In Closing (Venice)

What will you miss the most?
Public transportation and living in the middle of everything in Berlin. I also enjoyed how big all the streets felt. Other cities, like Venice and Salzburg, felt kind of claustrophobic. And Berlin was a nice difference from that.

Photo by Venice (Berlin)

What is something you enjoy about being home that surprised you?
It doesn't surprise me, but it's really nice, I missed being around my family and friends. I'm looking forward to the holidays and spending more time with them than I usually do.

What won't you miss about traveling?
The feeling of not having a home base a lot of times. 

What was your favorite place to go?
I think I really enjoyed Prague a lot. I liked what we did and tredlniks taste really good. I enjoyed walking around Prague the most out of all the cities.

What was it like being sick in London?
The worst because I could have been sick in Berlin where I've already seen stuff, but we were in London. We had a whole week and I spent it in bed instead of out.  I felt like I was tying everybody else down too.

What did you think about Stonehenge?
I kind of felt like it was smaller than I expected. It also kind of ruined it when there was concrete inside it (some of the pillars to help reconstruct). I think, at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of rocks that everybody likes to look at for some reason, so I don't feel bad for not being impressed by it. But I'm glad I got to see it because it's iconic. That's the only reason why I'm glad I saw it, otherwise I would have skipped it. I would be a lot more impressed if we were really certain as to what was behind it. 

What did you think of other culture's foods?

Photo by Venice (Prague)

I enjoyed all the funny quirks of other cultures and their food. Like mayonnaise on their fries. My chicken schnitzel was always served with jam, kind of like turkey being served with cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, which I liked. I did NOT enjoy always having to ask for water and specifying fizzy or not. 

If you were to travel tomorrow, where would you like to go?
We didn't get to Paris, but right now it's a little scary to go there right now. I'd like to go to Greece and Rome, Italy. Or I'd go to Venice again when it's not so busy. I felt the claustrophobic crowdedness dampened the excitement of the city I had anticipated going to for so long. I couldn't slowly stroll through the streets like I had imagined we would. You had to run by and just focus on where you were going in stead of focusing on your trip. I would also go when it wasn't so rainy.

Did you overall have a good time?
Yeah! I don't know if I'd go back to the other places, but I'd definitely go back to Berlin. It was like a home away from home. It was a great city to be placed in. It felt like a giant urban city instead of like London, which was more metropolitan. Berlin felt like a giant Eugene with better public transportation and food. It was so big, but never concentrated in one spot so that it felt busy. You could always find a calm back street if you wanted to, or you could find a street with a hundred other people if you enjoyed that more. It was hard to feel crowded there and I think I liked that.

Day 13: The Holocaust Memorial (Venice)

Hi, Venice here!

Today, we went to the Holocaust Memorial. We started out by taking the U-Bahn, and then we walked the wrong way for about half a mile. After correcting the mistake, we were able to get to the memorial. 

I immediately noticed one thing about it, the cement blocks where all rectangles. But, I saw when I looked over all of them that they were not perfect rectangles. Some leaned left, some were taller on one side. It made me think, every person that this memorial represented was different, just like the blocks, yet they had one thing in common, they were jewish, and the block where all rectangles and cement.

Photo on right by Venice

Later that day my mom would tell me that the two artists (americans, interestingly) had never given an interpretation. They wanted all of us to make up our own. As we walked through the aisles, we saw that the shadows on nearby blocks were interesting. One way, to the left, was almost a shadow imprint of a city. The other way, to the right, the shadows where pointy and like spikes. It made me think that even the shadow acknowledged that we moved on from spikes to the peace of the city. And at the time, I wasn’t in the middle, so the city part looked bigger and longer, as if saying the past was fading, but forever, and that we should go on to greater things.

Photo on left by Venice

Part of me really wanted to run through the maze of stone, playing night watch (you can go to Xander's and my post on IKEA to learn about it), but it would have been disrespectful. We saw one or two people who were jumping from block to block, the 2 feet tall ones, of course. Not the giant 13 feet tall ones. 

At one point we saw at the edge that they had put a QR code into the ground. When mom scanned it with her phone it gave us an audio tour! They also had some stairs at the edge that went to an underground exhibit. But this exhibit might have been a little too intense, so we decided to skip it. We walked to an ice cream stand and got a cone.

As we walked back an Italian tourist came up to us and asked for directions. His english was very good, so we were able to communicate and help him. He told us he was touring Berlin and came from south Italy. When we told him how we had just been in Venice, he said that Venice was a 1 hour bus ride away. I’m sooo jealous! We walked him to the U-Bahn station and he took an U-Bahn with us for a stop, then switched. Hopefully he made it to his destination, another Holocaust museum. 

We got off the U-bahn and walked home. The end to a successful trip! 

Day 9: Ikea (Venice and Xander)

Hello! Venice and Xander here! 

We just wanted to tell you about the other day, when we went to IKEA! Before we went in, we had to go through a GIANT automatic revolving door. When we got inside, we got a cart but we realised we couldn't go up an escalator with a shopping cart! (It's too bad because in one the of the markets we went to they had a flat escalator that you could drive a cart up!) So we went up the escalator with plastic bags that they offered. (Xander would easily fit in one, no problem!) Then it began. 

For about 30 minutes, we walked with our parents through thousands of items, bored out of our minds. Then we saw a set of computers! They where there to design a room and see how expensive it would be, and then you could buy the right things to make it happen. (Venice thought they where for testing and buying) We played with it for a little bit, but it got boring after a while because the whole thing was in German. So we went to go find our parents.

After choosing a desk and 2 chairs, we went to go downstairs, but we saw the cafe and begged to eat. We got rumpsteak, we know, it sounds like "butt steak" and that's because it is from the bum of the cow! It also came with fries, herb butter, and a salad of your choice. Mom and dad were hesitant to let us eat, but looking back we are all glad we did! It took 3 times as long to go through, and the food half way was a good idea. Then we headed downstairs.

We went downstairs and after a little bit of kitchen shopping we went to the lights section. Venice noticed that IKEA would be a great place to play capture the flag, so she told Xander he had 10 seconds to hide and that she would look for him. It was like hide and seek, but the hider could also tap the seeker, and they could move. After modifying it for a little bit, we decided on a name: "Night Guard". We played throughout the store, much to the annoyance of everyone. Then we went to the warehouse, it was BIG!!! They had lots of good places to play our new game. Then we went to checkout.

 A lot of stuff seems to be "self serve" here. You pay, and get

your cup, or cone, or bowl, or token, then get your item yourself.

Here, the kids are filing their frozen yogurt cups with a token. - Diana

After checkout we got frozen yogurt! Then we had to try 3 times to get a taxi home. When we were home we rested for a bit, then tried to build our chairs. Key word here: "tried". As we type they are still unfinished... But we did learn that a shoe is a pretty good hammer. Bye for now!

-Venice and Xander

Interview with Venice about Venice

What is something you remember from the Basilica tour?

I liked how they tricked Napoleon into leaving without the golden picture! I also liked how we could go up and see the water, it was really beautiful! 

What is a beautiful view you remember?

What I said in my previous answer, the water from the top of the Basilica! 

What would you like to see again?

Maybe the glass blowers, just so I could try to blow glass again!

Is there something you wanted to do but didn't get to do?

Well, I wanted to take a gondola ride, but I also wanted to buy these little glasses. (side note: I got one at the airport that was close enough!)

What did you like to see at the museums?

The red keys work was amazing!

What did you think of the food?

A lot of it was really rich, but I liked almost everything!

Do you remember anything about how the Venetians did thing differently or something you noticed that was odd?

They called all children "boys" which, I guess, in their language was the same as children, but for me it was weird because at first I though they thought I was a boy.... of course a lot of languages do this, but then they did it in English, too...

How would you describe the buildings, canals, bridges, etc. to someone who had no idea what Venice, Italy looked like?

Tall and skinny mostly, they have to be so they can fit everywhere!

What are the sights and sounds of the city?
Well, everywhere there where smokers, they don't seem to have rules on that. It's very noisy form 7am to 11pm. Some of the water is really gross looking, but some is really pretty :)

Day 8: Traveling Back to Berlin

The retractable-ceiling of the dining
area of our hotel (with rain on it)

Early rise, breakfast, and pack. Venice decided, last minute, she really did want one more item (a "Murano" drinking glass). We found "the one" but the store was closed. It seems most stores open around 9 or 9:30 and our taxi was arriving at 9am, so it wasn't going to happen. We're crossing our fingers that a souvenir store at the airport will have one...

We had planned to take a gondola ride while in Venice. We thought, perhaps during one of the our days there. But it was so darn hot, sitting in a black boat just didn't sound appealing, or we were too busy doing something else. Then, we decided, we'd pay a little extra and take a gondola road in the evening, last night after dinner. But the rain came and we all decided that we'd rather not sit in the boat in the pouring rain.

And today we're leaving. The thought of another body-to-body boat ride did not sound good. Chris decided to splurge on a private taxi to the port, which cost as much as a gondola ride. So we decided to pretend our taxi rides were "just like a gondola" ride.

Taxi ride to the port.

You'd think we'd have security down by now, having gone through several in the past week. But Chris beeped, not sure why, as he didn't beep in the past and isn't wearing anything different. Weird. Update: There WAS a "Murano" drinking glass at the airport souvenir store. Not quite the colour scheme Venice wanted, but close enough! And I saw a few watercolour images on the store's walls (part of the decor, not for sale) that I would love to try to copy someday (I've been wanting to learn watercolour, so here's something to aim for!). So I took photos of the three images, which got me strange glances from the woman running the shop. Whatever, I'm leaving!

A new bridge (about seven years old?), very modern.

We bought a few sandwiches and snacks to tide us over, since we'd be traveling during lunchtime. We ate them in the terminal, watching for our plane to arrive. Everyone was relaxed and happy to be returning home. And we all called our apartment in Berin, "home"! Going to Berlin first, to set up, and then to Italy, accomplished what we had hoped. This schedule created a sense of "home" in our apartment and we were all ready to take a break from "tourism" in our new digs.

Random photo of someone wearing "my" shoes.

After a while, Xander decided to go check the gate and came back running, "They're boarding and it says 'Last Call'!" What? We grabbed our backpacks, ran to the gate, and sure enough, he was right.  There was no line and we sailed through our ticket check-in. As we hustled down the stairs, we came out onto the tarmac and saw a bus, fully with people. Oh yeah! We have to take a bus to the airplane. We now remember that we got off our plane, upon arrival, and got onto a bus that took us to the terminal. DOH!

We squeezed onto the bus, and about 6 more people came after us (so we weren't last!) Phew. Made it. Side note: I'm so done with the smell of smoke (people smoke everywhere, ugh) and the smell of B.O. (although, that smelly person might be me, I'm not fairing well here in Venice!)

Fun tidbit: On Air Italia, they offer you a drink and the choice of, "sweet or salty"? On the way there, the salty choice was a type of Frito, but on the way home it was more like croutons (I was a little disappointed, needless to say).

After returning to our apartment (it was still there, hadn't burned down or flooded or anything, phew), the kids rested and Chris and I went out to get some groceries. He showed me the ATM that is less than a block from our home, then we went to the market to buy as much as we could carry.

Funny story. We were thinking of making baked potatoes and we like sour cream with these. So we thought of sour cream. But, we also know that's somewhat an American thing, so we were going to look for crème fraiche" instead. We found the dairy part of the market and found TONS of yogurt and milk and such, but I couldn't find the crème fraiche. So, resorted to asking and practicing my German. I asked a worker, at one of the dairy cabinets, "Where is the crème fraiche?" (in German), and she paused and said, "Crème fraiche?" I said, yes... and she pointed, right in front of her. Sigh. Most embarrassing. We bought it and then promptly did something else with our potatoes, so didn't even need the darn crème fraiche.

Back home, we cooked our first home cooked meal since we left for Italy. We even had time to read a chapter or two in Ready Player One, our current read-aloud book.

Nice to be at home.

Venice Food

Dinner on the Grand Canal. 

Three of the Caprese salads I ordered (so tasty on a hot, hot day).
The first one was closer to a classic style.
The second one was served with very little balsamic, but had nice olives to add tang.
The third one was served, also without dressing, but had a sort of "basil granita" of sorts.

It's amazing how quickly you get tired of pasta and pizza. This curry chicken with black rice.

Kids are super excited to get Coca Cola (we gave in and allowed it).
While we parents get bellinis, the kids got sunrise-juice! 

One of Xander's gnocchis.

We call the kids "groms" all the time, so we liked this gelateria!

Chris' seafood pizza. Crazy!

And here is the side table preparation of Chris' sea bass.
I said, "yes," when they asked if we wanted it prepared.

Venice Vacation (Chris)

Venice was great to see after 18 years. Admittedly, I (all of us really) was disappointed by the crowds and the heat, and then rain, but setting that aside, I feel like I really soaked it in. The architecture is just amazing, especially combined with the water ways and boating way of life. One truly feels like they are in a different time.

My favorite part of the trip was simply standing on the 2nd floor balcony of the Basilica di San Marco and looking out at the water. It was a beautiful sunny day, whitecaps on the water, and an idyllic view. I could imagine what it was like hundreds of years ago, and feel it would only have been visibly different if you were to look extra close to see today's boats had motors. I likely could have stood there for hours.

Speaking of the Basilica, this was one of the unexpected surprises for me. I hadn't gone with an overwhelming desire to see it, but now that I have, I'm pretty stunned. The ceilings are simply unreal (massive gold and painted mosaics), and the vast bulk of the building is marble. To think of how this was built is unreal. Combine that with the stories of all the things stolen by the Venetians and brought here, the mystery of whether bodies are truly buried there or not ("you either believe or not", since the Pope's seal is on the items and thus they can never be examined), and the history, and this was a fascinating visit.

We visited the La Biennale exhibits, although had to cut it short due to Xander not feeling well. But we did see Shiota's "The Key in the Hand" (http://2015.veneziabiennale-japanpavilion.jp/en/) exhibit at the Japanese pavilion, which was the absolute highlight for us. I had seen pictures, but one does not understand from those that this is an exhibit that consumes the entire pavilion and it looks considerably different in person.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection was the other major art exhibit we went to. It was particularly cool to see works from Picasso, Chagall, and many others, as well as the vast collection of Jackson Pollock, and in particular the "Alchemy" which they had restored. They had an entire portion of the exhibit dedicated to this restoration, given what all was involved in doing so. All the different paints used required different techniques, dust extractions, and they also used it to study technique and paint decomposition, etc. And, on a lighter note, there was this one piece of art that was really excited to be at the exhibit...

Some other highlights included a traghetto ride, which is simply the old school way to cross the canal via gondola (and a small fee :), eating a Venetian specialty of cuttlefish made with black squid ink, lots of great gelato and coffee, and feeding the very friendly pigeons (who would happily sit on your arm/hand and nibble out of your hand). I also really enjoyed Diana and my little escape to the rooftop terrace/bar one evening, where we had a drink and enjoyed each others company with a fantastic view.

Last, but not least, we also made it to Murano, and toured the Vetreria Bisanzio glass factory. We are forever in debt to my co-worker at HotelTonight who connected us with a Venetian friend of his, who helped us with many things, including sending us to Bisanzio, and getting us a locals discount. Let's just say this was a discount so significant, that I actually feel bad about it. Although on the other hand it allowed us to buy two large pieces (and some additional glasses). His passion for Venezia was clear, and I hope to someday return the favor if he visits the US. The other cool part of this factory tour was Venice and Xander getting to actually blow glass! We'd watched one of their maestros blow a drinking glass, then a horse (pretty amazing, especially how quickly he did it), and then he had them blow glass to try it out.

A great trip, and we all want to go back again soon, especially when less crowded and less hot. We've even talked about going again during this European trip, but we have a lot of other places we'd like to see too.

Venice Recap: (Xander)

Making faces at mom on our last taxi ride.

"The busses were extremely crowded. I felt unhappy while standing on the bus." (about our first bus ride to our hotel)

"All the glass in the glass factory was beautiful." (about Murano)

"I think the end of the island, the point, where you could see a lot, had a pretty view."

"The bidet is pretty much a poop sink. I used it when ever I pooped. You poop in the toilet, then you use the bidet instead of toilet paper. It felt weird. I don't think I would want one at home because it was weird to use."

Not the four cheeses gnocchi,
but still a good one.

"The gnocchi with four cheeses was really good." (his favourite out of the three he ordered)

"It's a little crazy that the whole city is pretty much floating. I bet everybody that's old enough know how to drive a boat, just because there's no cars." (when asked about a place with no cars)

"The caffé gelato was really good." (when asked what gelato he liked best)

Day 5: Second Day in Venice

GOOD MORNING! 7am, the bells ring and the city comes alive. We're guessing this is the agreed upon time that locals can make noise. Right when the bells began ringing, gondoliers were yelling down the canals and people banged their shutters open. Ok, early to bed tonight, for sure!

Side note: locals hang their laundry over the canals to dry. We are all wondering how often do they drop something that is then lost forever? I'm just imagining all the things I would drop with my butterfingers.

Cappuccino from Alessandro

Our hotel includes breakfast with our stay, so it's nice to just head downstairs for the simple buffet. Afterwards, we headed back to Alessandro's hotel to take him up on his offer to arrange a trip to Murano for us. The last time Chris and I did this, the glass shops were closed. We thought it was because it was a Sunday, but Alessandro says it must have been something else as they have always been open to tourism on Sundays. That will remain a mystery.

Also, last time, we paid for a bus ride there. This time, Alessandro arranged for his hotel to take us to Murano. His hotel has an agreement with one of the glass manufacturers there. They both offer complimentary taxis to and from Venice and there is no high-sales pitch to force us to buy anything from their store. I was skeptical but optimistic. Mostly just glad to see the glass blowing in action as we missed it the last time we were here.

Enjoying our boat ride to Murano (they don't mind if you stand the whole way,
just watch your head going under bridges!)

When we arrived on Murano, we were escorted right into the area where they perform glass demonstrations. It took two workers about 10 minutes to create one glass. It was a lot of heat it, melt it, shape it, repeat. There were a few times that both workers were shaping the glass at the same time. No wonder the glass from the Masters is expensive!

The main glass worker made the glass and then made a horse. Funny, Alessandro explained that he grew up on Murano with his dad (a glass worker) who would do demonstrations for the tourists by making a horse (and then the tourists are guided into a room full of glass horses, wouldn't you like to buy?) I can see how it works. It's pretty damn amazing to watch them shape the glass into a horse right before your eyes.


The kids were invited to then try their hand (or lungs) at blowing some glass. There was a bit of confusion as to what they were being asked to do. Since Venice went first, Xander had an easier time of it. But they were asked to blow, and blow, and blow. I kept waiting for the glass bubble to break, but it never did and the workers kept chanting for them to blow, blow, blow. After they blew, blew, blew, the worker smashed the glass bubble onto the floor. Too bad... I might have paid to take that bubble home!

After this show, our host, Stephan, guided us into the show room. He talks a lot about the artists, their work, and says if we have any questions about how the glass is made to ask (I did ask how all the bubbles were made, some are with salt and some are with molds). But he never explained that this wasn't the only showroom. So as we look around, we are seeing price tags of 50K and higher. Um, yeah, we're just window shopping!

We are polite as I wonder if he thinks we're rich Americans who just can't think of anything better to do with our money than purchase a life sized glass horse for our entry way (it was beautiful, by the way).  Then he says there's another shop on the other side of the furnace with a lot more items. Oh good! We get there and I see that one of those glasses we just watched being blown, is marked at 250 Euro. Um, yeah. Still window shopping.


As we wind our way through the glass displays (severals rooms full!) I do see a few things I'd love to take home. Chris and I start deliberating on a few items. Stephan takes them to a table, so we can see one at a time. He and his assistant are never far behind (so we can't have a whispered discussion on how much we want to spend or what we like) offering us to see other similar items or a glass of water. It's not too high pressured, other than we can't get privacy and they linger with us.

We finally decide on a piece we really like. Stephan had said to not pay attention to the price tag, but to ask him what it would cost, as we are friends of Alessandro and he will make us a discount. So, we finally ask about one piece and he shows us the discounted price. WHAT? He's giving us 75% off! Well, holy crap, we'll take some more, please and thank you!

I'm loving the Italian hospitality right now! First several free drinks. Time and touring advice. Now this discount at the glass furnace. Alessandro kept saying, "When I'm in Oregon, you pay. When you are in Italy, I pay." Very generous. And we want to send a big thank you to Granny and Jiichan for being our "delivery address" for these items (no stealing!)

After taking the complimentary taxi back to Venice, we had lunch on the water. It was at this time that we realised we didn't take a photo of any of the pieces we bought! We'll just have to wait to see them again in three months and hope we still like them!

For this meal, Chris ordered sea bass. When the server brought the fish, Chris was away from the table at the time, she asked if we'd like her to clean it. Um, si per favore! Nothing like seeing an entire fish on your plate and not knowing what to do about it. So we got a table side show of the preparation of the fish. It was quick, 30-60 seconds.

On a traghetto gondola ferry.

After lunch, we headed to see the oldest-original bridge in town. It has no side rails and heads to a private residence. Venice snuck on the bottom stair for us to take a photo, then we were on our way to the next thing, a traghetto! In the olden days, The Rialto bridge was the only bridge spanning the Grand Canal. But you could take a traghetto, basically a gondola ferry. For 2 Euros, you are transported from one side of the canal to the other. Short, but fun.

The oldest bridge (left). Venice in one of her new dresses (right).

Everyone was tired and ready for a siesta so we began the long walk back to our hotel. We thought we'd walk through the fish market, which we did, but we were too late, 90% of the stalls were packed up and gone. No worries, we saw some cute dresses in a window and Venice wanted to try them on. So, Chris and Xander continued on for some espresso and then rest while Venice and I shopped a little. We found stores close to our hotel that had all the little glass animals we wanted, so we took note and said we'd come back to buy a bunch of souvenirs later.

The kids were tired and ready for rest, so they hunkered down in their beds with their iPods. Chris and I decided we wanted espresso and that we'd go out and get it on our own. After riding the elevator down, we thought, maybe we could just get a quick espresso at the hotel lobby, but no one was there. Chris remembered there was a roof-top cafe, so we decided to try that instead! No espresso up there, only drinks... OK! So, we had an afternoon cocktail along with some complimentary (or did we pay for them?) snacks.

The view from the rooftop was beautiful. So many red-tiled roofs. Quiet. Lovely. And bonus, we realised we could see our balcony from our table. We Skype'd the kids to quietly come out onto the balcony and look for us. A few seconds later, Venice was out there waving to us. Xander came next!

Now guess what time it is? Dinner time! Seems it's a lot of walking and a lot of eating on this trip! We headed out for one restaurant, decided it wasn't what we wanted, so we walked around for a little, trying another one, until we ended up at restaurant that had outside seating near the water of the Grand Canal. Did we have a reservation? No, but unless you go after 8pm, it's usually ok, so there were plenty of open tables when we got there.

Chris decided to get the eel for dinner. Be adventurous. He asked the waiter,  (who didn't seem to have much of a sense of humour) if that was a good choice. The waiter replied, "No. Do you have it before? Eel is not for beginners. You have something else." We all laughed, except the waiter. Needless to say, Chris ordered something else.

A panorama of Piazza San Marco (with a little warping on the right)

After dinner, I really wanted to see the Piazza San Marco in the dark. I imagined it would be lit up and beautiful. It did not disappoint. It was unbelievable. The lights were romantic. The evening air was perfect. Different restaurants had live bands playing different kinds of music. From jazz to swing to Phantom of the Opera. What a difference a few hours makes.

Gelato on the way home, a perfect way to end the day... until the thunder and lightning started. Xander was a bit nervous with the loud crashes of lightning and had a harder time falling asleep.

Day 4: First Day in Venice

Wahoo, and we're off to Venice, Italy! Just a 25 minute taxi to the Berlin airport, with a lot LESS luggage than the last time. Phew! Venice was a little nervous about going through security, remembering the last time, but we pretty much sailed through... until they found scissors in her backpack. Ooops. They've been there the whole time, but this is the first time security found them. They had her take them out, saw that they were "kid" scissors (basically blunt tipped) and let her keep them. Another, phew!

They checked ID (passports) at checkin, but then nothing when we arrived in Italy. We got to walk through the Schengen arrival doors, so no customs since we were flying from within the Schengen area. Cool! I think this was a bingo item for Venice.

Side note: Chris was signed a seat in a different row than us. But, just before take-off, he asked to change to an open seat and was able to join us. Just weird. The entire row in front of the kids was empty and the seat next to me was empty. And yet, Chris was signed a seat a few rows up next to a mom with an unhappy baby. He got to sit with his family, and the mom had more room to move with her baby. Win-win!

Ready! Set! Arrived!

Upon arrival in Venice, Chris and Xander figured out what tickets to get for transportation into Venice. The last time we traveled here, we took the train from the Bologna airport, so this was new to us. We took a city bus to Venice and then a water taxi. The water taxi was crazy full. People shoved right up into your personal space. A taxi worker kept telling us we had to take our backpacks off. You had to either stow it or hold it. I guess they figure it makes more room for people to be shoved all in. I think I stepped on a dog's tail, who was sitting so quietly with his owners. Sorry!

We checked into the hotel and left our bags (too early to get into the room), and went out to find lunch. This restaurant was just something to tide us over, so nothing special. We did find out something interesting about the bathrooms here. It is typical to have a door to the bathrooms open into a small sink area. Then, there are two doors, one for women and one for men. Doesn't sound odd. But the sink area is small and it is sometimes awkward to be sharing space with the opposite sex when you are used to having a lot of space alone. The first one had frilly mirrors and girls primping, so if you're a dude, you have to walk by them and into your bathroom stall, just inches away. Not horrible, just different. After a few uses, I got used to the idea and, really, I didn't bump into anyone in all that time... it was mostly just the anticipation that kept me on my toes.

Clock tower (left). Government building (middle-left).
The kids playing in a giant water puddle (middle-right). The left-front of the Basilica (right).

We walked to Piazza San Marco. Oh, my! It was crowded! Again, I don't remember it being this crowded. But the buildings were just as beautiful as I remembered. The kids took a break from the heat by wading through the giant puddle that covered the middle of the Piazza.

We had no real plans for today. Just to walk about and take it all in. We headed to the water's edge at the port. The kids stuck their feet into the water there. The beauty of the place definitely takes a little weight out of the heat.

Gelato. We must find gelato. Ok, not hard to find, as there is a gelateria on every "block". You just have to find a good one (but I still argue that they are all probably good). We hunted for a specific one recommended to us and enjoyed our first-of-many gelatos. Then onto our hotel to find our room and take a rest.

View from our balcony at the "Starhotel Splendid Venice" hotel (left and middle)
Venice, pretending to think the bidet was a water fountain (right)

We stayed at the Starhotel Splendid Venice, thanks to HotelTonight's help with this one. It is located between the Rialto bridge and the Piazza San Marco. Great for walking to all the main spots. But it is a slight trade-off in that you are in the heart of the the hustle and bustle (translate to noise and crowds). We are in a family room which is ginormous. Three big rooms (entry, kids beds, master beds) with a large bathroom (tub and shower, bidet, big counters). And thanks to science, we have air conditioning, the BEST thing about the room, really! We do have a wonderful balcony and a views of a canal and bridges... but did I mention the air conditioning? Love it.

Side note: The electrical plugs are NOT the same as in Germany. What? But don't panic, Chris brought one universal-converter and we were able to share that one to recharge all our devices. Phew! We didn't bring laptops, but boy, we needed our phones (for navigation and communication) and the kids NEEDED their iPods to be charged! We scraped by with the shared converter. It just meant that the kids had to leave their iPods to charge in the room during the day, so they couldn't take them out to take photos of their own. Lesson learned. May need more universal-converters for other travels in the future.

As much as we wanted to rest and not do much (we were all tired from an early start), we decided we must walk to the other side of the island to meet Alessandro, one of HotelTonight's hotel-side correspondents. He grew up in Murano and has now lived in Venice for many, many years. He works with the Hotel Antiche Figure on the Ferrovia side of Venice and LOVES his city. He loves to share his knowledge of its history and ideas of where to visit.

Kids and map (left), Chris and Alessandro (middle), Kids walking (right)

We met Alessandro at his hotel and were greeted with warm welcomes and bellinis. He spent a long time showing us the map and pointing out places to see, eat, and visit. The kids had their iPods this time (this was before we realised the outlets were different) and occupied themselves quietly as we studied the map. Alessandro then walked us to dinner before heading home, and we enjoyed a nice dinner to end our day.

Alessandro had sent other clients to the same restaurant (clients who were staying at his hotel) and they sat right next to us. They were ending their 2 week trip (a New Jersey family with three grown daughters). As we talked about their trip, our trip, and other niceties, Venice and Xander (but Venice in particular) were super tired and ready to go back to the hotel for some good rest.

Side note: I am now remembering how long the Italians like to eat (or enjoy each other's company at the table). You get service and food very fast, but it takes about a year to get the bill. EVERY TIME we have to say, "Il conto per favore". And even that takes a while.

As a result, no kid brushed their teeth tonight. It was straight to bed with those sleepyheads.

Day 4: Selfies and Crowds

Well, either Venice, Italy has changed, or I have changed. I do remember it being crowded and very hot, even though we went in late September. This is the place where I walked by a man whose arm brushed against mine and left a visible puddle of sweat on my arm. Ick. But boy, it's REALLY crowded. Almost like "Disneyland" crowded. I just don't remember it being this crowded. How is it ever romantic when you are just walking through a sea of people all the time? And, still, it is crazy hot.

I'd like to share with you, the crazy stream of people that you have to wade through to get anywhere, But first, let me take a selfie.

The selfie-stick. 

Doesn't he look cool?

There are black-market dealers selling items on the street. Glow in the dark items, splat balls, twirly things, and the selfie-stick. Just a few Euros. And people are buying them. I didn't see anyone in transaction with these guys, but the selfie-sticks were everywhere. I'm not against taking selfies, I do that plenty, but there is something about a selfie-stick that makes me laugh. So much that I spent many photo opportunities taking photos of people taking selfies with their selfie-sticks. And yes, there are new signs in certain places banning the use of the selfie-sticks.

Here we are (Venice taking our photo)
being photobombed by a selfie-stick.

This woman was pretty pushy with her "Pardon, pardon," as she pushed her way to the
edge for her selfie-stick photo with her male companion. I just hope the back of my
kids made it into her photo for eternity!

Look closely, this is a three-for-one shot (three friends taking their own selfie-stick photos!

The RIGHT way to take a photo with your pal. Ask a stranger to take it for you!
Thank you, Chris, for taking one for these guys!

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, let me tell you about these crowds. It was super, duper crowded. I was overwhelmed by the sights (so many people, stores, restaurants), sounds (crying babies, clanging of silverware), and smells (B.O., strong cologne, food, cigarette smoke).

Here's how it works:
If you are wanting to window shop, you will feel like you can't. The crowd will push you along and you don't have any time to see anything in the window. Your only other choice is to stop, causing the stream of people behind you to adjust and move around you. Do this quickly, get to the side! This is the same if you are lost or aren't sure where you are going. You will try to read street signs, but they will pass to quickly and there is no way you will find them on a map as you are moving like this. You must pull over or into a side alley to be able to read your map.

On the flip-side, if you know where you are going (you can actually remember which shop you saw that cute glass item in), or are in a hurry, you will be irritated by all the people who are strolling painfully slow, window shopping, confused as to where they are.

You are in either camp. One or the other.

Admittedly, there were a few times we were, blissfully, "The Strollers". I think gelato had something to do with it.