The Travels of the Murnane Family: Ahhhhh...Venice

On Sunday the 27th, we sadly departed the Villa. Our next destination was Venice. We had heard good and bad regarding Venice (all good from Uncle Mark), so we were curious to see how the city held up to its reputation, good or bad.

I can tell you that from our opinion, it was ALL good! The city is so unique, and many of the guidebooks recommend that if you only have a limited time to visit Venice, just walk around the city, afterall, the best part of Venice is in fact Venice. Our intentions were to find some good food, take a boat ride or two, do some shopping and enjoy the sites. We did all of the above and then some.

This was the first stop after getting off of the train across the bridge out to Venice. The spooky cat in the background was a good landmark to remember. Navigating through the small alley ways can be quite tricky, and this wound up as our meeting point on day two of Venice.

While we figured out the tickets for the boats, the kids were captivated by the water. This clearly would continue throughout the city.

A gondola in the background (roughly 100 Euro per hour) and Sage in a prime seat on the water shuttle. The number of small canal-ways that dart off in multiple directions is amazing. The kids had a hard time grasping that the streets of Venice, were only made of water, NO CARS!!

The crew always had a couple of doubters! See if you can guess who was doubting that we were having a GREAT time...

We landed in San Marco square, basically on the far side of the city, and worked our way back. We were parched, needed a refreshment, and stopped at the first outdoor location to quench our thirsts.

In the distant background, you can see the band playing, which is what initially caught our attention. The fiddle player was incredible and really kept the crowd into the tunes. We didn't realize that we were funding a small countries GDP by having a couple of bevies there, 13.80 Euro for a .33L beer...yup, that's your standard 12 oz. beer, for more than $15! Ahhhh Venice!

Another gondola stop in and among the alley ways.

Despite the blink, a great catch of Aunt Josie and Gracie enjoying some private time on the opposite bank of the canal.

A brief stop to sample some local tavern suds. The kids, again were drawn to the water. Nana and Uncle Mark picked up a birthday present for Gracie nearby. A local painter had a street stand, and Gracie suddenly took interest. She picked out a great one, which should be a lifelong reminder of a pretty incredible opportunity just prior to turning 7. While below, you'll see Nana, Uncle Mark and me enjoying our rewards below.

Note the wine glass in Mom's hand. Certainly that plastic cup was not satisfactory. Margie is ALWAYS prepared, this time compliments of the previous bevie stop!