My friends Clara and her husband John, picked me up at the airport and drove me to their home. They live in a small suburb of Venice called Treviso, which means three faces. The small town is old but very picturesque. Their two story house is lovely with a Columbian motif as Clara is from Bogotá. Their garage door is adorned by pictures of a door and a window that looked real.
 

In the evening, we went to a small restaurant for dinner. It had about a dozen tables and the owner was hesitant first to let me take pictures, because someone previously did and posted a picture of the dishes on the web. The floor of this restaurant sits over flowing water and some tables were placed on the glass floor permitting guests to see the water running beneath them. The fish dinner was superb and was complimented by wine.
 

Next morning after a light breakfast including large black figs, Clara and I toured this small town. It is the dream of a photographer. Everywhere I looked was a beautiful scene of this old town. I took many photos. Treviso is very clean, people, mostly women, were talking and socializing in the middle of the road, or shopping for everything from shoes to fish. We visited the open fish market. I was surprised to find that it was very expensive. Water canals were everywhere. Bridges of different designs were built for pedestrians to cross. We had coffee at a small shop, which is a favorite of Clara. A tag showing the origin of the served the brew is placed by the cup.
 

One path led us to an area where rows of chestnut trees were planted. The very large fruit was falling on the ground, and there was a lot of it. We had to get off the path because of the falling fruit. Some people picked it, but the path is covered with this tasty fruit. For lunch, I had my first complete pizza today, which was loaded with olives. I enjoyed it. It is customary in this town to post on a wall the pictures of the people who died with an obituary of each. The ages were high, mostly in the upper 80s and 90’s. They must have high life expectancy.
 

Next day, Clara and I went to the legendary old city of Venice by train. Its beauty matches its reputation. It was very crowded with tourists. Narrow streets were lined with shops and populated by onlookers. We crossed several bridges, some were high and had been constructed with elegant design. The canals were crowded with cargo boats, passengers and the famous, well decorated, gondolas. It would be hard for me, even with my boating experience, to navigate the crowded canals.
 

It was a sunny and warm day as we walked everywhere. Venice is famous for its artistic glass works, especially jewelry. Facemasks of various forms have traditionally been made here. It is believed, that people who wanted to borrow money in yesteryears from masked lenders, wore masks themselves to hide their identity. Other masks had long noses, which were believed to have been worn by physicians to protect themselves from too close to their  contagious patients during the plague.
 

We had lunch at an open café in the beautiful, very expansive, expensive and crowded St. Mark Square. The white-coated waiters wrote the order on what looked like a Palm Pilot with an antenna. They transmitted the order to the kitchen wirelessly. On three sides of the square were three story buildings and on the fourth an ornate cathedral. The cathedral was decorated at the peak of its entrance with the city’s old symbol, the winged lion. The city was at one time the Venetian kingdom. It ruled the Dalmatian coast of Croatia.
I was impressed by a large banner in this area and on the church wall, advertising what looked like an event entitled “Venezia and Islam”. On one side of the bannar was an image of a cardinal and on the other facing him, a Muslim scholar.
 

I was impressed by a large banner in this area and on the church wall, advertising what looked like an event entitled “Venezia and Islam”. On one side of the bannar was an image of a cardinal and on the other facing him, a Muslim scholar.

There was an elegant coffee shop, on the other side of the square, where we stopped for drinks. The seats were covered with red velvet, the walls and ceiling were decorated with glassed in pictures. It was a pleasant experience. Part of the cost for the coffee was a fee for the orchestra playing outside.
 

After more strolling of the city streets, we took a water shuttle to the train station to go back to Treviso. There were different water shuttles, similar to bus lines found in a city.

In the evening, John suggested a nice restaurant in Treviso, where again I had a delicious fish dinner. I spent two pleasant days with my friends who know the surrounding towns very well. To top all that, Clara insisted on ironing my casual shirts. John said, “If  you don’t watch it, she will iron your socks!!”

My visit with my friends was most pleasurable. Friends, weather, food and scenery were just splendid.