Day 13: Venice Stroll

Sorry this is so long in coming.. but there are a LOT of photos. Believe it or not, I already narrowed it down considerably but I just am so in love with Venice I couldn't leave any more out!

Day 13: We slept in a bit and went to breakfast at the hotel. (By the way, our room was 140 euro including breakfast). Breakfast was so-so. It had the basic cold meats/cheese, yogart, cereal, toast, eggs, and sausage. They brought a pitcher of espresso and another of hot, foamy milk. This I loved!!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, in the 70's and sunny. We walked along the water and watched the painters and artists for awhile.

Then we wandered into San Marco square and let the girls chase pigeons for what seemed like half the day. I am sure it was their favorite part of Venice! I was in heaven just walking around, snapping photos.

We shopped for masks for the girls (see more below on masks), grabbed a piece of pizza (2 euro and very tasty at the walk up stands) and went back to our hotel for a long afternoon nap. We had been using the stroller all morning and after carrying it over bridges all morning we were done!! I recommend using a backpack for your kids if you have one. We've been through several backpacks and carriers if you need a recommendation! I am currently in love with a sturdy framed hiking backpack or if you want a soft one that folds up, I recommend the Ergo. Val can still use the Ergo when necessary! (as seen below napping on Daddy's back)

We went to dinner near our hotel on the water. I had lasagna and Derrick had a very good penne pesto. We loved being able to split a bottle of wine and walk only a block back to our hotel (don't worry, we weren't even tipsy. I wouldn't do that with the kiddos!) It was very relaxing and the girls could run around freely without worry.

Rialto Bridge

Carnivale is the huge festival in February in Venice. Everyone wears masks and there are huge floats and so forth, much like Mardi Gras but better and seemingly classier. Therefore there are mask shops everywhere and it's one of the most well known souvenirs to bring back from Venice. We bought the girls each a mask from this little shop. It was really neat to watch her brush the gold leaf? on the masks. (The masks for the girls will be hung up high in their rooms for when they're older as a special keep sake) You can get a mask in Venice anywhere from 10 euro to 100 euro!

I wanted to get some night shots of San Marco so we walked back over there. It is the most romantic place to go with a loved one. We will definitely come back for a future anniversary, without children! The little (and extremely expensive so don't go there unless you are prepared to spend atleast 15 euro for a drink) cafe's on the square have orchestra's that play almost continuously. The girls loved to dance and dance. We did this more than once. It was a very good day had by all!

P.S. for Mom- This is the cuckoo clock we bought in Germany. The top dancers go around the circle to music (the clock alternates 3 songs. this feature can be turned off) and the wood chopper chops with the cuckoo bird that comes out of the green door. It's in our dining room along with a painting we bought on day 14 in Venice, photos of us on the beach in Sicily, and 2 big wooden masks from Africa. ha. what a 'theme' !