Veni, vidi, vici Venice!

Or perhaps more appropriately, “We came, we saw, we ate.”

We arrived at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport bright and early at 7:30 am. I had booked an apartment at an agriturismo place a few kilometers away from the airport. It’s a small organic farm with four apartments on the premises. The gracious owner came and picked us up, brought us back to the farm, provided us with map, directions, tour suggestions, and a phone, and then drove us to the bus stop for a 20 minute ride to the city of Venice.

Once in Venice, we boarded a vaporetto (a water bus) to the island of Murano.

Murano is famous for its glass making. We joined the queue so we could see a demonstration of this ancient art. It was short, but interesting.

Naturally this set off the kids’ desire to purchase something glass. Store after store was filled with cute little glass animals, glass jewelry, glass knick-knacks, etc. Given the size of our bags and the length of our travels we really try to avoid purchasing souvenirs, preferring to get a patch in each location that can be used upon return for a jacket or bag. I finally gave in and allowed the purchase of a small glass stone…very pretty, but one more thing to squeeze into the bag. Then we started seeing the carnival masks everywhere. How about one of those? Had to put my foot down there!

Our second stop of the day was on Burano, an island about 30 minutes away by vaporetto. Burano is know for its lace making and colorful houses.

The kids enjoyed a refreshing gelato, and then it was back on the vaporetto. We were packed in like sardines on the second leg of the trip back, a common occurrence on these water buses. We called it a day at that point, and retreated to our little apartment in the country.

Day two we took a vaporetto down the Grand Canal to San Marco, where many of Venice’s most famous sights are located, including St. Mark’s Square. The square was large, crowded, and lined with overpriced cafes and shops.

Fortunately, you only had to walk a block or two to get away from the crowds, and into the beautiful, narrow streets that Venice is known for. We decided to take a gondola ride through the back canals. We opted for the shortest tour available, 40 minutes, but it was just right, and everyone loved it. Our gondolier had a good sense of humor, and would sing occasionally (though his songs were nonsensical, feature macaroni, spaghetti, and other words that he thought the kids would understand).

We had a great lunch in a small cafe that we stumbled upon after our gondola ride. Daniel practiced his Italian with the waiter, and Caroline showed her openness to trying new things when she dined on a big dish of pasta with assorted shell fish. “This looks disgusting, but it’s delicious!”

We’ve enjoyed Venice. The places touted as the highlights (Saint Mark’s Square and Basilica, the Rialto Bridge) left us unmoved, but we loved wandering the quiet side streets, seeing the laundry strung up high over our heads, and imagining what life is like for the locals in this beautiful city on the water.