Breakfast is back at the Bonvecchiati Hotel. Not only was there plenty of food, but the dining room opened early, allowing us to grab a bite at 7:15 AM, so that we could catch the vaporetto to San Giorgio Maggiore, where a Gregorian chant mass is recited each morning at 8:00 AM, or so it says in the Rick Steves Guide to Venice. Alas, when we arrived, we found that the mass occurs on Sundays, and the church was closed. There's nothing else on the island, so we went back into town to see about concert tickets for tonight.

Then we went into the Danieli Hotel, one of Venice's finest to keep warm in the lobby. We were stopped at the entrance and were asked our business. Do I not look like I belong in the lobby of the Danieli Hotel? Is it the red Gore-tex parka? The La Cima baseball cap? The pouch on top of my paunch? So, I told them at the fronet desk that I was meeting my friend KhamodKha Brekhkher, and asked them what room he was in. That's B...R...E...¥...¥...E...R. We stayed for a while and then went to the ferry for the ride to Burano. It was a long ride, leading to a lovely small island with bright pastel stucco houses. Their specialty is lace. There is a lace museum. More than you ever wanted to know about lace.

..

We spent an hour and took the ferry back to Piazza San Marco We stopped at Enoteca Vino Vino and had a wonderful cheap lunch. It' small, run by a man and his wife. Everyone here was local. The menu was limited without translation, and the wine bar offered you wine by the bottle, except that you pay for as much as you drink from the bottle. So, you can have a glass of Brunello di Montalcino for 3.50€. We shared a sardi in saor, Carol had a vegetarian lasagna, and I had a plate of tripe, almost as good as the one in Siena two years ago. With wine and water, the lunch came to 17€.

We walked together for a while, shared a divine gelato--one scoop coffee and one pistachio.

..

..

I returned to the hotel to nap,  and Carol visited Ca'Rezzonico, a repository of more T's, We watched the opening salvo of the war on CNN.

There are few Americans here in Venice. Mostly, the tourists are English, with a great many Chinese and Japanese. The latter giggle a lot. We don't really worry about terrorists here. We do have a growing concern that our flight may be cancelled.

Tonight we took a vaporetto around the whole city, viewing all the museums, palazzi, hotels, and magnificent homes along the Grand Canal. Where else can you get on a sightseeing boat and see the whole city for nothing. We ended up by chance in a small, attractive restaurant off Piazza San Marco, Trattoria Canonica. It just looked nice. Carol ordered the menu turistica, for 15.50€, consisting of penne with delicious homemade tomato sauce, fried filet of sole that was absolutely fresh and delicious, with wonderful french fries (oops, I mean "freedom fries") and gelato. She said it was the best meal she had in Venice. I ordered osso buco, which was just wonderful, with a side of spinach. We splurged on the wine, and had a great, rich, complex '98 Barolo. The whole meal, with tip, came to 57€. We wandered our way back through the back streets. It is so easy to get lost here, because every street is loaded with chic boutiques, Armanis, Ferragamos, trattorias, pizzerias, ostarias, and restaurants.