Viva Venezia!

Hello everyone!

Tracy & I are in Venice and soaking up Italian life. I have been living on a diet consisting of mainly gelato & pop - I might be diabetic when I return home. We did manage to squeeze in some bona fide pizza and spaghetti, but really they are just accompaniments to our gelato-diet.

It is hot here- apparently they are having a heat wave and this coming week will be even hotter. We keep telling ourselves that it's just preparation for Egypt & Morocco. Truthfully, we've been surviving by frequently returning to our hotel to refresh and recharge. We're located right in the heart of Venice, so it's quite convenient, especially since the public washrooms charge a fee!

Nighttime here is the best; it cools down, the daytripping tourists disappear, and the ambiance comes out full force. Quite lovely- and very romantic! We've done our share of sightseeing too: St. Mark's Square, Doge's Palace, the Bridge of Sighs, Rialto Bridge... and boy, is it ever ornate and picturesque.

I have taken 456 photos so far, and I am six days in to my 34 day trip (but don't worry, I have lotsa memory card space and I still have yet to change my batteries!). It's difficult to post pictures while I am travelling because they are quite huge files and I need to carry my cords with me, etc. I can write a quick email in about 10 minutes and don't really have the time to spend an hour or more uploading photos. Hopefully my descriptions are imagery enough for now!

Tomorrow Tracy & I are going to Milan. We take a public boat (like a bus but there are no cars in Venice) to the train station and it'll be about 3 hours on the train to Milan. We'll have one night there before we fly to Cairo!! Holy crow I'm going to Africa -- isn't that crazy?! :P

Hope all is well at home. Even though I don't have time to respond to all your messages, I sure love getting them - makes me considerably less homesick. So keep 'em coming if you have time.

Cheers,
Elaan