Monday morning we cruised out into the little cobblestone streets and found a place with muffins and lattes for breakfast. The city of Venice does not wake up early so it was fairly quiet in the streets. I wrote out some things to mail to my students:) and then we bought tickets to take the boat out to Burano. Burano is one of many little islands north of Venice and it took about an hour in a very warm ferry to get there. It’s a little fishing town with stone streets and lovely colorful houses lining the canals. They are also known for their lace making and there are lots of shops selling lace tablecloths and scarves. We had seafood pasta for lunch and walked through some of the town, then took the ferry back to Venice. We cooled off for a couple hours at the house. Our apartment is on the ground floor and you step directly out of a cobblestone alley through a big wrought iron door and into the hall. We went for a pizza and pasta supper and of course got gelato later.

Yesterday morning we were up at 4:00, packing and getting ready to leave. We had to take our trash with us to a trash barge when we left, although it was so early we couldn’t find one so we just found a garbage can in the main square. We took a water taxi to the main bus station in Venice, then a bus from Venice to the Marco Polo airport on the mainland. We flew out at 8:00, a 2 hour flight from Venice to London. Once in London we went to Borough Barista for a latte before touring some more around Buckingham Palace. We did a lot of casual walking around making sure we didn’t miss anything. It was only 72* here so it was a welcome break from the heat we’ve had lately. By late afternoon we were quite tired so we went to the mission house where we were a over a month ago. Gary&Bonnie left a few weeks ago and have been replaced by Dalton&Yvonne so we had messaged them a week ago to see if we could come meet them this time! We had a lovely time with them and a delicious breakfast this morning with Devon custard and crumpets. We left at 9 and stopped at a shop on the way out to the airport. Now we are boarded in London for San Francisco and I’m finishing this post.

We left on this trip with mixed emotions. Life had thrown a lot of things at us before we left, so we were glad to relax and take a breather for this time even though there were people who thought we were crazy. But of course underneath it all has been the sadness of what we will go home to. We have been so thankful for this time to focus on each other and Madison and other things, so in some ways we haven’t even grasped that Dad is gone. So once again, we ask for your prayers as we work with things when we get back to folks’, and as we anticipate going back to teach where we don’t have family around us. It looks overwhelming. Thanks for your love and the messages you have sent, even if we haven’t been too great at responding the last few weeks.♡