Snapshots of Venice, Italy

Me to Taido in October:

Oh my goodness. Direct flights to Venice from Stuttgart are less than $20 right now! What do you think? Christmas in Italy. We could surprise the kids!

Taido: Let’s do it. 

(My husband is a man of few words.)

It’s funny how many of our trips have begun with an exchange like this actually. We have entirely too many flight alerts set up on various apps and websites.

But also I see cheap tickets all the time that I don’t snap up. And sometimes when I do buy them, I get worried when I start trying to fill in all the other details that are not so cheap (transfers from the airport, places to stay and eat).

But this time around, I have to say that even though it cost almost the same amount to get from the Venice airport to Venice as it did for us to fly to Venice from Germany, I was very happy with this decision.

Because Venice at any time of the year is pretty great.

But Venice at Christmas was very special.

Also it was the worth the price of admission to see our kids faces when we said:

Pack a backpack because we are heading to Venice tomorrow. 

We arrived in Venice on Christmas Eve (just two days after Cole came to Germany!) and went straight to the market to get groceries in case things were closed on Christmas Day.

But Venice is way open for business on Christmas. Restaurants, shops and markets were all ready for us on Christmas morning.

We went to mass at St Mark’s on Christmas morning,

and then spent the rest of the day walking the streets, crossing canals and eating our way through the city. Pizza, pasta, gelato.

In fact, we spent our whole week walking and eating. Walking and eating.

We even went on a tour for walking and eating. (More to come about this!)

Every corner of Venice is beautiful, and I think we managed to see every corner before the week was over.

In fact, I was surprised to find (because I have a device that records these sorts of things) that in spite of walking many, many trails and towns in 2016, that the last week of the year, and one of the coldest, I walked more miles than in any other week of the year.

And that’s the thing about walking in Venice,

You can always take one more step.

Turn one more corner.

Cross one more canal.

Stand on one more little bridge.

You just don’t get tired of it.

Or I guess I should say: I don’t get tired of it. 🙂

But just as the kids were starting to maybe get tired of it…

SURPRISE again! More friends!!!

Our friends Tanja, Chipper and Bailey stole a few days away from their family Christmas to walk the streets of Venice with us!

Two families in Venice = Double the fun.

Gelato at all hours!

Top of St. Mark’s!

Every bridge + canal = photo op!

Because so much beauty.

Such a fun group!

And also we rode gondolas together!

Which is cheesy and expensive, but every bit as wonderful as you think it will be.

We discovered a pastry shop that I went back to again the next day because everything in it was delightful.

We made dinner together and laughed and squeezed into little street bars and it was so good.

We LOVED our time in Venice.

 

It was my third time to wander through Venice, and over the trips I have compiled a good little list of favorites for the next time I spy $20 tickets.

I’m so thankful we did it!

We flew home (over the Alps!) on New Year’s Eve to cold and snowy Germany and spent the next week being cozy and watching movies and going for snowy hikes. So much treasured time.