Venice with the Swanks

Our very good friends Laura and Jeff and their 8 month old baby arrived on Friday morning, September 28^th.  They didn’t want to waste any time in Italy, so within a couple hours, we were on a train to Venice.  We could not drive anywhere together with them because we don’t have enough room for all of us in our car with two car seats.

 

We arrived early afternoon.  After getting checked into our cute little hotel, the Alle Guglie, we went to go figure out the boat system.  They say is it possible to walk anywhere in Venice, but nearly impossible to find anything without getting lost along the way.  We decided to get an unlimited pass and take the vaporetti (boat buses) whenever we could.  Another reason to travel by boat was our strollers.  Venice is made up of 118 islands linked by over 400 bridges, and every single one of them has steps going up one side and down the other.  We found exactly two bridges that had ramps to make them handicap/stroller accessible.

 

Along the Grand Canal, there was one palace after another, and their front doors opened right up to the water.  Some have colored mooring posts in front of the houses, which were decorated like the family coat of arms.

 

 A gondola as seen in the daylight.  You can pretend it is us in there, because we obviously couldn't get a picture of the one we were in.

 San Stae, built on the Grand Canal around 1709.

San Geremia, built in the 13th century.

 

Rialto Bridge, the oldest and most famous.

 Church of Santa Maria della Salute, built around 1681, on the Grand Canal.

Inside our boat/bus "vaporetto" with Rialto Bridge through the windshield.

 

We still did a lot of walking, and it was a beautiful town to wander the side streets and get a little lost. 

 

 

Our first day there we went to the Doges Palace.  When Venice was the richest and most important city in Europe from the 13^th to the 17^th centuries because of their sea trade position, this palace was where the ruling Duke lived.  It was massive, ornate, and very beautiful.  

 The Palace is on the left, the elevated bridge in the center is the Bridge of Sighs.

 Looking out from the Bridge of Sighs, connecting the palace to the prisons.

 In a courtyard inside the palace.

In our hotel.  Ben really does love brushing his teeth, and tried to do it himself after finding my toothbrush.

On Saturday, we went to Basilica San Marco. The end of the Grand Canal ends in a wide open lagoon, and this is the view of San Marco and Doge's Palace from the boat.

 

 Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, built around 1610, on an island in the lagoon, .

The boat ride put the babies to sleep.

 The whole city was beautiful, even the lamp posts.

 

 

 The side view of San Marco, with the palace on the right.

 

 The front door of San Marco.

Later, we went to the lagoon island of Murano.  This island is known for its glass blowing.  The shops lining the canal were full of chandeliers, vases, jewelry, flowers, and figurines, all beautifully handcrafted in glass.

 

 Yes, that's Ben in the bubble.

That night we had dinner right on the Grand Canal, and finished the night with a gondola ride.  The gondola ride was so much fun.  We started in the Grand Canal near the Rialto Bridge, the busiest section of water.  I was a little nervous because the gondola was so small compared to all the other motorized boats and water taxis, but our gondolier was quite capable.  He also spoke English, and was able to give us a nice little tour as we glided along.  We soon turned off into a small canal.  It looked like a painting (sigh).  We didn’t get many good pictures during the gondola ride because we opted for the more romantic night version, but I think it was the highlight of our trip.

 

 

 Our gondola ride.

 

Sunday morning, we had a little time to walk around before we had to catch our train back home.  Laura and Jeff continued on to Rome and Florence.  We still felt like we were on a boat for several days.  It was a unique, interesting, and beautiful city, and we would love to go back someday, but not with a stroller.