Venezia, Where Did All Our Euros Go?

We have lived in the Veneto region -- home to the world-renowned Venice -- for almost a year. However, it took us until last month to actually trek over to "the Floating City." We pulled out almost as many Euros as we took with us on our three-day trip to Roma, despite the fact that we planned on having only a day in the lagoon.

And we spent every last one of them within 12 hours.

Normally, we take you on an educational exploration of a city or town that we experienced, but because we didn't really go to Venice to learn anything, I won't bore you with details that we didn't even care about. Yes, there are some cool places if you want to nerd it up, like the Gallerie dell'Accademia, the Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica di San Marco, and the various islands of the lagoon that offer fun little cultural nuances... but we really just went to look around, chase pigeons, check out the glass blowing, eat some nice food, and ride on an overpriced gondola.

We took the train from Vicenza, which in itself was an adventure. Within the first few moments of our travels, Josephine managed to poop out the side of her disposable diaper (reason #562 why I love cloth diapers... rarely does that happen with them!). To get into the heart of Venice, we hopped on a cramped waterbus and rode around to the various stops until we found ourselves at the stop for St. Mark's Square. Along the way, Liam worked diligently to strengthen his immune system by sitting on the ground of the waterbus and holding onto our legs.

We had lunch at a wonderful place called da Roberto, a trattoria/pizzeria that was perched along one of the gondola canals. The service was amazing, our waiter looked like John Turturro, the food was perfection, and we had a nice view of a typical Venetian thoroughfare.

After weaving our way over to St. Mark's Square, we decided Liam should be given free reign over the pigeons until we figured out what to do with St. Mark's Basilica. The line was short, so once Liam scared a few hundred birds, we assembled by the Basilica. We never actually went inside, though, because they wouldn't let us bring in our minuscule travel pack. Our only option was to leave the bag at a random bag drop down a creepy alley... no thank you. The Basilica looked nice from the outside, and I am 99% sure the pictures we can scrounge up online of the inside will more than do justice if we want a "glimpse."

Our next goal for the day was to make it out to Murano, the island from which all authentic Venetian hand-blown glass hails. We arrived at the island and were corralled directly into a furnace/showcase hall where a man was working with a big glob of golden glass.  As the announcer explained the glass-blowing tradition, the artist twisted, weaved, and bent that glob into a Ferrari horse. Within maybe four minutes. I have no idea how he was able to create such detail or bring out such vibrant shades of red, orange, green, blue, and purple in the piece. So awesome.

Josephine demanded ice cream next, so we had to appease her. Yes, I am already blaming the baby. We sat outside near a church and let Liam chase some more pigeons before heading back to the main part of Venice. As we waited for the waterbus, Zeke and I had the same idea at the same time: Hard Rock Cafe. They had advertisements for it in every bus station and they were a success because we wound up there for dinner. Total gluttonous deliciousness. My sandwich had BBQ pulled chicken, fried onions, fried jalapenos... glorious.

Before we could leave Venice, we had to blow 100 Euros on a gondola ride. I mean, seriously. It's Venice. It was totally worth it. Josephine stayed awake the entire ride, just looking around and taking it all in. Zeke and I got to sit back and relax for the first time all day, and Liam was beside himself, giggling whenever we squeezed under a bridge or got rocked by a little wave from another gondola. When we approached the Grand Canal, our gondolier invited Liam to his stand and had him assist in moving us through the busy waterway. Liam was scared out of his wits but managed to grit his teeth and get his bearings in time for a perfect photo op.

As the sun fell from the sky, we realized the train station was still a waterbus ride away and we didn't want to be stranded in Venice for the night. Especially since Venice had swallowed all of our money. We made it to the station in time to catch the last train to Vicenza, on which neither of our children napped. We made it home just before midnight, with two tired babies, hundreds of aching bones, pockets emptied and our heads full of fun memories. We took as many pictures as we could to memorialize our little daycation -- I hope you enjoy -- check them out!

Venezia, grazie mille for a fun day. And as for all our Euros you took: you're welcome.