Venizia!

Venizia! I forgot to change the time on my watch.. but kept being right about the time. Turns out I really am half way around the world, twelve hours ahead.

The flying was uneventful, and for the 9.5 hour flight from Atlanta to Venice I had my own row to sleep in. I flew with the hub and my youngest two siblings, Celia and Tommy. We were delayed in Atlanta, along with everyone and their mother, which left us with only 3 hours in Venice. We hopped on the public boat for a ride to San Marco Piazza, which ended up being a great tour of the canals.

We encountered some horribly rude American tourists screaming at the boat captain for not being able to drop them off at the Pier. They were so loud and mean that they were kicked off the boat at the next stop and they had the nerve to yell at the captain for not just telling them where to go, damnit. Even though the man only spoke Italian! We proceeded to talk about how much we missed Canada, eh? and how great Molson is, eh? for the rest of the ride.  Got out and checked out the San Marco Piazza, acting like american jackasses (polite ones) here and there for photos, then wandered our way back to the port through the gorgeous maze that is Venice.

Ramsey, Celia & Tommy.

On to the boat! My mom insisted we close the curtains because the hotel is moving, people, and she might puke. We ate too much, drank even more, and watched a 9pm sunset (so late!) from the pool deck. Living in Hawaii really isolates us from the family, most of whom are in Illinois and Florida. All the kid cousins have grown up! And my brother Peter, whom I had not seen in over 2 years while he did a second Peace Corps stint in Georgia, hasn’t changed a bit.

The Mom & 4/5 of her kids. Patrick couldn’t come. We’re going to take a family photo with Ramsey standing in for Patrick and scowling so we feel like he was here. It will be my parent’s holiday card photo. We didn't really make fam reunion shirts.. but Tom found two Gomez Family Reunion shirts at the Goodwill, which the boys refuse to take off.

Croatia next.. there is nothing prettier than an old city, we're pulling in and it's all stone buildings with red tile roofs and trees and cliffs. We're going to find a place for a long swim in the Adriatic, and then walk around till we drop..