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Oh the Afghans my Fingers Have Worked

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I have mentioned in other musings that I really love to crochet! I taught myself to crochet, but took lessons to learn to knit. Unfortunately, nothing I knitted fit! I could knit to gauge, but when the garment was finished – it still didn’t fit! It was either too big, or too small. Just never worked. So I have done more crocheting than knitting, and have a great pleasure in it.

When I was learning to crochet, one of the main patterns I saw was the “traditional Granny Square” afghan.

It is made with left-over tidbits of yarn, in no particular pattern or color, but always bordered in black. While I love the look, I have never made a “traditional” Granny Square afghan. Perhaps someday….

For some reason, I started making afghans – more for gifts to friends and family than to myself. Not sure just why, but I remember the first one I made. We were living in Panama City, Florida (actually Tyndall AFB) and had met a family through our church. I became very close friends with the wife of the family. When they were about to move from Panama City back to their hometown, I wanted to do something for them that they could enjoy, and perhaps remember me (our family) when they used it. I found this pattern and liked it.

Lynn and I went to a yarn shop in Panama City to try to match the colors of her couch, which we did. I purchased a lovely yarn that was 4-ply, worsted weight (size), but was nice and light. When I finished the afghan, I found that I had nearly enough yarn left to make another one! And so I did – one for me. Here is a picture of that afghan. It sat on the back of our couch for many years – and actually it reminded me of Lynn and her family as much as I had hoped it would remind Lynn of our family.

1987 – Seaford, Virginia – Judy and Janet on our couch – the afghan behind us

And so, I found that I would make an afghan for wedding presents through the years, in this same pattern. I used many different colors, but the same pattern. My favorite color pattern was dark chocolate brown down to an off-white or cream color. I made quite a few of those colors, but have no picture of any of them. I did find another pattern for a small lap afghan, and had enough brown-tone yarn left to make a couple of small ones in that yarn. I gave them to our church to give to a mission project we did.

My Aunt Jessie wanted one in that pattern, so I made her one in tones of pink. I made one of the same colors for our Karen.

I made one of burgundy shades for our Janet.

I made one in shades of royal blue for a nephew and his fiancé (no picture). I made one in cream with a stripe of dark rust to match the couch of my best friend, Sue.

So, you can see I’ve worked a lot of afghans in that pattern.

But not too long ago, I found this pattern in a book.

While I liked the pattern, I wanted to make a smaller afghan for our Karen – sort of a “half” afghan. Her husband, Brian, likes to sleep in a cold room, so I made a small afghan in just white and aqua just for Karen to cover herself when the room got too cold.

And so, when I looked at that pattern in the pattern book recently, I thought to myself, “that looks really pretty.”

But when I purchased the yarn to make it like the picture, I again thought to myself “how can these colors possibly go together???” But now that I’m working on it, they go together amazingly! And bordered by white just makes the colors “pop” out! This one will be a wedding present, as well.

This is such fun! I am so glad to be able to work these things! God is good!

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

Tags: Afghans, Crafting, Crochet

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Random Memories of Germany-Part 8

24 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Willsili

Fred and I both enjoyed our two tours-of-duty to Germany immensely. While we might not have partaken of a lot of German-American activities, we did some. We were highly involved with our church activities, and our daughters activities, as well. But that didn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the culture, food, etc. of Germany.

And we were extremely grateful to be living in a land so far from our home country. One of the best benefits, was to look at the U.S. from the outside. That was an amazing perspective!

I took German lessons before and after we arrived in Germany, to better be able to communicate with the German people. I was some-what successful in that effort. We had been told that the German people were most appreciative of any effort Americans made to speak the language – not just expect the Germans to learn and understand our English.

When we lived in Wiesbaden,

I found an Austrian lady who was married to a German man and was willing to tutor me in German. I thoroughly enjoyed my lessons, and tried very hard to learn the language. Our Karen was under three-years-old at that time, and since my tutor had a young son, I took her with me to my lessons and the children played while we mothers worked on German lessons. My final lesson was more of a “tea party” than a lesson. She served me some Austrian pastry, and coffee with whipped cream in it! Yummmmmm!

When we arrived in Heidelberg,

I took lessons with a group, from those offered on the military base we lived near. Not nearly so much fun as my Austrian tutor, but efficient, just the same. Our final test was to pair up with another person, go to the hauptstrasse (main street) of downtown Heidelberg with a set of questions. We were to stop someone on the street, ask our question in German, and record their answer, in German. We were rather nervous about this procedure, but we did it. Those we stopped looked rather stern when we stopped them, but then gave us our answer in the most polite and friendly way possible. It was an amazing experience!

And so, when Fred would come home from his work (both in Wiesbaden as well as Heidelberg), and tell me of the complaints that came from his co-workers, it rather set me off! They would complain that “there’s nothing to do here, except go to the club and drink!” I was rather furious at that comment! I told Fred – “they are here at government expense! There is all of Europe to explore! What is the MATTER with them??”

I have no idea whether or not Fred was able to pass that sentiment along to those guys. And I have to admit that most of them were single airmen (enlisted personnel), who were mostly away from home for the very first time. And as a matter of fact, we tried all we could to help them. Occasionally I would fix a traditional American meal (perhaps Thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings), and have a large meal with some of the guys to share the meal with us.

We did all we could to help them get past the loneliness and enjoy the beauty of Europe.

We were told of one young man who determined to enjoy his experience in Germany. He refused the base housing, and lived in a German apartment. He got to know his landlords and shared experiences with them. He participated in the local activities. He learned to read and speak German. He joined a local “little theater” (as we would call it here) and participated in some of their productions. In other words, he immersed himself in the local culture. He was sad to leave Germany, and those he had come to know, were sad to see him go.

As you might had gleaned from some of my posts about “Random Memories of Germany” – we did everything we could to immerse ourselves – and our daughters – in Germany and Europe. It was a wonderful experience, and our memories are precious to us.

Tags: Memories of Germany, Military family life

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Random Memories of Germany, Let’s Eat Part 2

17 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I guess what I’m about to write about includes food, so the “Let’s Eat” is still a good title. You see, I didn’t grow up drinking wine or beer or any hard alcoholic drinks, even with my meals. So I have never “acquired” the taste for any of it.

And, as a matter of fact, when I was teaching aerobics, I was appalled at the horrible sweat odor oozing from the pours of women who had been drinking beer. Blech! That would NOT have encouraged me to drink beer in any form! So I haven’t.

I must admit, that I have tried – many times – to accompany my evening meal with a glass of wine. And I just can’t do it. The taste turns me off. When I have mentioned this to friends, the usual response is “oh, you just haven’t found the right wine yet!” And so, when we were in Heidelberg, by invitation I went to a “wine tasting party” in an apartment near where we lived. After sampling several different wines, I finally found a wine that I thought I could enjoy, and so purchased a bottle to take home with me. Days later, when I opened the bottle to enjoy with my meal – I found that, once again, it turned me off. So that bottle of wine was used later in my cooking.

And that brings me to another topic of wine. Many years ago I was given the recipe for making French Onion Soup. A friend had made it for a meal, and I was quite taken with it. Her husband had been a soldier in Vietnam, and had eaten French Onion Soup in a restaurant in Saigon. He told her it was the best French Onion Soup he had even eaten! And he had her try every recipe for it that she could find, and then tweak it until it tasted like what he had tasted in Saigon. This was the recipe I was given.

*Credit Google Search and Sharon Uzell-Meek*

Well, that recipe called for “cooking sherry.” Being a good non-drinking Baptist girl, I thought that I should use the “cooking sherry” instead of regular sherry. When I tried it, I found it to be quite distasteful! And as someone once told me – “If it isn’t good enough to drink, it isn’t good enough to cook with!” And I have to agree.

So from that point on, I have been cooking with regular wine. The alcohol is burned off by the heat, and the flavor is left in the food. I find it enhances the flavor of the food deliciously.

And I still don’t like the taste of wine!

Tags: #amblogging, Christian bloggers, French Onion Soup, Military Life, Wine

Random Memories of Germany-Let’s Eat!

3 Oct

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I had never really eaten any type of “international” food as I was growing up, just what was around Albuquerque. You know – pizza, Mexican food, Chinese. But I don’t remember there being a German restaurant in Albuquerque – at least one I knew about.

So I didn’t really have any kind of frame of reference for what to expect in the way of food when we got to Germany in 1967. I am most happy to report that my experience with German food was off the charts! It was wonderful – or as I used to compliment the server – “Ausgezeichnet” (outstanding!!). That always got a chuckle from the server – whether it was my pronunciation or what the word means, I’m not sure. But I like to think it left a good impression.

And let me make this statement right now: we NEVER had a bad meal in any German restaurant – no matter where it was. It could have been in the town where we were living at the time – or it could have been along the roadside where we would stop as we were traveling. It was ALL good!

Our first experience was in the hotel where we were to stay for about a week when we first arrived in Wiesbaden – the American Arms Hotel. We ate many of our meals there and were pleased. Our military sponsors took us out to eat that first evening, and it was at the zum Keller in Wiesbaden. I had my first taste of schnitzel there, as well as the wonderful salad they make (you know – cucumbers and onions in a vinegar sauce on butter lettuce…yummm!), and the French fries (pomme frites). Wow…my mouth is watering just remembering!

In later years, when we returned for Fred’s second tour of duty in Germany, we found a wonderful restaurant, called Grimmingers, that was just down the street from our apartment. They had the most wonderful schnitzel there – and we each had our favorite. Fred always wanted the Jägerschnitzel (hunter’s schnitzel).

Credit Google search and Quick German Recipes

Our daughters both loved the Rahmschnitzel (topped with a cream sauce).

Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact name of my favorite schnitzel, and it’s possible that it was a house speciality. It was the usual schnitzel with a couple of stalks of Spargle (white asparagus) on top, and covered with a cream sauce. Delicious! Also unfortunately, our daughter, Karen, told us following a visit to Heidelberg in recent years, that the restaurant is no longer there – it is now a bank! Shucks!

In a previous musing, I mentioned that we had a favorite Gasthause, the Schwartzeradler (Black Eagle) where we always stopped on our way to Rothenburg.

*Credit Google Search and swartzer_adler_rothenberg.com*

It was in a very small village, right on the road we drove on. I believe we always got their schnitzel there, rather than trying to eat somewhere within the walled city of Rothenburg. Our girls didn’t understand that, until we told them that the “local” restaurant had to have good food, or it wouldn’t survive, while the restaurants within cities that attracted tourists didn’t – the tourists probably wouldn’t return, so it didn’t really matter how good the food was. It was an eatery that was well attended by the local population. If the locals didn’t like the food, they wouldn’t return – and this one was well-established.

I have nothing but good memories of food in Germany. It’s one of the things I miss the most about living there. We are grateful God allowed us that time in our lives – and the memories that accompany it.

Tags: #amblogging, Christian bloggers, German food, Memories of Germany, Military. Military Life

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Random Memories of Germany, Trips to Italy-Part 6

26 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

For the last of my memories of trips to Italy, I would like to tell you about when we stopped at Trieste.

Trieste is located in the northern part of Italy that has been dominated by many different nations throughout its history: Austria/Hungary, Italian (Roman), France (three times during the Napoleonic Wars), Germany (with Mussolini as head) during WW2, Yugoslavia. It was finally officially annexed to Italy in 1954. The border questions with Yugoslavia and the status of the ethnic minorities (Slovenes in Italy and Italians in Yugoslavia) were settled definitely in 1975 with the treaty of Osimo. (Please see Wikipedia for more information)

Trieste is a natural port on the Adriatic, and is nearly surrounded by Slovenia. Here is a picture that Fred’s father took while stationed in Trieste following WW2. Don’t know the name of the Navy Cruiser, but it is a U.S. ship, and it is in the port of Trieste.

Another picture says it was possibly bringing Omar Bradley to visit. Sorry, no picture of Bradley.

Fred’s parents lived for a while in this building in Trieste following WW2,

on what he calls the “mezzanine” – it was the level under the “arches” – but not the ground level. Between the ground floor and the second floor. And here is our picture of that same building.

Here is a picture that Fred’s dad took of the living room of the apartment in the mezzanine, in July 1948.

And also in 1948 is a picture of Fred, his sister Emily, and their mother in front of the Fontana dei Tritoni in Trieste.

One of Fred’s fondest memories of Trieste (and why he wanted to show it to me) was the Miramare Castle. The Castle was used by the U.S. military as an Officer’s Club following WW2 (the British assigned to Trieste could use the O’Club as well). Fred says they would attend church on Sundays, then go to Miramare Castle for lunch. That was not the case when we visited in 1970 – we didn’t enter the Castle, as I remember. But we toured the gardens, and they were beautiful.

1970 – some of the gardens, Miramare Castle – Judy by statue

Fred said he would take a G.I. bus to Miramare Castle and essentially spent all day swimming. Here is a picture of his family – probably him and his siblings and parents – in the water.

And here is a picture of that same spot that we took on our 1970 trip.

He said the beach was pretty rocky, so some sand was brought in to make a sandy beach.

Also, a “platform” or float was built on top of some large empty drums, where one could sit and sun, or dive off into the water.

Fred remembers walking to the docks when he lived in Trieste – it was only a few blocks to the docks from where they lived. He would go there and watch the ships come and go.

It was a lovely time of remembrance for Fred as we toured that city. And an interesting city, as well.

~~~~~~~~~~And so ends our trips to Italy~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: #amblogging, Christian bloggers, Memories of Germany and Italy, Military Life, Trieste Germany

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Friendship

19 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Back in the early 1970’s we were living in San Antonio, Texas. Great place to live. We really loved it there – even considered living there when Fred retired from the U.S. Air Force. However, that was not to be.

The Alamo-San Antonio, Texas Photo credit Judy Will

We were members of the First Baptist Church in downtown San Antonio from 1971-1974. It was an “old” church – established in 1861. It was, at the time we were there, the 15th largest in the nation. This sanctuary was built in 1925, and completely remodeled and modernized in 1964. We thoroughly enjoyed that church. The first Sunday we visited there, we walked in and the feeling was…home

First Baptist Church, San Antonio, TX – from a post card

Since it was a quite large church – somewhere around 5,000 members – it was in the Sunday School, choir, and other groups where we got to know other members. Janet was still in nursery age, but Karen was school age and old enough to sit in the worship service. Since Fred and I were both in the choir, I found an older couple she could sit with. She always found her way to the choir room to meet us following the service.

One Sunday morning, just before Sunday School started, I was sitting next to an older woman I didn’t know. She tapped the coloring book I had on my lap (for Karen to entertain herself quietly during the service), and said, “I know how you keep yourself awake during the preaching!” We both laughed.

I later found out that she was the Senior Pastor’s wife!! Oops!

One of the organizations within that body of believers, was a young women’s group that we called “Friendship.” The idea was for each of us to find one international wife who spoke very little English and bring her to the church. I must say that the only thing “churchy” about this entire program was the prayer we said before we had refreshments. No preaching…no church teaching…just pure love and friendship.

We had a one-on-one hour of teaching them English via the Laubach Method of teaching English as a second language. It is a highly successful method, and even those of us who were not fully trained, could help someone learn the language.

Following the hour of English, we would have some time with refreshments and getting to know each other. And then we would have another hour of arts and crafts. We had an exercise class; we had art painting, etc. My specialty was teaching crocheting. My girls each crocheted a shawl from yarn. Most seemed to enjoy it.

It was a lovely experience, and one I have treasured. San Antonio, being a very “military” city, has many international women married to our military men. Some had never had occasion to attempt to learn English – and sometimes, the U.S. military husbands didn’t necessarily want their international wives to learn English. But it did my heart good to know we provided that service.

Tags: #amblogging, Christian bloggers, Friendship, Military

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
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Random Memories of Germany-Trips to Italy Part 5 B

12 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Still thinking about our trips to Pisa, Italy…

We still concentrated our visit to Pisa on the Cathedral and it’s Leaning Tower.

The Cathedral with the Leaning Tower (bell tower) Picture by Fred Wills

I’ve mentioned previously that we stopped in a shop in Pisa that specialized in marble, alabaster, and “composition” figurines. Here are pictures from a brochure from that very shop.

Last time I presented pictures of the marble lampstands we purchased,

as well as the composition tumbling angels,

and the composition figures of Moses and the discus thrower.

Here is a picture of some alabaster “fruit” they had.

We have enjoyed all these things, ever since 1968.

I noticed in the brochure that they had marble stands that look very much like the one I inherited from my Aunt Jessie. However, I KNOW she never went to Italy, and am not sure where she acquired hers. She had it a long time – as here is a picture of her in 1949 standing by it in her house in San Antonio, Texas,

and another of her living room in Albuquerque in 1954.

And here it is in our living room, in Orlando, Florida.

Wikipedia also states that there are several medieval palaces in Pisa. Wow did we miss a lot! I don’t remember visiting any palaces in Pisa!

Also from Wikipedia: Pisa was the birthplace of the important early physicist Galileo Galilei. It is still the seat of an archbishopric. Besides its educational institutions, it has become a light industrial centre and a railway hub. It suffered repeated destruction during World War II.

Since the early 1950s, the US Army has maintained Camp Darby just outside Pisa, which is used by many US military personnel as a base for vacations in the area.

I believe we stayed on Camp Darby when we visited Pisa. It was a nice place to “base” our explorations of the area.

~~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: Christian bloggers, Memories of Germany and Italy, Travel

Random Memories of Germany-Trips to Italy Part 5

5 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Another Italian city where we stopped was Pisa. I’ve written about Pisa in previous musings, but I want to talk about just Pisa today – not as part of other trips.

I think the most renown aspect of Pisa is the “Leaning Tower.” However, I was reading about Pisa in Wikipedia, and found that it has some very interesting facts that I didn’t know. For instance, Pisa was a major city by the sea. According to Wikipedia:

The maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. It was the only port along the western coast between Genoa and Ostia (Rome). Also according to Wikipedia: The power of Pisa as a maritime nation began to grow and reached its apex in the 11th century, when it acquired traditional fame as one of the four main historical maritime republics of Italy. The Arno River played an important part in that.

The University of Pisa is located in Pisa, and, according to Wikipedia: is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, and The University has Europe’s oldest academic botanical garden… founded in 1544.

There are many churches and museums in Pisa. I guess we just didn’t know or realize all that when we visited, because we didn’t go to any. Our main emphasis was on the church (the Piazza del Miracoli) and the Leaning Tower – which is the bell tower of the city’s cathedral.

The Cathedral with the Leaning Tower (bell tower)

I’ve mentioned previously that we stopped in a shop in Pisa that specialized in marble, alabaster, and “composition” figurines. Here are pictures from a brochure from that very shop.

Last week I presented pictures of the marble lampstands we purchased, as well as the

composition tumbling angels, and the composition figures of Moses and the discus thrower. Here is a picture of some alabaster “fruit” they had.

We have enjoyed all these things, ever since 1968.

~~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: #amblogging, Christian bloggers, Memories of Germany and Italy, Military Life, Pisa Italy

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Random Memories of Germany-Trips to Italy Part 4

22 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

One of the cities we stopped in was Florence. I actually believe Florence is my favorite of all the Italian cities we toured. I can’t even explain that – it just is.

The architecture in Florence is different from Rome and other Italian cities. In some respects, I really like it, and others, well, not so much.

For instance, here is a picture of one of the older buildings in Florence – with a clock tower – the Palazzo Vecchio.

It houses some of Michelangelo’s best sculptures, such as David. Here is the original of David.

While I had known of Michelangelo’s David, I had never really studied the piece, especially to see the frown on his face. It is the moment he saw and heard the giant (Goliath) tormenting the Hebrews and their God. It made him mad! That’s the look you see on David’s face. Wonderful!

You will notice that he already has his sling over his left shoulder, ready to use. And his right hand holds the five smooth stones. He’s ready to fight! Amazing.

I’ve read that Michelangelo, when faced with a large chunk of marble, would see the object “inside” the chunk, and then worked to get it out. What an amazing way to look at sculpture. And look at how smooth the piece is! How did he get it that way, with hammer and chisel? And the veins in David’s hands. Michelangelo was truly gifted.

Here is a picture of the outside of that building – Palazzo Vecchio – with replicas of Michelangelo’s works. They are enormous! There is Neptune on the left, David in the middle, and far right is Hercules and Cacus.

Perhaps seeing those statues inspired us to purchase a few for ourselves – not in that size, however! We did purchase the Discus Thrower, and a Moses. (There was store in Pisa that had all kinds of “composition” figurines as well as marble. We purchased our “tumbling angels” and marble lampstands there, as well as the discus thrower and Moses)

There is a lot of controversy about Moses – he has horns! From all we’ve been able to glean, there was a “mistranslation” of a scripture, and so Moses is seen with horns. Interesting! Someone suggested that Michelangelo effectively captures the rage of disapproval coursing through Moses body (credit timelessitaly).

There is another “type” of architecture in Florence that I really am not fond of. It belongs to Santa Maria Novella (St. Mary’s cathedral). I guess I just like the older type of architecture more. But this is beautiful, in its way. Here I am by the obelisk in front of St. Mary’s.

Santa Maria Novella – photo by Fred Wills

≈

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Tags: Memories of Germany and Italy

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Categories Judy Wills-Sunday Memories
Author ludyja

Random Memories of Germany-Trips to Italy-Part 3

15 Aug

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Last time, I made this statement:

This sign was before we went inside [the Vatican], and unfortunately, I don’t remember what it was of – whether it was some ceilings or something else of importance to the Vatican. And, I don’t speak or read Italian, so am not sure just what it tells.

Our oldest daughter Karen, and her husband, Brian, have made a few trips to Europe, and Rome, and this was her response to that statement:

Regarding those signs at the end, they are for the tour operators to explain all the details of the Sistine Chapel before entering, because you’re not allowed to speak once inside. We took a tour a few years ago, and our guide stood by one of those signs to point out significant parts of the ceiling’s amazing artwork so we would know what we were looking at.

My thanks to Karen for supplying that piece of information. It has just been too many years gone since we’ve been to Rome to remember it all, and I had forgotten that we were unable to speak once inside.

In any case, on with the story: When we made our trip in 1970, we traveled by car, since we had gone to the Oberammergau Passion Play, then on down into Italy. We made several stops along the way. I am not going to present this in any particular order, just showing places we stopped, both in 1970 and 1982, with our girls. In 1982, we took a bus trip/tour from Heidelberg over the Thanksgiving holiday.

We stopped in Venice. I don’t remember just where we stayed in 1982, but it was a hotel in Venice itself. I remember our girls were in a room by themselves, down the hall from us. And so, I was alarmed one night, about 2:00 a.m. when it sounded like someone was trying to break into our room! Finally, Fred shouted that he “had the wrong room” and the drunken man apologized and moved on down the corridor. Then I was concerned that he would try to get into the girl’s room. But they were safe, thank goodness!

In 1970, Fred had arranged a hotel for us outside Venice itself, in Mestre. We drove across a bridge, parked in a large parking lot, and then toured Venice on foot and with water taxi.

But Venice was fascinating: We saw the Dodge’s Palace and the Campanile and the Stairway of the Giants (Mars on the left, Neptune on the right)