Ah, Venice!

Yesterday we managed to see Michaelangelo's David, do a complete tour of the Uffuzi, and find our way to the hostel in venice where we are staying. We waited in line for 2.5 hours to get into the Uffuzi, the lourve of Firenze, and it was the size of one wing of one floor of the lourve. It did have its share of Botticellis and a few DaVincis. Sadly, I have no clue what Dan Brown is talking about. They did have the Birth of Venus, however. We paid 16 euro to see the David, and I must confess it is the most compelling, astounding sculpture I have ever seen.
Venice is like the pictures portray, very picturesque for the first half of the day. After awhile the heat gets to you. I like the canals, but a map and compass is virtually useless in these winding dissected streets. We find our way by intuition. This morning, we went out walking aimlessly and ran right into the grand canal vaparetto (water taxi) stand's first stop. We got off and saw St. Marks square. Mom, when you come here, avoid this place like the plauge. Pigeons run amok, and vendors sell feed so you always see tourists literally covered in pidgeons, giggling and laughing like they are covered with butterflies instead of flying, diseased rats. The church is amazing, with a fused style of romanesque and byzantine. gold everywhere inside. More museums tomorrow, and the day after that we strike for the matterhorn!