Venice: City of Water

 Venice is the most beautiful, romantic, and fascinating city that we have ever visited, or I imagine exist.  Every corning you turn there is a photo op.  But without having kids with us we frankly got sick of being the subject of all the pictures. 

 The best travel advice for Venice is to get lost.  And, despite Aram being a map genius we managed to get lost.  But, no worries it's an Island, we always found our way.  But, as we got lost we found the true charm of the city away from the hoards of tourists. 

 Our lifeline was the Vaparetto (The Water Bus).  I am such a cheap person I considered just buying tickets as we needed them, but at 7 euro a pop the Venice Transit Authority forces you to buy the 24, 48, or 72 hour pass.  Best decision ever.  Venice is a dying city and the whole city is essentially a museum, and the best way to see it is by the water.  There are also lots of Islands to explore other the the mainone.  So, on our second day we branched out and explored some of the lesser known Islands. 

 The Island of Lido has a very chill, Southern California feel.  We walked along the seashore, so now we can say we have walked in the Adriatic.  It was a nice break from the crowds and tourist of Venice. 

 The Island of Burano is my favorite, it is soooooo charming.  It is a fisherman's Island.  So, instead of the ornate decaying buildings in Venice built by rich Merchants of the 13th century.  This little town is still bustling with local fishermen and their families.  It's also known for their lace.  So I splurged and bought a cute dress for Lucy, and a baby blessing dress just in case we get so lucky to have another girl!  Yes, that means I am pregnant.   It was suppose to be an Italian baby, but I guess I am just too fertile. 

 A woman making lace. 

 We didn't make it to Pisa, but turns out we didn't need to.  Burano has a leaning tower as well.  In fact, it leans at a 5 degree angle, same as Pisa. 

 Murano, is another charming Island.  That is known for it's blown glass.  The glass shops were so amazing.  I usually don't like to window shop but when you go to Murano that is the funnest thing to do. 

Because we had the earliest flight out of Venice on Sunday morning we weren't able to catch a bus to the airport early in the morning, because they don't run on Sunday.  Wish I would have figured that out earlier, before I paid for our 3rd night stay.  Because we spent the night at Hotel Marco Polo Airport and had the luxury of sleeping on benches.  I felt a bit homeless, but if it meant we didn't miss our flight, so we could see our kids as soon as possible it was worth it.  But, it made for a really long travel journey; about 34 hours in all.  So that plus jetlag has been killer.