Venice!

Greetings!

So sorry to have neglected you....I've been out galavanting : )

I will apologize - I have not yet mastered the art of embedding pictures...bear with me.

We took our Spring Break vacation to Venice, Italy, followed by a cruise through the Greek Islands. My little guy is fascinated with Greek Mythology and culture. Upon moving to Switzerland he insisted he "would not travel to another country until we went to Greece." I assured him that Greece would be on the short list, but couldn't promise it would be first. I was actually planning to go to Egypt first, but with overthrow of the government in January, and subsequent unrest, we decided to backburner that trip. Tonight, I will dazzle you with our trip to Venice, and my next post will describe the Greek Island Cruise.

After much research we decided to take a 10 nt cruise thru the Greek Islands and chose Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas that left from Venice, Italy. My kids had 2 weeks+ off for their break but hubby didn't want to take quite so much time off, so we decided that I would take the kids to Venice SOLO for a few days and he would meet us in time for the cruise departure. My research revealed that Venice would be an "easy city" - it is a beautiful city, interesting, but limited, and without cars, there was an easy public transportation system - boats! Sounded fun!

The kids and I left early Tuesday morning April 19. I must confess that I had butterflies in my stomach that morning, fear was creeping in....wondering what I was doing .... how can I possibly do this on my own? After some Tai Chi breaths and a little Vince Lombardi pep talk, I knew I could do it. So we took the train from Zurich south to Milan (3 1/2 hrs) and changed for the train east to Venice (2 more hours). The train ride was largely smooth - we enjoyed looking at the scenery, the kids played their Itouches, and read. A minor glitch arose when we arrived 20 minutes late in Milan, causing us to scramble with our suitcases thru the Milan train station, rushing us to our connection to Venice. We didnt have time to grab lunch as planned but the kids were THRILLED to eat the junk food I brought ....we called it "candy lunch," and they thought I was cool.

When we arrived in Venice, we stepped out of the dark echo-ing train station in to glorious sunshine. My eyes and mind had to adjust to all of the sights. People were sitting on the steps of the station, there were kiosks selling souvenirs, ticket booths, street vendors selling knock-off purses, people walking about...but my eyes immediately focussed on the vision ahead. As much as I had read and researched, my brain needed a minute to comprehend what I was seeing. What would be a main thoroughfare in any other city, filled with garbage trucks, taxis, busses, beer trucks, ambulances and traffic lights.....here, in Venice, was filled with boats. It was the bustling Grand Canal - the main artery of this fish shaped island, Venice. It was amazing to see all these boats gliding past us - police boats, armored boats, Gondolas, Vaporattos- public boats, water taxis, beverage boats, gelatto boats, ambulance boats - it was sooo neat. My first impression of Venice was that it was magical; we were all so very excited!

We went to our hotel which was very closeby. We dropped off our luggage and explored our surroundings. We were amazed by all of the ancient buildings, the gorgeous detailed sculpture-laden buildings. It was so neat to see that there really were no true streets, only winding alleyways, and many canals. Boats were everywhere! We loved meandering and looking at all of the uncommon, common sights - such as exquisite door knobs, colorful laundry strung across alleys, marble sculptures, stucco worn off of buildings and revealing the bricks beneath. One thing that surprised and saddened me was the extent of graffiti. Even as worn down as many buildings were, they were incredibly breathtaking to us.

We ate pizza our first evening....come to think of it - the kids ate pizza for lunch virtually every day, and every night...except for the once or twice they ordered spaghetti and meatballs. The pizza was de-lish! It was thin crust so each slice was not as filling as US pizza, however, the kids were eating entire mini-pies all by themselves! In between meals, we would indulge in gelatto. Italy certainly is a high carb place so I tried to satisfy myself primarily with salads...sigh : (

On Wednesday, April 20, we ate breakfast in the hotel. The kids thought it was great that they offered little packets of nutella with their croissants- super cool. We caught a Vaporatto (sort of like a public bus....but a boat) to San Marco and got on line to see the Basilica. On line, we heard American-speak from the family behind us. I couldn't resist inquiring if they were American. They explained that they are Canadians living in England. I explained we are Americans living in Switzerland. They had 2 kids similar in ages to my older 2 - the kids hit it off immediately while the mom and I chatted easily. The Basilica is gorgeous- indescribable - a masterpiece. It is breathtaking, ginormous, gilded with amazing craftsmanship, exquisite mosaics, spectacular sculptures... the attention to detail is humbling, especially considering was built some 800+ years old. An interesting wing of the Basilica is Saint Mark's Treasures - which is a room housing some exquisite, opulent jeweled objects such as chalices, knives, etc. These items were, admitedly, stolen from Constantinople during the Crusades and are dated 800, 1200, etc. It did lead me to wonder why this Church has never returned the stolen property? Another interesting relic is a display of old bones, 500 yrs old, that are the remains of a man who was a Venitian leader.

Next we chatted some more while the kids played with the pigeons in the Plaza. Of course, T got pooped on : ( yuck!. We walked to the Bridge of Sighs, which is where the prisoners were taken to prison or execution. It is so named as it offered their last glimpses of beautiful Venice. Currently, it is under renovation and shrouded in an enormous TOYOTA sponsored tarp, which led to several jokes about the Toyota ad being the prisoners' last sight...why would you advertise car sales to people who are never going to see the light of day again, yada yada.

Having bonded with our new Canadian friends over these amazing sights, we wound up going to lunch together. It was so fun for the kids to have friends with, it was nice for me to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and to explore Venice together. The 8 of us meandered thru alleyways and made our way to a lovely piazza for lunch. The kids ate fast, chased pigeons, ate gelatto while parents G&T and I savored our meal and Spritzers! We chatted about our backgrounds, our moves, our travels, swapped travel ideas, and watched the kids frolic. It was a lovely afternoon By the end of the meal, we were like old friends.

We decided to take the kids to an elusive Gondola factory. With dad T navigating with the map, and me with my iphone Map App, we hunted thru the alleys, over bridges, past interesting buildings, and finally stumbled upon the little workshop. We watched the men build oar-locks and furniture for gondolas and appreciated this craft. Then we decided to go to the Guggenheim Art Museum with the Canadian family. We traipsed thru Venice - I never tired of looking at the sights. We loved seeing the cool art and sculptures. The kids were quite amused by the nude sculptures with exagerated features. Everything seemed so much more interesting when you were seeing it with friends!

The friends also showed us Traghettos. These are large public goldola-like boats that traverse the Grand Canal - just a quick 3 minute trip, but it was fun to be in a gondola. These seemed to be operated by guys who were younger than the Gondoliers which lead us to wonder if the Traghettos were a training ground for Gondoliers.

We made plans to get together the next afternoon, and went our separate ways for the evening. The kids and I took the Vaporatto to the Rialto Bridge. This is a beautiful historic bridge - the first bridge to cross the Grand Canal and some 400 years old. It is considered the most romantic spot in Venice as well. So, we left the Vaporatto to traipse over the historic bridge. It was very crowded and K&T& I held hands. We quickly lost sight of A, but I knew we'd find him on the other side of the bridge. Suddenly, there was a huge commotion, a crash, a scream...OMG! where's Andrew I panicked for a moment when suddenly I saw he was at my side, peering over the side of the bridge and laughing. Amidst the crowds, I asked what was going on and he pointed to the sidewalk cafe - and explained that a pigeon had swooped onto someone's table, apparently to swipe some food, and had knocked over some glasses, and the patron screamed and jumped up, knocking over the table. Even as the waiter was scrambling to clean up the mess, the pigeons continued their assault. It was a sight!

Then we ate a lovely dinner at a little restaurant alongside a canal. We witnessed quite a humorous sight when we saw a man scaling a building across the canal. He was balancing on a narrow pipe and holding on to the building for dear life, and slowly made his way onto the alley. We assumed he just didn't have a boat nor felt like walking all the way around to get to his desired destination. Also, humorous was sitting at dinner and running into our Canadian friends that we had just left an hour earlier. They had taken a circuitous route to their rental apt and serendipitously crossed our path. It was mindboggling to run into them unexpectedly!

Thursday morning we went to the Doges' Palace. This is an opulent palace that housed the seat of the Venitian government and its leaders. It is also where the accused would be tried and, if convicted, sentenced to prison or death. We toured the amazing 700+ yr old building. It is just amazing and opulent. The rooms are magestic and huge and ornate. We were amused to run across out of place items such as a tv monitor in one room and an Ikea chair in another, which prompted us to make jokes such as "I guess the Doge's shopped at Ikea too!" and " Wow - they spared no expense on their digs, but I'm surprised they didn't spring for the flat screen.

We loved the amazing palace. When we went to the prisons, K became very frightened and teary and didn't want to go. I insisted we stick together and reassured her it would be uneventful, but she was scared because it was such a sad place. T LOVED the weaponry and armory and told me all about the benefits and detriments of each. It was as if I had my personal tour guide and his knowledge and understanding of these items is amazing.

Next, we met up with our friends for lunch at a specialty pizza place with an extensive menu. Then we had a little tour of the apartment they were renting in Venice for the week. It was cool and good to learn how an apt is rented for travel. Then, onto another piazza for a relaxing afternoon of spritzers and watching the kids chase pigeons. It was just lovely. Then, we meandered back to our hotel with plans to see our friends the next day - and introduce them to J who was arriving later this night.

We spent the rest of the evening eating gelato, and meandering back to our hotel. We stopped for some souvenirs - Murano Glass items, a cool Venice Mask, a hat for T, and a gold Gondola for A. It occurred to me that something else was magical about this trip - I had been transformed into the Fun Mom. At home, I bear all the responsibilities of running the household, driving and maintaining the car, cleaning the house, the shopping, laundry, homework supervision, test preparation, report listening/advising, school volunteer, playdate coordinator, Girl Friday, chef, sous-chef, lunch maker, travel planner, paper pusher, recycler, garbageman, etc. It's exhausting to do all of this single-handedly with 3 spunky kids and I tend to be a more efficient task master than fun most of the time. In Venice, I was carefree - the city was easy, the kids were happy, I wasn't cooking, driving, cleaning, nagging about homework and studies...I was carefree and fun. I was letting the kids go days without vegetables, eating pizza 2x per day, gelatto 2x (single scoop!) per day, and buying chotskies that I normally would say,"we don't need that junk." I was fun : )

I went to the train station to meet J. During this whole trip apart, we had been emailing, calling and texting periodically. I tried to downplay the enjoyment of spritzers in the afternoon and gelatos every evening, knowing he was hard at work. I couldn't wait for him to arrive and join in the fun! It was like a scene from a movie, the train pulls in, people flood out and I start sorting thru them - some carrying sleeping babies, others luggage, briefcases, elderly people shuffling with canes....finally there he was and I went running and hugged him. It was sooo good to see him.

In the morning, the kids were soooo excited as well. Our plan had been to give him a quick tour of Venice and take him to all of our favorite places. We got up and out early, hopped on a Vaporetto like the Pros we were. We were fortunate to get front row seats and enjoyed watching the city of Venice awaken. J was amazed - he said that all of the interesting boats were like something from a Richard Scarry book that A used to love. It contains a bunch of amusing and creative vehicles sich as the Carrot Car, the Pickle Car, the Crane Truck, the Mouse Van, etc. The use of boats is equally creative - laundry delivery boats, crane boats, etc.

The kids directed us to San Marco where he saw the Basilica, Square, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs from the outside. Then, onto the Rialto Bridge, meandering thru the alleys, the markets, and a traghetto ride. Then we met up with our friends and were so excited to introduce them to J. We gave the kids the option of a 30 min Gondola Ride on the Grand Canal or an hourlong Water Taxi private tour with the Canadian friends.....obviously they chose the Water Taxi with friends, thus we didn't take the traditional Gondola tour. We had a great time seeing all the smaller canals, and seeing the various outer islands from Venice. It was awesome.

Afterwards, we ate lunch with our friends, hated to say goodbye, but had to get to the cruise for our departure was quickly approaching. Venice was an amazing experience for us - it was a beautiful & interesting city, it was quite an accomplishment for me personally, and such fun for all of us. Venice will always have a special place in my heart.