A day in Venice!
Greg had to get up early and get to the airport to get back to the daily grind of work... I guess someone has to do it! Truthfully though I am so thankful for him and this wonderful trip I am able to take with our children.
The kids and I got up a little later and decided to check out Venice. We headed to see the fish market, and then to St Marks. We were out and about by 8:30, so there weren't too many people out yet.
We were told that we knew that be able to catch a gondola in front of the fish market for 2€ that would take us back and forth across the grand canal. This is a much more reasonable price than 80€, especially with kids. Unfortunately we didn't find them, but they are there, I saw them the next day when we were getting on the water bus. Just a tip if you go to Venice! The fish market is pretty neat, tons of fish and also fresh produce. The kids thought it was awesom and has a great time trying to guess what different things were.
This is a photo of the kids standing in front of the only wine door left in Venice. We were staying right above it. They used to rol wine barrels down it into a cellar back in the day, that is why the bottom is wider.
We stopped and took photos at the realto bridge, which we went over multiple times. A pretty awesome bridge that is packed with tourists almost all the time. It is has three lanes of walking traffic and two rows of shops!
After we crossed the bride I wanted to get to St Marks Square, hoping to beat out some of the crowds. Venice is a maze of alleys and canals, there is no straight way to get anywhere and it is easy to take a wrong turn. But that is the fun of Venice, and you always end up somewhere, eventually even where you want to be!
I let the kids take turns picking the direction we would go when we had a choice. My best advice for Venice is to get lost!
We did make it to the square, fairly early still. The square was relatively empty but there were a lot of pigeons. Bronwyns inner dog came out and she loved chasing them. A guy came up offering corn to feed the birds, I said no, but kids said yes. So then I had to give him money of course. Totally taken, but it has to happen once! I told the kids afterward to never do that again, because it will always cost us money. I did get a funny pigeon picture though.
There was a massive line for the church, so we kept walking. This area has some very petty veiws and lots very things to see. We bought a water bus ticket that lasts for 24 hrs and gets you wherever you need to go. We then walked back to the church and went right in without much waiting. It is beautiful, the ceilings are gorgeous. It is an amazingly beautiful cathedral. The kids were is awe, but we just walked through with our any extra add one, which was perfect for us.
Next we went to Murano to see the glass blowing factories and shops. The kids LOVED this, I believe it was their favorite part! It was a nice ride out there, fro where we caught the bus it took us 45 min to get out to the other island. We needed the sit down time to rest, B was a little tired at this point. We got off at the wrong stop, but it ended up being good because we ran right into a glass blowing studio that wasn't connected to a shop, so we got to watch 3 guys working together to create a vase. The kids didn't want to leave until the very end. It is pretty awesom to see then take molten glass and form it.
We had lunch on Murano, so it was cheaper than the main part of Venice, then took the water bus back to the main Islands. We got off at the first stop and walked our way back to our apartment. We got back just before it started to rain! We had another little break until the weather cleared up then out we went again. I didn't want to waste any time sitting inside when we could be exploring!
It was high tide when we went out again, and the kids thought that the island had sunk while we were inside! The water domes up over some of the sidewalks. We found a spot for a nice afternoon drink, then did some more walking until dinner. It was a relatively early night for us, as we fit a lot into our day and we were all tired at the end. Venice is a must do, just such a cool city to see.
Next stop for us is Mimi's and Popi's in Tuscany!
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