They often say that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” My wife has pointed out that I think in “words” while she thinks in “pictures.” I think that she thinks in “Broadway” and I think in “Sports” is a better description of our differences. (See Post #454). I often convert pictures into words as I write, but I do possess a strong ability to visualize. I took an on-line test to confirm, and it indicated that I was indeed a visual thinker, and can’t imagine surviving in today’s world without this ability, especially considering that the best way to communicate is through pictures. As I get better at blogging, I promise to incorporate more pictures and video into my daily presentations. In the meantime, I will do it the old-fashioned way.
I will say that I am better at word games than my wife. I’m good at unscrambling, defining, scrabbling, and cross-word solving. She likes video games better than I do, only because I’m afraid that I would be easily addicted. I do a 7 Little Words puzzle every day to help keep my mind sharp, and New York Times Crossword if I want a real challenge. I don’t do them in ink like my father who was a master. It saddened me when he stopped doing them along with reading when Alzheimer’s began to set in. I can only hope that doesn’t happen to me.
We’re comfortably settled in our Viking Star stateroom, awaiting our mandatory safety drill. My wife hasn’t slept well the last couple nights in Venice and needs a nap. Probably too many “pictures” in her head! The cold, rainy conditions have continued, but it’s really been no different than home. While others were scrambling for umbrellas, we trudged on like Portland rain troopers, focused on seeing the Top 10 tourist sites. There was some kind of a Union gathering in the Piazza San Marco that closed the museums early, so we had limited time to see the Italian artwork that really was of little interest to either of us. We would have liked to go through Doges Palace and planned to do that today, but embarcation was the priority. We did manage to tour the Teatro La Fenice, Ca’ d’Oro, Saint Mark’s Basilica, and a couple of Casino Royale James Bond landmarks. 007, in this case Daniel Craig, also made an appearance in Amsterdam on the Skinny Bridge during the movie Diamonds Are Forever, and was filmed in Corfu and other Greek locations for the movie For Your Eyes Only that we will visit later on this cruise. Roger Moore starred in this last thriller, but Diamond’s Sean Connery will always be my “Bond…James Bond.” I had the pleasure of meeting him at the Grosvenor Hotel in London on another of my travel adventures.
To continue with our day in Venezia, we had drinks at Hemingway’s haunt, Harry’s Bar, devoured slices of Venetian pizza, and enjoyed a Gondolier’s serenade of Funiculi Funicula. It was too cold and rainy for the romantic ride that we both envisioned. I was also able to explore, as part of my morning run, the parkland of Giardini, a garden area created by Napoleon, where our hotel was situated.
We’ve had plenty of time on the water, including the thrilling ride from the airport to our hotel that passed under the famous Rialto Bridge and through the Grand Canal. Water taxis took us to and from the hotel into San Marco, and eventually to the cruise ship. When we leave port tonight, it will be the last we see of Venice on this trip, but I’m sure we’ll be back. Italy is still my favorite country to visit. Addio, arrivederci, buonasera, ciao, salve, alla prossima, a presto!
I’m way behind you, having only visited 5 countries to this point. But for what it’s worth, with this small of a sampling…I agree that Italy is the best!!