Italy 2007 – Venice
Our Italian adventure started with a flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam on Thursday evening, November 15th – then from Amsterdam to Venice on Friday. It was a pretty uneventful flight and William weathered the flight very well – he slept almost the entire trip. We can thank lots of books, milk, and popcorn for that one.
There is one Italian woman that probably isn’t too fond of him and his love of popcorn, however. On takeoff from Amsterdam, William choked on a piece of popcorn and spit up into Heather’s hand. Heather dumped it into a flight sickness bag and carried on. He wasn’t phased by the experience and he proceeded to squirm around, read books, and play. The woman in front of him went nuts complaining that “It STILL STINKS” and “HE’S STILL KICKING ME!” Heather made me switch places with her and William so that I was behind the lady. I didn’t realize what was happening and just thought Heather wanted me to move. After realizing the situation, I should have moved to the only open spot – right next to the woman in front of me.
Our landlord Pierre met us at the vaporetto stop in Venice and escorted us to our apartment north near San Giovanni e Paolo and the Hospital. It was a nice (but small) apartment up four really steep flights of stairs. When he noticed that we were using a stroller, he volunteered his backpack carrier since he had small children as well. To get the carrier, had to follow him all over Venice. At least we got a guided tour along the way.
Our dinner that night was entertaining. We went to a neighborhood place that Pierre recommended. We ordered “Escalope” and we all thought we were getting scallops. Imagine our surprise when we got Veal Scallopini! Fortunately, it was delicious. On the trek back, we got fantastic blackberry and whipped creme crepes and tried not to freeze – it was a very cold walk back as temperatures were near freezing.
The Rialto Bridge in Venice
Saturday was spent touring Venice. We started the day by hiking to the Rialto bridge and market area, then over to St. Mark’s square. William was fascinated by the pigeons and started chasing them yelling “Dogie!Dogie!Dogie!” He hadn’t yet figured out that all animals aren’t “Dogies”. It was all fun and games until one landed on his head. The Asian tourists were as fascinated by William as he was by the pigeons – and he got mobbed by requests for photos.
This isn’t funny anymore!!!
After we toured St. Mark’s, we made our way to a pizzeria and had some late lunch / early dinner. We had intended to tour the Doge’s palace next – but we ran out of time before it closed. As a substitute, we took an evening cruise on the Grand Canal in the vaporetto and we got off near the train station. We hiked all the way back home that night enjoying the street scene in Venice.
After we returned, everyone wanted crepes again. I set off to quickly get the crepes and take some pictures while everyone else did some laundry in the apartment. After about two hours, three miles, and lots of looking – I finally found a crepe place and brought them home to a very hungry group. So much for my naviguessing! At least I got some great pictures. I also got home to find that the “combo washer/dryer” that Heather and mom were so excited about was really just a washing machine. Thus, the laundry hung all over the apartment for the night to dry.
Night scene near our apartment in Venice
We left Venice early on Sunday the way we came in – by vaporetto to the airport. Before we left, we strolled back to St. Mark’s Square to get some more pictures of William with the pigeons. We picked up some breakfast and our luggage on the way out and rushed to the boat so that we could get to the airport to pick up our rental car. It seemed like miles from the boat dock to the apartment when we arrived – but we laughed when we realized on the way out that it was less than 5 minutes from our apartment. We picked up our rental car, got some quick directions on how to get on the Autostrade, and took off for the Cinque Terre.
At the Bridge of Sighs in Venice
See more photos here: (link)