Festivals and a day on the water, April 25, Part One

 Today was a day of holidays, both here and in our lives.
1.  St. Mark's Day, patron saint of Venice.
2.  liberation Day - when Italy was liberated after WW II
3.  Red Rose Day here when men give their love ones, especially their moms, red roses.  They were on sale everywhere.
4.  Nick's 40th birthday!  How can we possibly have a child that age?
5.  Full moon

We had a busy day with our 36 hour vaporetto pass, meaning we can ride the water busses wherever. Not cheap.  €25 each.  But, we got our money's worth today!

   

First, we went to Saint Mark's Square, but the crowds were thick and the weather wonderful, so we hopped on the vaporetto for the island of Lido, which became Italy's most fashionable bathing beach, Lido, which is an island about a 15-20 minute ride from St Mark's.  Beautiful!  We walked across the island, about half a mile and found a beach where many people were sun bathing and, a few swimming.  We think it must have approached 80 degrees F.  We rolled up our pants and walked along in the water.  (And a gelato was in order!)

After, we took the vaporetto "home" for lunch.