Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Life as we know it.

 As you know my parents have been visiting us for the past 6 weeks. We have had an opportunity to see so many beautiful places and have had many mishaps and surprises along the way.

Our first big trip was to Italy. We flew into Venice, spent a day there then took a train to Florence, spent a day there and finished in Rome and spent 2 days there. Because so many cool and wacky things happened I will be writing about this trip in installments.

BOOK 1

"It was the best of times it was the worst of times"

Not really, actually Venice was pretty much the best of times for the duration of our stay. The beginning was a little rocky but once we got settled in we fell in love with it's charm.

We decided to go cheap on accommodations as we knew things could get spendy as we wanted to see most of the sights. This will come into play with each of the cities we visited. Nothing was unsanitary but there were definite trade offs because of it.

We flew into Treviso airport (which is an hour outside of Venice) at around 7pm and we decided to take a bus in. When we arrived we gathered all our luggage, a pack and play, 3 backpacks, 1 giant roller suitcase and one carry on size roller suitcase which was one of those terrible ones that always flip over as you roll it. Also Ty's cheapo umbrella stroller who's wheels get caught on EVERY single uneven cobblestone. (Needless to say this caused problems). We were taking our time, went to the bathroom changed Ty, made sure we had everything yada yada yada and by the time we got out to where the bus was supposed to be it had already left.

We had to wait an hour for the next bus. We rode into Venice and then caught a vaporetto (the water bus) down the Grand Canal until the stop we thought was closest to our hotel. Funny thing is that Matt's phone said the hotel was a ways away but it was really only a few feet away from where we were dropped off. We were so relieved that we found this cool hotel "The Marconi" that was on the canal right by the Rialto Bridge for so cheap, also that we found it so easily. We walk into the lobby (a tiny room) and the desk clerk says "Are you the Bennetts?" My parents had made the reservations so we said, yes. He then proceeded to tell us that they're having "technical difficulties" and that the room we reserved was not available and that they booked us in another hotel that is nicer but that we don't have to pay anything extra. He said it was a 10 minute walk and "very very easy to find, very easy".

A 45 minute walk later still trying to follow the directions he had marked for us and we had yet to find this hotel. Something you should know about Venice is it is full of stairs. Every bridge has stairs up one side and down the other. Needless to say it's not very conducive to carting around all your luggage and infant at 11pm at night. Matt finally took over navigating and we found our hotel relatively quickly after that. The hotel was pretty nice and we got settled quickly, the only problem was that we were starved since we hadn't eaten since lunch. The boys went out and found a shop that had sandwiches for us and some fruit.

The next day we went and explored Venice! The best part about Venice are all of it's nooks and cranies. We loved wandering!

Us in front of the hotel we spent the night at.

The Rialto Bridge

Are we lost again?

Can't get enough of it's charm.

Frari Chapel
The Frari church was so beautiful! It has these massive tombs inside it for several famous artists.

Am I really seeing this with my own eyes?

See what I mean? It's breathtaking!

St. Marks Basilica
St. Marks Square has a million pigeons and normally I do okay with birds. Though I have been subconsciously scarred by watching the movie "The Birds". But Ty was hungry so I had a ziplock of snacks for him and was feeding him these little baby crunchies. These pigeons were so aggressive that one flew at my hand with the bag and tried to take it from my hand and then shortly after another one flew right at my face. I haven't been the same since. I swear every bird is out to get me. Pretty sure I have a new phobia. I've also decided that death by pecking birds is one more way that I don't want to die.

The expensive hotels by the Doge's palace and the Bridge of Sighs.

Me at the Bridge of Sighs

Ty sitting on the lion statue.
Ty is an amazing traveler! With all the late nights, missed naps and craziness he was remarkably happy and easy going. I feel so proud of my little guy! Hope our next one is just as chill!

In the courtyard of the Doge's Palace. Did you know that St. Marks Basilica was the Doge's private chapel?
Venice was stunning and all of our favorite. I would go back there in a heart beat. I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to see all of these beautiful places in our world. Stay tuned for Book 2, Florence and the Beggars with Fake Babies.