Venice Italy - April 2016 - Spring Break (1 of 3)
With the way St. Patrick's day and Easter fell this year, the girls were off school for 3 straight weeks... so we needed to find something to do to keep Russ outside of the loony bin!! We decided to take advantage of the break and head to a place I have spent a lot of time for work in the last few months...Italy! After doing some research on the best cities to visit with kids, we decided to try and hit three of the big regions over 10 days. While there were a lot of planes, trains, automobiles, taxis and boats involved. The trip went over quite smoothly!
We headed out early Easter morning and landed in Venice. Early is a bit of an understatement if you ask the kids... we talked about having to get up early (around 5 a.m) to get to the airport, but as it happened, we "sprung ahead" that day as well. Needless to say, when I attempted to gently wake Annelyse, her response when she looked over at the clock (which had not been adjusted) was "you said you were getting us up at 5am.. not 3:50!?? Good thing for us, the adrenaline started flowing and we were on the road and in the air without issue!
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| Waiting for the water taxi |
Once in Venice we navigated our way to the Alilaguna (aka water taxi or water bus) and were on our way to the apartment! We had gotten lots of books about Italy leading up to the trip and the girls were fascinated by the fact that there are no cars in Venice. While they went into the trip knowing this fact, it was funny to watch their faces as the wheels turned, pondering how we were going to get from one place to the next... funny thing was, Russ and I were thinking the same thing and were hoping our two little seasoned travelers would lead the way! As the traveled along the Linea Blu, we made several stops along the route. Loralye kept asking why the boat was stopping and I explained to her it was docking. She then asked "what's docking" ...Sometimes vacation is harder than work with all the questions I don't have answers for. We laugh every time they ask a question and we say we don't know because their universal response is... "just Google it".
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| One of my favorites from the trip... I said, smile and say Venice!!! This is what I got :) |
All the smiling and Adriatic Sea air must have gotten the best of her, because shortly after the picture above was taken she passed out. Literally, she was looking out the window, laid down and was out cold. Needless to say, with all the commotion, starting and stopping and excitement in the air, the nap was quick... like 12 minutes quick. True definition of a power nap! Or maybe not, given how she woke up...
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| Dodges Palace |
Anyway, I explained to her that the water taxi was like the DART at home; there are several stops and eventually, it is ours! Once she made the connection between the water taxi and train from home, it was smooth sailing! FiNaLlY... we arrived at the Zattere stop! Of course, we passed at least 3 gelaterias (ice cream stores) on our 100 meter walk to the apartment which set the stage for vacation. We promised gelato everyday so long as we didn't have to hear any more about it until after dinner. A bribe they took without another peep!
By this point we could tell our ladies wouldn't be making it far into the evening given our early start, so as all our energy began to wane, we opted for a pizza and pasta dinner, chats with Uncle Mike, Aunt Cab and Grammy Jo and gelato to finish the evening! Of course, we couldn't got out without getting all dolled-up in our Sunday best (well the three of them anyway... I looked like a bum like usual!)
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So grown up... out on the veranda in the sun :) They were so excited to be able to wear sandals and short-sleeves...
The simple pleasures!!! |
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| Just like big sister in every way! Legs crossed, hands folded, head tilted.... Everything except those bangs that still haven't grown out after her self-styling! |
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| Running from the apartment ... on a mission for gelato! |
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| ahhhh... the SUN! |
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| They are ALWAYS ahead of us... it makes me proud and drives me nuts all at the same time. They walk as though they know where they are going (perhaps they do?); no fears, the world is their oyster, nothing stands in their way! Russ and I could disappear and they wouldn't notice, unless of course something peaked their interest that required funding... like gelato! |
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Quote of the trip... "This is the best food ever... when can we eat here again"???
NOTE: EVERY meal was eaten without any discussions, bribes or bantering! |
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| Paper airplanes made from their placemats... thank you papa! |
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| Once again, on her own, FaceTiming with Unc and Aunt Cab as she walks. They were probably sea sick after getting off the phone with her... she kept "showing" them all kinds of stuff. The camera was moving the entire conversation! |
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| FINALLY!!!! Annelyse choose Mango and Chocolate... not the combination I would have went with but she was happy :) She was also perturbed by the fact that I was making her smile instead of letting her indulge! |
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| Can barely keep her eyes open... |
Upon returning home from dinner, Lo made a funny observation in the bathroom. Shortly after entering, she comes running out saying,"Hey Mom... look... there is a little sink in the bathroom by the toilet!?!" Why is there a sink in the bathroom??" The little sink that she was referring to actually was a bidet. After some more Googling, we discovered that bidets are present in 99% of Italian bathrooms. Needless to say we saw lots of 'little sinks' on our trip and of coursed laughed about their purpose each and every time. Of course they had to give a few of them a try, which was good for many, many laughs for everyone.
After a nice chat with Grammy Jo, the girls were out cold by 6:15pm.
The next morning we were up and on our way to the first tour of the trip. Three tiny islands which sit in the Venetian Lagoon, Murano, Burano and Torcello. The first stop was Murano; a group of seven islands known throughout the world for the centuries-old craft of glass blowing. We popped off the boat and were escorted into a facility where a glass blowing demonstration was taking place.
Quickly we realized that this 'free show' was the prequel to a store you were forced to walk through filled top to bottom with thousands of incredibly beautiful glass sculptures.
Everything from chandeliers to stem ware. They wouldn't let you take pictures, but it was truly incredible and immensely nerve wracking with present company. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.
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| Boat ride begins! |
Back in Venice, we headed for our next planned activity, specifically chosen to keep the girls engaged. I found this little shop that was designed to have kids paint their very own carnival mask! Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition typically worn during the Carnival (period leading up to Lent) but have been used on many other occasions in the past, usually as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status. The shop had all kinds of designs to choose from and after careful deliberation, we settled on a half-mask for Annelyse (so she could breathe) and a cat face for Loralye because she wanted to be a cat of course! It was a great time and even better seeing that the shop owner only spoke to the girls in Italian, which made picking colors, ribbons, feathers an interesting experience!
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| Looking at their reflections... surrounded by all the choices for painting! |
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The street people who tried to tell me a picture with them cost $10
after I took the picture. I gave them 2 and told them to
chase me if they wanted the rest :) |
The next day we planned to just wander around the city, with no plans. We have found we all do better with a bit more down time. Often we have been coming home more exhausted than when we left. But seeing that we continue to try and cram a life-time of adventures into two short years, it obviously is worth it. Anyway, we headed towards the city center, which is home to Piazza San Marco, St. Marc's Basilica and Dodges Palace. Along the way we crossed over many tiny bridges, so tiny, if you blinked you could have missed them.
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| LOVE THIS PICTURE!!! |
It was nice to take our time weaving through narrow, romantic streets, dripping with flowers and filled with smells from trattaroria's (taverns) and pasticceria (pastry shops). Once in the square, we were surrounded by tons of history (again, none of which we planned to see any more of from the outside). One thing I did find on Pinterest ahead of the trip which turned out to be a hit, was bringing along sketch-pads and having the girls draw some of the sights, statues and art we saw along the way.
While in the square, we got some snacks and drinks and parked ourselves on a bench under Dodge's Palace. Ahead of us we could see several statues lining the top of a building. The girls had great fun trying to draw many of the figures (of course all of which were naked) as well as mimicking the statues poses. Great fun and entertainment for Russ and I!!
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| Hot Chocolate under Dodges Palace |
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| NEVER.STOPS.MOVING |
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| The inspiration... with their interpretation below! |
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| Admiring her masterpiece! |
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Being silly in front of St. Marks Basilica
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| Eat my Gelato or smile... decisions, decisions, decisions.... |
Now, for the highlight of the trip... no trip to Venice would be complete without a gondola ride down the Grand Canal. As we walked through the city, I kept my eye out for a gondolier who I knew would give us the best experience. The girls had it in their heads that our gondolier was going to sing to us. Judging by some of the ones we saw while meandering around, I didn't get the feeling that serenading was included in price nor would they be amused by us asking. Seeing that they had their hearts set on one singing for them as they glided down the canals, once I spotted Crixus, I knew we were in for a treat.
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| We learned the the lion was the sigh/symbol of Venice, so all throughout the trip we were competing who could find the most lions... here we spotted a building lined with them, which caused great excitement. Crixus very kindly mentioned we should sit still so we didn't tip the gondola... |
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| The Rialto Bridge in the background |
He was younger, laughing with one of his fellow gondoliers and was completely smitten when he saw the girls. I told them they had to ask him if he would sing, and of course he said he would "a little bit" because it was for them. SOLD! We hopped in and the girls were completely giddy! The smiles were so big and bright I am sure their cheeks hurt that night. It was truly incredible to watch them navigate the gondola though narrow canals, around other boats and under bridges. Eventually, when we were more secluded, he started to softly sing a song in Italian to the girls... something about a gondola... both our girls were in love! He tried to take us under the Rialto Bridge, but there were water-police sitting just near by, so he explained that he couldn't because he would be ticketed. So nice of him to even consider breaking the law to give the girls a better experience. Once the ride was over he helped the girls out of the gondola and then gave them kisses on both cheeks. They were over the moon and Annelyse turned 64 shades of red. The girls are familiar with this because they have asked me before why some of my co-workers kiss me, girls included. I have explained all countries do things differently... i.e. in the United States and Germany, none of my co-workers kiss me. In Ireland and the UK, they kiss on one check, in Spain, France, and Italy they kiss you on both checks and in Belgium they kiss three times. They think this is really funny and like to practice, because I told them about the time I messed up the order of kisses and almost kissed one of my colleagues on the lips!!! Anyway, it was a perfect experience and one we won't soon forget.
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| In front of Marco Polo's home! |
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| Yep, too many pictures again! |
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| Singing! |
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| Waving to people on the bridge above. |
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| Getting a little too close to the edge... she's so lucky she is cute! |
The rest of the afternoon was spent meandering through the streets, sampling local treats and snacks.
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| View of the Grand Canal |
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| We could walk these streets for days... very easy to get lost around here! Good thing no matter where we wandered we always found somethings fun to do or good to eat! |
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| My BeAuTy! |
The morning that we departed for Florence, we had to take a water taxi to the train station... A slight oversight of approximately 3 minutes between the public water taxi and train departure, resulted in us having to arrange a private water taxi. Of course, this was quite a treat! Funny thing, both girls asked why we didn't take a boat like this one the whole time we were in Venice. Can we say SPOILED?!?!
No trip would be complete without some of our favorite outtakes :)
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| Lo was hot... airing things out I guess. |
While we enjoyed some lovely Italian wine at lunch... they did not, even though these pictures probably suggest something different!
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| Lots of bridges and stairs wore these little ladies out! |
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| All the walking resulted in many shoulder rides... poor Daddy! |
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| Hiding in one of the many discrete alleys and doorways. They got a big kick of running ahead and then jumping out to scare us. |
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Lo spotted her favorite tour company in Venice!
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Three great days, in a magically unique city! Thank you Venice!!! Now, off to Florence...
View from the boat... first of many, many bridges
Lastly we made our way to Torcello, one of the most ancient of the islands in the lagoon, however now it only houses 10 residents! Upon arrival the girls spotted a playground with a nice little cafe attached. A slice of pizza, (al fresco) along with some good playground fun and goat feeding,was the perfect end to busy morning exploring! 
Back in Venice, we headed for our next planned activity, specifically chosen to keep the girls engaged. I found this little shop that was designed to have kids paint their very own carnival mask! Venetian masks are a centuries-old tradition typically worn during the Carnival (period leading up to Lent) but have been used on many other occasions in the past, usually as a device for hiding the wearer's identity and social status. The shop had all kinds of designs to choose from and after careful deliberation, we settled on a half-mask for Annelyse (so she could breathe) and a cat face for Loralye because she wanted to be a cat of course! It was a great time and even better seeing that the shop owner only spoke to the girls in Italian, which made picking colors, ribbons, feathers an interesting experience!
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