Go Figure

So it turns out that girls like it when you take them to Venice for three days and stay in a five-star hotel. Who knew?

Yes, Venice is great. Yes, Venice is as expensive as you've heard. Yes, the main piazza floods at high tide, which, while we were there, occurred almost exactly at noon. I've got some really good pictures that this computer doesn't want to let me post. Oh, and yes, we took a gondola ride. Ridiculously expensive, but totally worth it. (With the first gondolier we approached, I actually managed to bargain my way out of a ride. He quoted me some obscene rate for an hour, and I figured you're supposed to haggle, right? So I came back with "$50," and he didn't even dignify it with a response; just pushed off his boat and went to the next landing to talk to the tourists there. So the next guy, I pretty much just handed him my wallet and let him take whatever he wanted out of it. Or at least, I might as well have.)

Notte Bianca, Take 2

Despite last year's complete lack of success at having any fun there, I decided to try White Night in downtown Naples again this year. But this time, I did it smart. "Laura" and I got a hotel right downtown, and checked in Saturday afternoon, thus avoiding the crushing nastiness of trying to get downtown with the entire rest of the population of the Greater Naples Metropolitan Area. It was actually a lovely evening--lots of street concerts, vendor booths, and generally just a nice time to walk around. Of course, the whole idea is that the Chamber of Commerce, or whatever the Italian equivalent is, sponsors the whole thing in order to generate huge crowds for the stores downtown, which remain open all night for bargain hunters and merry revelers. Apparently, though, somebody forgot to tell the stores about it, because there were about three of them open.