Venezia

I was more than a little sad to leave the Firenze station, but we carried on and boarded the train anyway.  We didn't get to sit together, which was a bummer.  I finally ventured to the dining car on this trip for a delightful can of Coca-Cola Light.  We were in Venice in under two hours.

At the train station, we learned that The Venice Marathon was happening.  This meant tons of roads were blocked off and the buses were not running on schedule.  We decided to do our Rome trick and take a taxi to the Russot hotel, which was located on the mainland of Italy (not the island of Venice proper).  I could tell by the lobby that this would definitely be our nicest hotel.  And when we got to the room, I was happy to see that I was correct.  I settled in and Carter went to find a bus schedule.  Soon we were back out, ready to catch our bus.  But remember that marathon?  Yeah, we waited for over an hour (in the driving, pouring rain) for it to arrive.  The highlight was watching a French family start to slowly lose it.

 The marathon!

 What's missing in this photo?  The BIDET!  Every hotel bathroom we stayed in had one.  Even the scary dump no bigger than a closet in Florence!

At least our stop was properly labeled!

 You can see the poor French family over my shoulder!

After a 15 minute ride, we were at the main bus station right on the Grand Canal.  Carter bought us HelloVenezia passes, which gave us access to all public transportation for 72 hours.  We headed to the closest vaporetto (a bus boat) stop and did our first run of the Rick Steves audiotour of the Grand Canal.  He taught us about what a Ca is and about the original Jewish ghettos and all of that kind of stuff.   It took us about 45 minutes and our vaporetto dropped us off at St. Mark's Square.

 The big white boat near the front of the shot is a vaporetto

 In 1994, I saw Only You (with Marissa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr.)  five times in the theater.  I remembered there being a shot of this.  I just went back and checked.  Yep.  It's there!

 Where Wagner died.  Who knew?

 The fading frescos on a facade

 The Ca D'Oro, one of my favorite buildings in the city

 The famous Rialto Bridge

 Families used to paint their docks in special colors--it was kind of like the family crest in wooden pole form

 I saw about three gondolas total on the canal during the entire stay.  I guess it was just too windy and cold.  The water was super choppy, too.  I don't think you could have paid me to take a ride on one, so you better believe we refused to shell out 130 euro for the pleasure of being rained on and wind-whipped!  BRRRR!

 That's Fortune standing on top of the world (held up by 2 Atlas figures) at the old Customs station

 There's St. Mark's and the Doge's Palace

We walked around for a bit and then decided to grab some early dinner (we had skipped lunch).  We ducked into the nearest restaurant.  For me, this was my least favorite meal of the trip.  I ordered a plate of mixed vegetables (to accompany my spaghetti bolognaise) and I have to say it was the most disgusting thing I've ever been served in a restaurant.  Half of it was scalding, the other half freezing.  The veggies were slimy and coated in what tasted like toilet cleanser.  All that for the bargain price of 8.95 euro.  I tried to be grateful for the experience because now I know what all vegetables seem like to Carter.  He, on the other hand, ordered the most marvelous plate of fettuccine alfredo.  I wanted to steal it!

 I matched the restaurant!

Since it was so rainy and cold, we just headed home after that.  We caught our bus and hiked home in the dark.  We hit the vending machine in the hotel lobby.  Carter was introduced to his beloved White Twix that night.

The next day we slept in and enjoyed the breakfast buffet.  And then we headed out again in the freezing rain.  Again, the bus was late!  I guess they were still recovering from the marathon?  We waited only 45 minutes this time.  We did the Rick Steves audiotour again (this time from the very front of the boat so that we could actually see everything he was talking about).  We found St. Mark's Square to be completely flooded this time.  They set up ramps and tourists slowly snaked their way into the church.  We joined the throngs and patiently waited for our turn.  Once inside, we did another R.S. audiotour.  Since we were a little churched out, we opted not to pay the extra euro to go the alter or the museum.  It was really beautiful in there, but you weren't supposed to take pictures.  I enjoyed the Byzantine influence.  Very cool and kinda spooky!  We stepped outside and enjoyed the only ten minutes of sunshine we got in Venice.

 These trashbag/boot things cost 9 euro!

The planks

 Our single, out-law photo

 SUN!!!  And Carter missed it because he was too busy studying a map!

After that, we just walked around.  We walked to the Rialto Bridge.  We shopped.  We bought glass trinkets.  We saw a patisserie with the most gorgeous cannoli and chocolate cakes.  As we were walking through the door to go buy them, a pigeon flew in!  It flew around for a minute and then dove down into the display window.  It started pecking at the cannoli!  The ladies working in the shop freaked out and a man came out from the back and stalked through the store to the window.  He threw open the glass and grabbed that pigeon.  And then he disappeared back to where he came from, bird in hand.  I don't think the pigeon survived that encounter judging by the look on the man's face.  The ladies had to go throw away the cannolis.  I was sad.  Stupid pigeon!  I had to buy two mini cannoli instead.

 That's the case the pigeon got into

 We had to pick our treats from this case instead!

I can't emphasize enough just how wet and cold we were.  My shoes, socks, and jeans were absolutely soaked.  We were both feeling pretty miserable.  We decided to take a vaporetto over to Murano, the island where they make the Venetian glass.  It seemed like a good way to escape the cold, but our boat's doors were broken.  The wind whipped through and chilled us for the whole 30 minute ride.  Murano was a lovely, quiet place once we got there.  Hardly any tourists were walking around, which felt like such a relief.  We shopped in the most beautiful store (I got some darling little earrings for me and Piper).  We took in the sights and stopped off for an Orange Fanta/restroom break.  Then we headed back to Venezia.

 Brookie Diva, if you're reading, please know you saved my life with the fabulous scarf you gave me! 

More walking, more shopping, more cold/soggy/miserable weather followed.  We found a cute little restaurant (that was MUCH better than the night before).  I ordered calamari and one last Caprese while Carter indulged in the four cheese gnocchi.  It was an awesome place with great ambiance, but the best part about it was how warm and dry it felt.  Perfect for our last dinner in Italy.

 He looks like he's having so much fun, huh?

After that, we felt we'd pretty much had our fill of Venice.  It was getting darker/colder/windier/rainier/more miserable by the minute.  We stopped at a little grocery store and bought the girls Italian candy bars.  We took one last trip down the Grand Canal and then found a bus to take us home.  We were soaked down to the bone and I was shivering uncontrollably by the time we hit the hotel lobby.  I was grateful for the nice, warm room and the hot bath I had that night!

 We survived!  The miserable conditions in Venice helped ease the pain of the trip being over.

The next morning, we got up bright and early.  We managed to get to the airport pretty easily, as the bus was only about 20 minutes late that day!  I have to say, the Venice airport, named after Marco Polo, is absolutely the nicest one I've ever been in.  Beautiful wooden floors, designer shops (hello, Chanel and La Perla!), modern bathrooms.  Fabulous!  I did a little more shopping while we waited for our plane.  Soon enough, it was time to board.  I took a few last shots of Venice as we flew away.  I got excited when we flew over Paris.  After that, I watched FOUR movies and enjoyed my in-flight meals and snacks.  Seventeen hours (and a stop at JFK in NYC) later, we were back in SLC.  The funniest part of that whole trip was running into our pediatrician on both of our flights home.  It was nice to see a familiar face and chat in English.  Dr. Cox and I are pretty tight, after all.  I'm confident our family, with our frequent ear infections, funded his first class ticket!!! 

 You can't tell, but I'm wearing the black version of the Pisa Tights

 I'm proud of myself--I fit my entire trip wardrobe plus all my souvenirs in one carry-on bag!  It was SO nice not to deal with luggage in train stations, metro cars, and customs!  My husband was grateful and proud, too.

 The Alps!

 France!  I'm determined to make that the next European country I visit.  Fingers crossed they get all their gas shortages sorted out in the next few years while I save my pennies.

As for Venice, I'm glad I saw it before it sinks and becomes the "decaying Disneyland" Rick Steves kept predicting on the audiotour.  I don't think I'd care to go back, though.  Florence is the city I'd most like to revisit.  Although I loved Rome, too.  Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad we got to go off on such an exotic adventure.  I just hope the jet lag and the severe gelato withdrawal wear off soon!

And thus concludes the epic vacation posts.  Thanks for reading!  Ciao!