Venice

It all started on Saturday at about 2:00. I caught the shuttle from the Milwaukee airport to O'Hare in Chicago. The air conditioner was on the fritz. It got a bit warm We arrived a bit after the scheduled time but not bad. Then the driver skipped my terminal. I walked back. Luckily, I had packed for my week in Italy in a backpack. (Wouldn't be the first time I was grateful for that!)

After checking in I went through security, placing in the bins the appropriate items: shoes, jacket, liquids (I didn't check my bag since I knew I had some tight connections), cell phone, etc. Made it to my gate and found a seat. And sat. For a long time. In the sun (windows were full west.) All I could think was that by the time I made it to Venice I was going to look really worn.
It made me sigh. Appropriate for the Bridge of Sighs. At least I wasn't crossing it from the Doge's Palace (which I didn't get to see since I arrived in Venice so late) on my way to prison!

The flight was delayed due to the plane arriving late. Then it was delayed for technical problems. Twice. And that was it-game over-I would miss my next two flights. I finally arrived in Toronto and after going through customs and getting an unexpected stamp in my passport I was put on a new flight to Frankfurt, Germany. But she couldn't print my boarding pass for my flight to Venice for some reason.

Crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Frankfurt. Stopped at the first customer service desk I could find and found out I wasn't booked on the flight to Venice. After some calling around because no one wants to pay for the mistake I finally have a seat on a flight to Venice. I passed through customs again and got a Germany stamp in my passport (I think I might have offended the customs agent when my reply to "How long are you planning to be in Germany?" was "Hopefully, a just a couple of hours." but he stamped it anyway!) and then I have to pass through security again to get back to the gates.
I guess I was a little naive (it was my first time in Europe!) but I didn't really think I would have to do customs and security in each country I flew through. Anyway, thankfully, after crisscrossing the airport I found my gate and made my flight.

I landed in Venice and didn't have to go through customs. No Italy stamp in my passport.

Change some money (another adventure-the ATM tried to eat my debit card!) and find the right ticket for the right bus. I only had to ask around a little:)
It is now about 4:30 on Sunday and I am on a vaporetto watching for my stop. I don't think I had ever been so happy to see these two faces as I was at that moment! I was tired and travel worn and so glad that I didn't have to try and find the hotel on my own. I thought I could do it, I had a map and everything, but I was really unprepared for the little alleys that constituted streets. They smiled and hugged me and gave me a crepe filled with nutella and bananas.

After dropping my things at the hotel we set out to see some of the sights. Elise and Mom had arrived in the morning and luckily knew enough (by then:) that we didn't get lost the whole rest of the evening!

I was pretty restrained with my camera because Elise had hers-it's way better and she knows how to use it! (1500+ pictures by the end of the trip...my copy should come in the mail...soon:) I will probably add and edit each post with more pictures later but for now I am just putting in what I have.

Basilica de San Marco

This picture was actually for my kids, but if you are a Magic Treehouse reader you might recognize the great winged lion that carried Jack and Annie out to sea so they could speak with Neptune and save Venice!
I was too late to get in the Doge's palace but since I didn't spend money on the entrance fee there we decided to spend more money on a gondola ride. Everything I had read before coming pretty much said that gondolas are the most tourist thing ever.

It was but it was so worth it. Amazing. I learned a lot that I have since forgotten about the dates and number of islands and bridges and water depth and flooding but it was serene and peaceful and beautiful and so worth it.
We finished our evening with dinner (spaghetti carbonara-delicious) and gelato (two stops and two kinds:)

My stop in Venice was short. We woke up the next morning and headed back to the train station to head to Florence.