Whew, are you still with me? Part of the detail I'm giving is so that we have a record of this, as well as a chance to give you as close to the experience as we can!
We arrived in Venice and it looks just like what you see in the movies. It's very pretty and there really are canals everywhere...it's really cool. At the station, we went to the tourist information booth and asked the best way to get to our hotel. We were told a particular water taxi stop so we bought our tickets and off we went.
One thing about Venice, is that it's like a maze. There are a mixture of long and short narrow streets winding everywhere and it is very, very easy to get lost, especially if you add the throng of tourists into the mix. The stop we were told, ended up not being the right one and we walked around the crazy streets asking no less than 7 times where our hotel was. Needless to say, our first impression of Venice was not a positive one. No one knew where anything was. This was the most stressful time for us on the trip. But we did decide that this would make a good challenge for the Amazing Race, since it is so bloody hard to find anything!
Eventually we found our hotel. We were checked in by a snooty desk clerk and when I asked about a cot for Amelia, we were told that it is an additional 25 Euros per night. No way. We could buy her a travel cot for that cost! So we knew we wouldn't be getting much sleep at night in Venice!
Our room turned out to be pretty nice, the windows opened right out overlooking a canal and you could see the little bridges each way you looked out. Once we got settled in, we decided to go exploring and grab a little dinner.
(View from our room)
Venice feels very touristy. If you've been to London, it feels like Trafalgar Square/Leicester Square everywhere you go. Lots of shops selling the same stuff, lots of people and it feels like the historical aspects are almost an after thought. We weren't impressed by that aspect. Also, the people (meaning the Italians) weren't as friendly, I'm talking about the staff people etc. I'm sure it gets tiring dealing with tourists all the time, but it just wasn't cool.
We found a restaurant that looked like it had a decent menu. I was ready to try some pizza, Matt had one in Florence that was so good, so I thought I'd get one. The menu advertised pizza, but when I asked the waiter about it, he rolled his eyes and said "We are not a pizzeria, we make good pasta". Something like that in a very condescending voice. They also placed us in a back room, because of Amelia, and didn't seat anyone in that entire section while we were there. I wanted to leave, but we'd already ordered and opened our water. So Matt insisted we stay.
Since I was shamed out of ordering pizza, I ordered the lasagna, I'd wanted to do it eventually to see how it compared to Matt's famous lasagna. I'm pleased to say, that while the homemade pasta is good, Matt's is about 10x better. So take that snooty Italian waiter!
After dinner we wandered around a bit more and then headed back to our hotel room for a night of Amelia sleeping right on top of either me, or Matt and at times both (her head would be on my shoulder, her foot on Matt's face...).
The next morning we decided to see what Venice had to offer us so we decided to explore St. Mark's Square, which was right by our hotel and we grabbed a map and walked to all the sights near us. It didn't take long, Venice isn't that large, and we even explored some back streets and saw how the residents of Venice lived. It was very interesting seing the locals out and about on deserted streets and alleys a few blocks away from the crowds of tourists. We had some takeaway pizza for lunch, and it wasn't ideal. In fact, it was pretty nasty. Good thing that wasn't our first introduction to Italian food!
I don't mean to be vague about Venice, but there isn't a whole lot to write about. Most of our time was spent visiting churches, exploring the island and poking around in various shops. There were some shops we loved, like watching a man do some glass blowing, we bought our ornament there. There was also a wooden shop that was so fun, we wished we were really rich, because we would've bought everything there!
One thing about Venice is that there are a lot of stairs due to the many bridges. Whilst picturesque, it certainly wasn't stroller friendly. We got it down to a science lifting Amelia up and down stairs. We found the oldest bridge in Venice, and Matt even climbed up the bell tower and took some pictures overlooking Venice.
(St Mark's Square)
We also visited the Doge's Palace, that was probably the neatest thing we did in Venice, it reminded us a lot of the palaces in Versailles and Hampton Court. The interior was very stylish and elegant with the grand council room particularly impressive. You could also explore the prison in the palace as well. Interestingly enough, it was Amelia's favorite part. She was kind of just hanging out during the fancy parts, but once we were underground, in the raw stone area, she started pointing at things and babbling. Crazy girl.
(Doge's Palace)
Overall, whilst Venice was a pretty city, it wasn't our favorite place in Italy. It felt overcrowded (cruise ships would offload hundreds of people every day) and too commercial. You can't argue that it's gorgeous and so unique, but it just didn't capture us like Florence did. However, I've always wanted to see it, and I'm definitely glad we did.
The trip home was uneventful (thank goodness) we took a water bus all the way to the airport, that's probably the only time We'll go to the airport by boat! The flight took off on schedule, and we made it home in good time. We're definitely happy to be home.
(on the water taxi to the airport)
Now, onto what I know you love to hear about, Amelia. She was such a good girl this trip. Other than that one day where we struggled, she was an angel. People would come up to her all the time and say things like 'Amore' and 'Ciao'. She learned to wave at them, and grin at them. We even had people come up to us and ask us if they could take her picture! She loved walking around and pushing her stroller and it was so surreal sometimes to see my daughter in a centuries old cathedral just walking around. I do wish she were old enough to appreciate this trip, but I'm glad we took lots of pictures to show her, for when she does get older.
She also picked up some new tricks on this trip. She's recently started clapping, (because I realized a couple of weeks ago that I've never clapped with her and that surely my 1 year old should know how to clap...so we've been working on that). We always call her a 'good girl' also. Like when she eats her dinner or whatnot. So now, she'll hear us say 'good girl' or 'good job' and she'll look up and clap for herself. We'll try to get it on video, it's very cute.
She also has started pointing things out. She loves paintings and light fixtures especially. Not the priceless Renaissance paintings we saw, she doesn't care about those. She liked the paintings on the wall of the hotel, like one of a horse wearing a scarf. We'll have to work on her taste in art!
She is also starting to repeat phrases and can say 'bye bye' and 'good girl' (at least that's what it sounds like).
We couldn't have asked for a better girl on this trip. She was great all the way through. I'm so proud of her and grateful to be her mom. Having all those people coo over her, just made me appreciate her all over again!
Well that's it! Sorry it's so long, thanks for reading. We'll probably post pictures in the coming blogs, without commentary. We took a ton...
Thanks for reading!
Ciao!
(more Venice photos to follow)
