L Rizzy's Adventures: The City of Love: Venice, Italy

Our train ride from Como to Venice was quite interesting. Initially in Como our train was 35 minutes late, which would make us 20 minutes late for our connecting train in Milan. In Milan, we were resigned to a later train from Milan to Venice when we realized that our original train to Venice was in fact delayed 30 minutes... we had a shot! So we ran, we dodged, we shoulder checked... anything to get us on the train. When we did board, we found a brand spanking new train with (for once) sufficient space for luggage. We enjoyed the Italian country side on our way into Venice main station.

Getting from the train station to our hotel was altogether more interesting. Venice, for those novices in the crowd, is not only the city of love, but also the city without streets. There are no cars... only boats. So we took a water taxi ride to our hotel... 80 euros. No joke. But... the guy was an absolute magician on the ship. When we approached our docking point there were other boats around. He wanted to pull in straight but couldn't... so he swung it around, and backed it down the canal and into the dock like a glove. Amazing.

We checked into the Best Western (believe it) and Grandmother Molly woman'd the monitor while L Mama and I ventured out some. We had some wine and snacks while enjoying parts of a boat race (America's Cup anyone?). At night we ate at the hotel restaurant which was pretty good... especially if you wrestle with deer over who gets to lick a salt lick. After a good nights rest and quality breakfast, we set out on foot for St. Mark's square. It was pretty busy thanks to the race but the weather was gorgeous. We definitely did NOT enjoy carrying the stroller over canal bridges (more than 20 on our walk there). We then went to the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge. We also searched endlessly for a Gondola ride which we eventually found. After the ride, the driver took us to the shed for a solid 100 euros. Honestly... 20 minutes work, 100 euros, no threat of a malpractice suit, no 9 years of training after 8 years of schooling...??? Stand in a boat in the sun and rip people off??? Sounds great.

So after exploring Venice we had some afternoon snacks at a nice hole-in-the-wall Italian joint, enjoyed a nice playground, and then headed back to the hotel. We picked up a bottle of wine (6.5 euros, best wine ever) and sat out in the courtyard while L Rizzy chased birds, waved at hotel guests, and giggled like a school girl. We feed the ravenous pigeons some crackers and they swarmed L Rizzy like he was made of Ritz and peanut butter. He loved every second.

Venice is the city of love... it is a busy, chaotic city of boats. We enjoyed out time here and tomorrow, after a hearty breakfast, we will train to Florence. Our trip continues, but we will always remember our time in the Best Western.