.......Our men waiting (patiently?) for us girls as we gawk in all the shop windows, admiring things like those gorgeous masks for the tenth time! The little gift shops are EVERYWHERE, it DOES seem like Venice was created ONLY for tourists! Lots of shops are also inside all the tiny, narrow "streets" (smaller than our alley-ways), which intricately weave all throughout the city, in no particular pattern, and all with their own little adorable curved bridges over the small canals nearby to make sure they're accessible. But only the wide "Grand Canal", which wraps around the whole city in all it's glory, is predictable and always easily found!

...How I would love to have one of these masks, maybe even one of the many CAT face creations that were available! But I didn't think they would fit on my cat's face! Ha, ha! (Most cats aren't into wearing costumes, anyway). Just kidding.... I know they're to hang on the wall! What I did buy were a bunch of little "hard candies"(caramelle) which looked like they were wrapped, but are in reality another blown-glass creation. They were so pretty and all different colors & shapes, and look great in a fancy crystal bowl I have at home! BY THE WAY, I JUST CLICKED ON THIS PICTURE BELOW, AND REALIZED THAT WHITE BOAT IS A TAXI-"CAB". YOU CAN'T SEE THOSE KINDS OF DETAILS UNLESS YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTOS. TRY IT! YOU'LL BE AMAZED - IT REALLY IS ALMOST LIKE BEING THERE!! THE BUILDINGS SPRING TO LIFE TOO IN SO MUCH DETAIL YOU CAN ALMOST SEE INTO THE WINDOWS!







......That's ME, (Well, half of me, anyway) walking past this PIZZA place, where they sell pizza by the slice. Every shop, no matter how humble, is well decorated, in its own way....all in an attempt to attract as many tourists as possible. And there sure were NO shortage of tourists, even in October! I imagine that Venice is very beautiful and popular at Christmas time too. I just talked to my sister-in-law Romana in Italy and she said that winter has finally arrived for them, but that it hasn't snowed around Rome since 1978! Ha! Here in Wisconsin we just had another snow storm yesterday dumping more snow on the 7 inches we already had, and it looks so beautiful, so clean and pure. I LOVE newly fallen snow. Too bad it doesn't stay that way for long!