We arrived in Venice on a rainy day. It wasn't too cold. The
train ride was a first for the girls. At least, a high speed train. In fact, this was the first high speed train for all of us apparently...
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| Waiting for the train |
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| sleepy time! |
When we arrived in Venice I had written directions to get to the hotel. What I didn't know, stupidly, was all of the bridges we would have to lug over every bridge in Venice to get there. (Actually, our hotel was quite near the train station. Other tourists had much longer treks to their hotels)
The hotel was just as beautiful as pictured. We stayed at the
Palazzo Odoni, which has a 500 year old courtyard in front of a 4 story mansion. We had the family suite on the ground floor, so we didn't have to scale the stairs except for breakfast.
After we settled in, we decided to go exploring! In Venice, the idea is to keep walking small alleyways, until you are lost. Since it was raining, most of the tourists hightailed it out of the city and back to their cruise ships. We were mostly alone walking the streets. We stopped at the first piazza that had outdoor covered seating in the eatery.
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| Perfection! |
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| OMG |
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| Happiness is pasta! |
We didn't have set plans in Venice other than a stop in Murano. We headed out the next morning for the island of Murano, where the famous blown glass is made. My goal: lighting for my dining room!
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| teeny tiny glass animals! |
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| Do I spy a tuba player? Gotta buy that! |
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| Found my chandelier!!! Being shipped home! |
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Sierra and Isabel loved the "buses" in Venice!
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We left Murano and headed to St. Mark's square, where I had told my pigeon obsessed daughter, was the mecca of pigeons! She was terrified of the birds. Too many!!!
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| Isabel DID NOT want those pigeons on her! |
We also HAD to get Venetian masks! They were fitted for masks in a shop that makes them!
Then, the girls wanted to go on a gondola ride... I had to deny them that pleasure! LOL!
We also visited the Rialto Bridge
We only had two days in Venice, but here are some other pictures before we left:
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| winding streets |
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| Isabel became a "pigeon photographer" |
After we left Venice, I rented a car to head west towards Parma, Italy. On the way to Parma, I HAD to stop in Fair Verona to visit the Juliet House! Cici will be studying Romeo and Juliet next year in school, and I felt it would be "educational" to check it out!
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| Hidden stadium in Verona! |
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| We found it while wandering! |
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| Romeo, oh Romeo! |
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| Love wall |
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| Found my Romeo! |
Parma is the home of Parma Ham, Parmesan cheese, and aged balsamic vinegar. I scheduled a week stay here, just for the food. THE FOOD, PEOPLE!!!
We stayed in a lovely apartment that we rented off
AirBnb.com. Our apartment was small but in a great location! It was up 4!!! flights of stairs! Our legs are getting strong!
While in Parma, we ate, and ate, and viewed a castle or two, and then ate...
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| Our entrance to the courtyard of our apartment. |
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| Keep going! 4 more flights of stairs! |
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| We visited an Acetaia (balsamic vinegar house) in Modena! |
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| Then for the castles! |
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| "Is that the dungeon?" |
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| I like these two Vespas! |
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| Rose sculpted Gelato? Yes, please! |
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| The porch of my dreams... The kids laughed at me calling it a "porch." |
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| Had to visit the cheese makers! Thanks Parmagolosa for arranging the quick tour! |
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| Parma HAM!!! |
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| Soy Sauce creation by Isabel |
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| Fontanellato Castle |
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| Kids passed out when driving to the castle above. We waited a half hour to wake them up. |
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| When we got sick of Parma food ( I know, ridiculous!) we ate out at an excellent Indian restaurant! |
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| Of course, Chris and I found a local pub, that treated us wonderfully! |
Our next stop: The French Alps, Morzine!
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