Yellow Warning! The meteorological warnings here in Europe are different than home. The yellow warning is for wind , and they got that right! It blew really hard all morning and it was chilly. Sometimes we could hear a cat-like sound coming through the windows. It seems I’m getting ahead of myself, though.

We woke up very excited because my dear dear friend from high school, Barbara, who has lived in London for the last 40 years, was coming here to Venice to visit us.

I fooled around for a while with my phone camera and the lillies:

And then got “bundled up” to go grab some coffee at Bar Cupido before meeting Barbara’s boat:

I had to hold onto my hat crossing the bridge! This wind nearly blew me down.

We got coffee and came back home. We can see the dock for the Alilaguna Blu right from our window.

Barbara got hung up in the airport with the EES system. Remember that Britain is not part of the EU anymore, so she had to do the same process as if coming from the US, scanning passport and making electronic fingerprints. But finally she got onto the boat and we ran down to meet her. Such a happy moment! Big hugs and smiles abounded. We walked to the Combo and helped her get checked in. There was a silly fiasco of us not finding the elevator, but her room is nice and clean, with a view of the canal.

She came back to our place and we talked and talked and talked. Memories flooded in and we shared some photos and talked politics, work and relationships. Barbara recalled one memory I’d forgotten: the time the two of us saw Judy Garland in an airport and gave her a rose, gushing with trepidation, appreciation and love. Eventually, we left the apartment and headed out for a before dinner stroll. The organic vegetable shop was open and I went in and got some things, including this beautiful type of radicchio, which we had as a salad:

We stopped at a pastificio on Strada Nova and got some dessert for later and strolled back home.

We came back to our place, had a toast of Prosecco and got the dinner together.

Ken walked Barbara back to the Combo while I cleaned up.

We watched Madison; I’m still not thrilled with it.

What a satisfying day to see my friend of so many years.