Venice

Third time is the charm I guess!  This was my third trip to Venice and, to be honest, my first two trips didn't leave me wanting to return.  The food isn't all that great (even our local hotel owner said the food is terrible in Venice) and it just seemed very touristy and crowded.  Mike had not been and I really wanted the kids to ride in a gondola, so I booked it for our second stop on our vacation.  It turned out to be a great couple of days, even though Mike had to fly back to work for one of the nights.  The food was still just ok but I felt more relaxed walking around and didn't fell like I had to rush to see everything.  We actually did what tourists should do, stroll around the city and take the time to enjoy it!

After our fight to get into the parking garage, they did not like that we had a luggage topper on the car but it fit perfectly through..ugh, we figured out how to get on the water transportation and had a great ride to our hotel.  The weather was nice and sunny!

For only 7 euros a person, this was a great little tour through the city!

Rialto Bridge in the Grand Canal

We arrived at our hotel and this was the view from our balcony (photo courtesy of Preslee Keown).  It was off the beaten path and not busy with tourists at all, but still close to all the sites.

The Bridge of Sighs

Our first stop was St. Mark's Square.  The kids saw "American ice-cream" and had to have it...soft serve is not easy to come by over here.  Preslee said it was awful and, after having the great gelato and ice cream in Europe, I believed her.  Daddy ate hers and she got the real stuff!

The bell tower of St Mark's Basilica.

The square has lots of expensive cafes and shops.  The last time my mom and I came to Venice, we paid about 40 euro for two glasses of wine.  We then figured out that they charge you to sit outside and listen to the music.  It's nice to do....once!

We took a few pics and shopped!  I really wanted to get some Murano glass light fixtures to bring back to the states with us and I was happy that I found some I liked.

Then it was gondola ride time!!  It's very pricey...80 euros...but you have to do it, right?

5,000 euro a night hotel...wowza!

We got back to the hotel and it was time for Daddy to leave.  At least he got to ride in a cool taxi!

Then it was relaxing and goofing around for the rest of the night!

REDO!!!

Our balcony :)

The next day it was just Gran and I with the kiddos.  It was the day before Drake's birthday, so we searched out The Disney Store to buy him some goodies...then it was Hard Rock for lunch....shocking, I know!

We had to get a couple more gelato stops in as well

Back to the square for more shopping!  The kids, for the most part, detest touring churches and towers and such (they really will seem spoiled when we get back to the states and they complain to their friends about having had to see so many beautiful churches and castles:)),  so I decided we would just walk around and hang out.  Made it a much easier day and this was just the start of our two week vacay, so we had to take it easy on them!

They actually did this on their own, their was no mom telling them to hold hands!  I'll have to print this and hang it on our fridge :)

The front of St Mark's Basilica was all covered in scaffolding, so the only nice shot was from the side.

Masks masks everywhere!  Every shape, size and color!  It is a huge touristy trinket to take home originating from the Carnival of Venice. You can find them from very cheap to very expensive.  Most of them are really creepy looking. 

These are the ones the kids chose and they aren't so creepy

It took me some coaxing for Emerson to even put the mask up to her face, she was a bit scared of it.

"Ok mom, we are done with pictures!"

Waiting for Daddy to arrive

Sunset

Daddy was back and it was time to head to our next destination.  We all got to ride in the fancy taxi back to our car.  It was fun and not crowded (we had the boat to ourselves) like the public transportation can be.

Arrivederci Venice!!!