Dira has just returned from her fabulous Big 5-oh! tour of Europe (almost in concert with Granny’s – those Libran women know how to party, eh?) And yes, the Gang was supposed to be there, swinging from one birthday dinner to the other. Serious bummer dudes, what can we tell ya; the walk-in Marcus G ‘drobe and Burma quickly put paid to all that. Ah, well, such is life.

Anyhoo, after Paris/Canal de Midi barge biz/and Spain, Dira and Toni headed for Venice for the real birthday treat; a mosaic workshop at Orsini. Dira loves her smalti, and she wasn’t disappointed. Between the daily walk to the Orsini workshop…

…the buckets of smalti…

…the Master’s work…

…and a slap-up buon compleanno dinner with reliable pals…

…and, most importantly, Toni…

…what more could a girl possibly want?

Oh yeah, maybe just a gorgey chandelier from Murano – as a little souvenir of the occasion…

Dira and Toni ran a blog for the duration of the trip. You can work your way back through it, here.