Things I've learned

1. Keep a closer eye on dad. He lost his wallet. Fortunately I brought my credit card and his passport was not in it. Today we retrace our steps and hope it was left in a friendly restaurant. We should have tipped...
2. Order a latte or an Americano coffee or you will be served a shot-glass of bitter resentment covered in a foam of sadness.
3. Don't buy expensive water bus (Vaperetto) tickets online. They don't work.
4. Do drink the water. Even the ever-flowing water fountains in the squares are piped from the alps.
5. The canals smell like a sewer for a reason. I have seen men pissing right off the sidewalk.
6. Navigating Venice is like doing a speed run in a video game. Hidden passages everywhere... called streets... that you swear is a dead end until you come up and face it. Crazy fun place to get lost.
7. They dont always check for tickets, but if they do, don't lose your ticket to the Vaporetto or you will get deposited at the next stop despite your loudest protests and no matter how far it is to one of the only 3 bridges that span the Grand Canal. This didn't happen to us, but we witnessed it.
8. Only Americans offer to help if you are struggling with luggage over stepped bridges, with the exception of our female host at the bnb.
9. Every square across the cities we have visited have swarthy characters selling one of two things: a helicopter slingshot that lights at night, or a squishy toy that flattens when you throw it on the ground, them resumes it's form. I admit I was tempted.
10. I want to keep going around the world, even though sleeping with dad is like ... well, I keep earphones on playing soft music all night. Unfortunately I lost my nifty eye mask with built in Bluetooth earphones on the plane, but I kept cheapo phones we got to hear a tour guide. Oh, and I found my missing makeup while turning everything out to look for dad's wallet. Perhaps all the freakin' angels I've captured on my phone will lend us a hand on getting it back, but so far no trench-coated messenger has appeared.

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