Venice: Rain or Shine

Most cities have a list of big attractions that you want to rush around to see: Eiffle Tower in Paris, Colosseum in Rome, Big Ben in London, etc.  After a quick scan of our Venice guide book, our plan was simply to walk around and enjoy the city.  [And sure enough, we didn't spend more than 2 minutes inside any churches or museums.]

Unfortunately, Day 1 in Venice brought us a lot of rain.  In an attempt to stay somewhat dry, we bought 24-hour transportation passes, which let us ride the boats around town.  (They don't use buses, but instead have vaporetti that run around the big canals.)  We cruised down the Grand Canal and watched for sights out the wet windows.

At the end of the canal ride we went looking for St. Mark's Square, and the basilica.  After many wrong turns, we arrived to the square completely soaked.  It didn't take long for us to get on another boat to dry off.  We decided to visit the islands around Venice because a dry 45 minute boat ride was appealing.  I'll write about Burano and Murano in another post.  They were definitely worth visiting (rain or shine) and all the bright colors cheered up the otherwise dreary day.

Back at the hotel that night we dried off, tried our best to prevent Tiago from racking up a phone bill, and bought a huge pizza from a restaurant down the street.  [I sent Hyrum out to buy a 'couple of slices'.  He must be skilled at tuning me out, because he has no recollection of that comment, and bought the biggest pizza he could find.  In the end, I wasn't complaining.]

Hyrum thought he'd seen enough of Venice after the first day, but I wanted to go back to see it in better weather.  I'm glad we did, because it felt like a completely different experience.  One thing that helped was changing strollers.  While everyone online recommends a light umbrella stroller, we found that our Britax stroller handled the bridges much better.  (Only a couple of bridges had wheelchair/stroller ramps).

We spent the day walking around, and as Rick Steves recommends, "getting lost".  While there are some main roads that are packed with tourists , most of the island is just small picturesque alleyways without a soul in sight.  It was tempting to take a picture at every bridge that we crossed.

It's strange to think that people actually live in Venice-- and hang their laundry out to dry on the balcony.  It would certainly be an interesting (and difficult) lifestyle: walking or boating everywhere, trying to keep kids from falling in the water, higher prices since everything has to be boated into the island, etc.

We literally stopped for gelato every time we saw it.  So delicious.

 Below, Hyrum is finishing off the gelato. Some things are worth the pause.

Also, at one point during the day we took the 'get lost' thing too literally.  We thought we were headed in the general direction of St. Mark's Square, but all the roads we walked down were dead ends.  We ended up passing this church at least 3 times, which was a little frustrating.  (Streets aren't really labeled, but there are random signs pointing to major sights.)  

This is my I think we're lost face, but on the bright side, who doesn't love an orange building?

And the other bright side-- getting lost led us to another gelato stand with new flavors: kit-kat and maracuya/passion fruit.

There was some type of boating event going on all over the Grand Canal.  

 Tiago had fun waving to rowers while I fed the girls.

We made it to Piazza San Marco for the second time, and it was much more enjoyable with sun.  I wish I'd had a dollar for every selfie stick being used.  When we first arrived in Europe, I don't think they even existed.  Now they're everywhere, which looks very ridiculous, but I suppose their practical.  (Unless you're old school like us and don't have a phone that takes pictures.)

We seem to spot Colombians everywhere we go.  I'm glad Hyrum refrained from going to talk to them because it might have taken a while.

 We enjoyed dinner at a great restaurant in a cute (and empty) alley. I decided to be adventurous and order a seafood dish, since we were right on the coast.  I think I tried everything, but didn't finish it all.  Hyrum wouldn't even get near it.

not a bad view!

The next day we drove home, and I pulled out the camera to capture some of the things we passed.

This reminded me of Italy's gelato.

I think the rock formation on the right might be part of the Dolomites. (?)

It was interesting how much Northern Italy felt like Austria/Bavaria/Switzerland. This small town was at the top of the mountains in Brenners Pass.  Crazy that they have snow there year round.  (We actually drove through a snow storm on the way to Italy.)