Venice, Italy

(Side note: this was also written before the election even though we are just now posting.)

For our first stop in Italy, we are spending less than 24 hours in Venice.  We weren’t going to go because it’s so touristy but Dennis and the kids have never been and who knows how long it will be before it’s underwater.  The night before we watched a fascinating video about the history and engineering of Venice and it was fun to see it in real life.

It is off-season so while it was crowded, it was completely manageable and actually super fun.  We got an airbnb right on a small canal that was lovely.  After a big lunch, we took a long walk to the jewish ghetto – seeing the Rialto Bridge and Bridge of Sighs on the way – where we took an amazing tour and learned about the history of the first ghetto, the term ghetto, and the jewish community.  On the way home we meandered much more slowly, stopping for a gelato dinner, and ended up in Piazza San Marco where the kids bought overpriced spinner toys and had a blast throwing them into the air and chasing them, only hitting random strangers maybe 30% of the time.  

The next morning we had a touristy gondola ride which was sweet but completely eclipsed by our subsequent water taxi ride to the train station.  We loooved that and felt very fancy, and we got to go much faster through the canals, and stand up in the boat.  We were living large and it was a great way to end our visit. 

Next up is a drive to Montepulciano to see Grandpa and Tiffy!

(Click on the photos for a full sized slideshow)