magical

Q: Why did you choose to set the novel in Venice?
A: You can't physically visit Hogwarts, or Neverland, or Middle Earth. But you can certainly travel to Venice. I wanted to show my readers that there is a magical place in their world that they can actually visit. (Cornelia Funke about her book "The thief lord")

That particular feeling of magical was exactly what I felt during our evening walks in Venezia.

was this perhaps the island with the carousel? 

Daytime was enchanting too. We saw a lot of art in churches and that was good, but the real attraction is the city itself. And some of the other islands in the lagoon.

Burano (the lace island) where the houses all have a different color. Murano with its glass- very unfortunate that we did not get to see any artists in action, I find glass blowing quite mesmerizing.

So we walked. Explored the different neighborhoods. Relaxed for siestas on our balcony (or couch, too bad I did not take a picture of that thing, it did remind me of a gondola).

view from the balcony

We enjoyed. Marveled. We eventually got to the point where we could not get excited about yet another Tintoretto depicting 'the last meal'. And we were less than impressed with the lighting in most musea (except for the Guggenheim, that was great).

The last days we also took the vaporetto (water-bus). Our guide book said that a tour of the grand canal on the vaporetto was especially beautiful, but the lighting was such that there was not much to see! Maybe that was because it was still early in the season.

"Peace be upon you, O Mark, my Evangelist."

 The lion symbolizes Venice and st. Mark.

Basilica San Marco and the Doge's palace.

Of course we had some gelato, wine from the region (Veneto), and delicious pizza and pasta. We were going for the full experience.

Too soon we had to take the vaparetto to the airport and leave this bella vita behind. We had every intention to adjust our approach to the everyday life. Keep some of the 'joi de vivre'.

That has proven difficult- but last night I saw some Indiana magic twinkling under the trees! Fireflies.