The Venetian Beaches

Having friends in from Philly moved the beach to the top of the priority list, where it might not have been for those of us from LA...but our trip to spiaggia di Jesolo is pretty high up on my list of beach experiences to date, hassle-free being the top descriptor.  In just under an hour, we were able to drive almost to the water and found easy parking a block from the beach.  Jesolo looks very much like a typical beach town - lots of restaurants and beachy shops.  But, the beaches here, or at least this one, are lined with umbrellas and lounge chairs already set up that you can just rent.  In broken Italian we managed to get a front row beach chair set-up  (an umbrella and two chairs) for two hours.  Laura and I took turns on the chairs, mostly to guard our stuff, while the girls played in the warm Adriatic sea.  A guy pushing a HUGE rolling gelati/shaved ice stand rolled by and we got two bottles of water for just 2,40 Euro total.  (If you've been reading along, we still aren't over what we paid for water in Venice!).  We also saw a couple of topless women and are threatening to join them on our next trip to the beach (at which time our daughters will certainly disown us!).  

We couldn't stay long at the beach because I had received a certified letter early in the day about my BOX.  We have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of a box I mailed the day we flew out - it contains Julia's paint supplies, a lot of books for me, some snacks for Rachel, and most importantly right now, some games to play.  Not that there isn't already plenty to do, but Laura and I can't wait for Rummikub to arrive!  We were hoping to receive it before our train trip to Florence on Monday, so after lunch of pasta and fish at a beach grill, we rushed home early enough for the sweet Guerrino to take me to the post office to figure out the problem and hopefully pick it up.  Unfortunately, the box got stopped in Milan for "inadequate information".  Guerrino filled out a form and faxed it off, but when I asked him if now the box would arrive, he joked, "now, we go to the church and light a candle."  I'm guessing the box may still take a while.  :-(