After 6+ weeks of being in school, it was time for another break for the kids. This time just a little over 2 weeks. I had been contemplating and planning a trip to Rhodes Greece with the kids for a week
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| Friend Kendall |
when our friend Kendall told us he was going crazy with 2 weeks of leave time and nothing he could do with other people. Given that Sean was on service in the ICU for 4 weeks straight I knew that we would not be able to travel with Dad, so I suggested to Kendall that he join us for our fall break travels. It worked out perfectly. We ended up spending 4 days in Venice then home for 2 days then 4 days in Paris. It gave the kids a few days to just chill out at the house while I pulled everything together and when traveling with friends 4-day stretches are perfect. I found an ultra cheap fare to Venice - 4 people for under $200 by plane and then an apartment 1 block from the Rialto bridge - that would be the center of everything!
I can honestly recommend taking the train into Venice. While the bus from the Treviso airport was easy and highly recommended, I had decided that due to the late hour of our arrival into Italy (10pm) it would be best to not try to meet our hostess in Venice at midnight as then is when we would have arrived, but rather to book a hotel in the small town there and then take a train the next morning. It was perfect. Our hotel was a 10 minute walk to the train station and we were able to sip a cappuccino before taking off. The train was les than $10 for the 4 of us, and when we got to the train station in Venice we were greeted by the grand canal. Clark and MJ were so excited to realize that the only way to get around was by foot and BOAT! They were in heaven. I was like a little kid in a candy store and Kendall was just as excited. We talked to everyone asking tons of questions and just being so excited to experience something so wonderful.
After meeting Sabina, our fabulous hostess, and settling in we walked to the restaurant she highly recommended and were treated to a great fish meal. After lunch we decided it was time to start exploring, unfortunately, it was raining - not hard, but just enough that we were using our umbrellas. Well, we who had them, MJ had brought her rain coat so no umbrella. As we walked the streets the waiter from the restaurant where we had lunch walked by and gave us a great smile. About 10 seconds later, he was standing in front of MJ and handing her is beautiful umbrella. We were all stunned by his generosity and MJ was thrilled that someone thought so kindly of her as to give her a their umbrella when that was obviously the only one they had with them at the time. For MJ that was truly the highlight of the trip.
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| MJ with her umbrella |
For Kendall and I the highlight would come the following day with our tour guide Nadia. What a gem!! She didn't take us to the tourist spots, she took us to Venice. Our day started with her welcoming us to her city with a breakfast that treated us to at her favorite coffee shop. She ordered the kids the most delicious hot chocolate - it is called Densa for dense and you can get dark or white. Well, if you remember our experience in Florence, this hot chocolate is like drinking freshly made pudding. The Densa here in Venice at this particular shop was just so full of flavor - luscious!! During that time she gave us the history of the city - people came from India who would settle there. That men and women were equals because it took everyone working together to make build the city. The incredible wealth from the trade and the naval defense for thousands of years provided to peoples all around them. She explained how they built they houses and dropped the wood and stone into the water to make it solid and then we walked through the streets for the next 3 hours with her showing us the debtors prisons, frescoes in the ceilings of the open air markets, protection from soldiers or thieves hiding to accost innocents, the view and decorations of a 7 star hotel, the most incredible book store with steps made from books that had been damaged in a flood, she introduced us to a gondolier oar maker and master paper mache mask maker. Originally, we had planned an hour boat ride, but couldn't do it due to the wet weather. Her parting gift was to drop us off at one of her favorite restaurants for lunch, a little place in a back alley. As we she left and I went to pay her, she insisted that since we didn't see any of the "big" sites that her fee was 150 Euro less than what we had agreed upon. I literally had to force her to accept at least an additional 50 Euro. It was one of the best tours I have ever had and I now feel like Venice is more than just a city to be visited but more like a second home. Truly one one of the best decisions I have ever made.
That afternoon, once the rain let up we noticed that the Gondoliers were out and decided that since we had no idea where we were in relation to our apartment, it would be wise to hire a boat and have them navigate us back "home".
I think I failed to mention that on our flight to Venice we had met with friends from Landstuhl who were also spending the weekend in Venice. So, we ended up connecting with them to get some dinner. After dinner we made our way to San Marco square for a concerto and some dessert.
Our final day there was spent shopping and visiting San Marco Square to actually see the sites there. We didn't have time to do everything there, but enough to get the flavor and know that we want to come back.
Photos from the trip can be found through our Picasa Web Album, I hope.
