Margaret is really good at putting the brakes on bad ideas that I sometimes get. My job is to provide the gas pedal when she needs it. I was determined on this trip to at least think of why Margret would tell me not to do something before jumping in. I didn’t do that with the pigeons in Saint Mark’s Square. A Korean student asked me to take her picture so I asked her to do the same for me. I saw people feeding the pigeons out of their hands and thought a picture of me pretending to do the same would be fun. Just then someone gave me 2 biscuits and told me to crumble them up and put them in my hands. Of course, without thinking of what Margaret would say, I soon had pigeons landing on me and eating.

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I was worried about tripping on the steep uneven steps to get to the balcony of St. Mark’s Cathedral but the view was worth it.

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It really struck me how many people from different countries I meet every day. While having dinner, I sat right next to 2 MBA students in Coventry, England traveling together, one Indian and one Chinese and had a great conversation with them. While standing in line for a concert after dinner, I talked with 2 Danish Women. On one side of me in the theater were two Thai women (one married to an Italian man) and on the other side a Japanese man who lives in Sweden.

The concert was not up to the standards of the other concerts I’ve heard. With classical singers you have to come out and totally rule the world with your charisma and vocal power. The tenor came out and blew the room away. The soprano was a little timid. She hit the notes but didn’t knock us out. When she performed without the tenor, she brought her notes and didn’t act out the opera story. The tenor didn’t need notes and was all over the small stage.

After today, I felt the main attractions of Venice were checked off. I saw the Rialto Bridge, Saint Mark’s Square by day and by night, the beautiful bridges everywhere, the small passageways, the Vaporetto along the Grand Canal, live classical music, people passing by from a cafe, and of course, I rode in a gondola with the gondolier singing. Venice was everything I thought it would be and more.