Microblog
My Dad passed away in February, so this is the first Thanksgiving without him here. He was always the pie maker, but that duty now has passed down to me. The good news is that Dad did a really good job of keeping recipes at hand. The bad news is that some of his recipes (like for pecan pie) was just a list of quantities and ingredients, with the method stored in his head. Nonetheless, I think I pieced everything together enough to produce a good looking cherry pie and pecan pie. The real test, of course will be in the tasting. #food #cooking
Now, as I write this, we are on the train about 15 minutes from Milano Centrale. There we’ll catch a connecting train to Malpensa airport. We’re going to spend the night at the Sheraton hotel in the airport, then catch a morning flight home. Ciao! #travel
After our Grand Canal cruise, we grabbed lunch, then collected our bags and took a water taxi to the train station. The water taxi was a lot of fun. Ours was a beautiful wooden boat with an open section of roof that allowed us to stand and take in the sights during the ride. #travel
This morning, our last day in Venice, we got an early start and took that vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal that we missed upon arrival. It’s crazy to think that the entire city is basically built on pilings that were driven into the mud of a swampy river delta. #travel
We also toured the Doge’s Palace (complete with a walk across the “Bridge of Sighs”), the seat of power for the Venetian empire for a thousand years. #travel
After touring the Basilica from the ground, we visited the Basilica museum which was even better. It’s inside the Basilica, but high above ground level. So in addition to the exhibits, it also gets you up close to the ceiling mosaics and access to the roof where you can take in the entirety of St. Mark’s square from above. #travel
Basilica San Marco is impossibly beautiful. The entire interior is covered in mosaics made of stone chips that measure about a quarter inch square. No wonder it took 800 years to complete! #travel
