Italy's.

Welcome to the "I Fell In Love with Venice Club," gomiki. Great trip report. I'm looking forward to returning this fall myself and interested to see how different the city will be at that time of year, versus our previous July visit.

That produce boat that you spoke of in Campo San Barnaba must be a permanent fixture for many years. I even noticed it in the Katherine Hepburn film, "Summertime."

I have also recently been enlightened about the 20 year max on burials at St. Michele. The info was noted in Donna Leon's book, "Death at La Fenice."

LoveItaly, thank you for the info. Yes, the conversation w/SIL should be interesting! The lightning storm was great. I wasn't quite so happy about the rain with it but it was an interesting arrival.

Statia, Yes, I am an official member! I ((L)) Venice. I'll look for your report about Venice in the fall.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I too have memories of ice cream in Campo San Margherita and of the man selling produce from his boat and of being awed by the very idea of how Venice was built, by the wonderful fresh food markets and by the beautiful waterways and setting.

We stayed in Violino d'Oro which was only a few minutes walk from San Marco but in a pretty and reasonably peaceful square of its own. This was back in 2002.

It was wonerful! I forgot to mention that on Sunday morning they were having the annual Gondola Regatta. There are teams in the gondolas and they race to Lido. Some of the guys were not so young! We wondered if they have different classes like they do for sailing regattas.