Last day in Venice

It was my last day in Venice and in Europe (other than travel). We bought a 12 hour vaporetto pass and took the boat to Murano island. Once there, we checked out the various glass shops and eventually had lunch. Lunch was very reasonable on the island, so it was necessary to have a bottle of wine, dessert, and cappuccino to accompany lunch :-)

The "free entrance" to the glass blowing factory is not too informative, but it is still neat to see some glass making in action. Apparently around 200 pieces are hand made each day by one person. After our tour we went back to the main island of Venice.

Our goal turned to souvenir shopping. I was amazed at how quickly this sucked the joy and energy out of shopping. I vowed to only buy souvenirs along the way in the future...when you know it is something someone will enjoy. Regardless, shopping was mostly done and it was time to refuel. I ordered another pesto dish; this time with spaghetti. I need to make pesto more often...okay, I need to try making pesto for the first time when I return.

After dinner we suddenly had another boost of shopping energy, so we hit up the Rialto area. We then headed back to the hotel to confirm travel plans; primarily ensuring I could meet up with the Kopfelsbergers again to get my passport. Plans were confirmed, so I could now comfortably ride the vaporetto around for some final night sightseeing along the grand canal. What a beautiful city! The vaporetto headed to Lido island and then turned around for one final pass along the canal before arriving at the train station.

We boarded the night train back to Munich. The following morning we arrived in Munich. We ate breakfast at Marienplatz in Munich with a fellow traveler we met on the train. We then parted to take the S-Bahn to the airport. At the airport we met up with mama and papa Kopfelsberger. I now had my key to re-enter the US. I had one last cappuccino with Katie, mama, and papa and began the series of checkpoints for my flight.

Just a 9 hour flight, a layover in Washington DC, a couple more hours, a layover in Chicago, another hour, and 30 hours after leaving Venice I was back. Brian and Jess picked me up from the airport and honored my request for some late night sushi before hopefully settling in for a long sleep. A nice end to a wonderful trip.