June 9:

We woke to rain. Downstairs we ate a continental breakfast beside a window that looked out onto a bend in a small canal. As we ate, we watched a constant stream of gondolas going by with mostly Asians under umbrellas. 

Interesting that people want to have that experience so much, that they will do it no matter what the weather. I thought we would be going on one of these rides until Linda let me know that being in one of those boats would make her comfortable. Why spend all that money to make my wife uncomfortable? Hmmm?

We had never been to the Academia part of town and that's where the Peggy Guggenheim Modern Art Museum resides. I'm not a great fan of modern art, but I like some of it and it just seemed like a neat thing to do. We'll just walk over there, and then we'll be inside out of the rain. 


Well - we had a VERY DIFFICULT time finding the place. Like an hour, instead of maybe 15 minutes. We walked, consulted the map, walked, asked for directions, and repeated and repeated this sequence. When we finally found it, the entrance was at the end of a small alley. We realized we had circled it at least once if not twice before we homed in on it.

After buying our tickets and storing our bags, we both had a hamburger and fries at the museum's cafe. Then through the museum which was Peggy's house. The collection included Jackson Pollack, Dali, Picasso, and others I have never heard of. One of those was Paul Klee. His paintings were appealing.

After about an hour, we headed back out into the rain and got back to the hotel in about 15 minutes. We spent some time drying out and resting. We had tickets to the play about the history of Venice and left for that by way of a Chinese dinner. We were the first into the restaurant but were followed by others soon after we sat down. I was eager for this meal mainly because it wasn't Italian. After a couple of weeks of many of the same foods, I was ready for something different. We shared sweet and sour soup, I had sweet and sour pork and Linda had an omelet. All of this was the same as it would have been in Bradenton.

Then it was on to the theatre for a short film on Venetian history and then after a 30 minute intermission, the play itself. Four actors following a story line about a family making costumes, took us through the history of the city with a lot of humor. 

Back to the hotel room, watched the last episode of Grace and Frankie on Netflix and turned in.