We are leaving Venice and headed to Cinque Terra, a quaint collection of fishing villages on the Mediterranian sea. We had a great time in Venice. Apparently I lost my last post in cyberspace. Cell coverage was really spotty in Venice.

Venice was very beautiful. We had a really picturesque room at the Casa D’ Arte, about 100 yards off of the Accademia bridge. It was quite the adventure getting to our pensions though. We were given the wrong directions and we to a hotel that was shut down. Amazingly someone answered our repeated buzzing of the bell and gave us a different address. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to find our way through the labyrinth they call Venice. We were hot, tired and frustated. We were absolutely miserable. We finally found our lodgings more through sheer luck than anything else. That was the most uncertain we have been about this trip to date. We didn’t know if we were going to find a place to sleep that night. God was really watching out for us.

We had a lot of fun in Venice. St. Mark’s square is very beautiful. The Basillica is very ornate and it looks like it was influenced by eastern architecture. The best part are the classical concerts that are performed nightly in front of the cafes. There dueling orchestras. It’s a surreal scene. I don’t recommend sitting at a cafe to listen. They charge a hefty cover to sit. You can hear just fine standing nearby. We made the mistake of sitting down. We paid 15 euro in top of our coffee for that dubious privilege.

That was one downer. The Venetians are masters of scamming tourists. They have been a tourist city for hundreds of years and are great at it.

Our highlights from Venice were St. Marks, watching the grand canal by the Rialto Bridge, exploring back streets at night and meeting up with a family friend called Mark Crooks.

Mark has been a missionary in Venice for 5 years. He started a church planting movement in Venezuela. He move to Venice after handing his church to guys he had trained in Venezuela.
He shared how hard it is to share the gospel in Venice. There are no evangelical churches on the Island. On the mainland the church he inherited had been around for 30 years and has under 20 people in it. There is a resistance to the gospel in Italy. This country needs more workers for the harvest.

Thanks for praying for us here. We are excited for our next stop in the trip. It is supposed to be really beautiful.