Showered, packed and took one more gaze across the lake from our magnificent vantage point. Took final photos as the tall bell tower down in old Varenna pealed 9:00 a.m.

A quick taxi ride (not Rita this time) to the small Varenna train station. An hour later we pulled once again into the vast Milano Central Station where we boarded the 11:55 EuroStar express to Venice.

We passed through many small villages as we neared Verona. We began to see many vineyards and orchards. The Italian countryside is very green and lush. On the hills we see ancient stone houses, churches and towers, reminiscent of a bygone era. Next stop was industrial Vicenza, then pastoral Padua.

We arrived in Venice at 3 p.m. and took the vaporetto bus to our two stops, since M&M are staying at a different hotel than we are. We checked in at Hotel Galleria on the Grand Canal, and then net M&M on the Accademia Bridge, just a few steps from our hotel. The four of us set out to explore the wonders of Venice.

We stopped at a café in a busy square and had wine and bruschetta, people-watched and enjoyed the cool weather.

We spent time browsing in and out of several galleries and eventually found ourselves at bustling Piazza San Marco. Took photos of wandered the among the pigeons and the people until we realized we were famished. We perused the menus of several ristorantes until we decided on Aqua Pazza, which turned out to have high price and snooty Russian waiters. The food was very good, and after dinner the waiter brought us a bottle of limoncello for Carol and Muriel and anise liquor for Marc and me. We got royally snockered.

Marc and I decided that we were going to write "The Monogamous Heterosexual Couples' Guide to Travel on $500 a Day."

Dinner turned out to be surprisingly delicious. We ended up joking with the Russian waiters, then walked along the Venetian canals until we reached the Accademia Bridge where we said goodnight to our friends, climbed a flight of stairs to our room, and fell into bed. The soundproof window kept the noise of the late-night revelers at a minimum.

Our hotel, the Hotel Galleria, is on the Grand Canal at the Accademia Bridge. The room is small but clean and comfortable and is furnished with antique furniture. The floor is gorgeous antique parquet wood and the ceiling has old wooden beams. We can see the Bridge and the Canal from our window, which is fortunately soundproof.

Next Day