Italy Day 4: We're On A Train!

As on any such day of a multi-leg trip, I awoke with mixed emotions of sadness and excitement. Sad because our time in Venice is now in the rear view mirror, but excited that the iconic Dolomites await us.  Our time in Venice was very fast-paced, and although our entire trip's itinerary includes a tremendous amount of walking, the scope of what we were able to see in just two full days seems impressive when I think about it now.  We walked through nearly every section of the city, we ate incredible Italian classics, we took a romantic nighttime walk, we looked at art, we rode on the vaporetto. We really did accomplish everything we wanted to, and we experienced what I think most would consider a successful quintessentially American tourist Venetian vacation.  Our practically nonverbal mode of communication with locals brings its own set of limitations, but they have not confined our activities. Besides, we are both learning that our rusty conversational Spanish is surprisingly useful.

Insert sad face here

With an early 8am breakfast, and our bags pretty much packed, we rushed out the door to the grand canal to take some photos of Scott the Pot, no doubt looking like a couple of weirdos clutching and posing with a cooking pot in Venice. Maybe that shit will fly in San Francidco, but even here, where throngs of the most awkward tourists you've ever seen fill the streets, I felt only a hint of embarrassment. Thankfully, only a hint of embarrassment has never stopped me from doing things before, and the streets were very quiet this Sunday morning.  There was a new, refreshingly chilly quality to the air, as though the previous night's storm had cleansed and purified it, making me feel more awake with every breath.  Our 45 minute sojourn made for a pleasant final morning, and soon, after profusely thanking our host at Ca' Bonvicini for her wonderful and attentive service, we took the vaporetto back to the train station.

Because Scott hasn't gotten out much...

He's been kind of a drama queen if I'm being honest

Tickets already in hand, we arrived a good 35 minutes early, allowing wiggle room for potential naively unprepared tourist situations (ie. misreading signs).  I should have more faith in our abilities, as we boarded the nearly empty train with 20 minutes to spare, but like neurotic mother, like neurotic son I suppose.  The train ride was, and forgive me for sounding like someone who lives under a rock, exhilarating. Like I've alluded to before, I suspect I'm becoming more and more like both my parents, but in this case, I'm referring to my dad's exuberance.  It's not something I shy away from, as Maddie never ceases to get a kick out of seeing me bounce up and down like Amh Poehler's "Kaitlin" character on Saturday Night Live.  Watching the landscape change on a train is incredible, like on my first Pacific Crest Trail section hike going from dessert to alpine terrain, but much more quickly, obviously.  

Train to Belluno

Belluno train station (see if you can spot what doesn't belong. Hint: it's the McDonald's to the left)

One transfer and two hours later and we were in Belluno, figuring out where to wait for our bus ride to Caprile, where we would be picked up by our AirBnB hosts.  Our two hours of down time in Belluno gave me the chance to write a little bit in my journal (that I got in Venice all those years ago!) and listen to my audiobook, Gone Girl--it's no Modern Romance by Aziz, but it's good. I had just enough time for reflection before our bus arrived. So far--knock on wood--transportation has gone off without a hitch, our carriers leaving on time to the very minute.  Very pleased.

She made me buy her McDonald's...

Our bus ride to Caprile was one of the most amazing rides either of us has ever taken. The lush green hills became sparsely forested rocky projections, which gave rise behind them to sharp, dramatic peaks lingering in the clouds. The geometry of the mountains was unlike anything I've seen--it's hard to describe, but the jagged edges, steep faces, and general arrangement of the mountains and valleys was striking and beautiful. I would have loved to ride that Dolomiti Bus for hours and hours--something you can actually do!--as I never get tired of that kind of thing.  Sure, Maddie snoozed a couple of times on and off, but given her track record for instantly falling asleep on moving vehicles of any kind, I was impressed by how awake she was for most of it!  When we finally arrived in Caprile, any anxiety about finding our host was dashed as a friendly woman rolled up in her Alfa Romeo.  She asked, "San Francisco?" and helped us get our things in the car.

Change of scenery!

Ahhhhhhh so awesome

Caught her!

Back to the scenery

Alleghe

So happy

Getting closer to Caprile

Jasna then drove us up past her small village to give us a tour of the mountain zone even higher up, giving us sublime views of Marmolada--the Dolomite's highest point--and surrounding features and landmarks.  She pointed out places to eat, trails to walk, and things to do, culminating in a stop at a truly incredible gelateria.  I know everyone loves gelato, but I just got this feeling that this was some dynamite stuff--I worked in a gelato store for 4 years after all.  When we got to the BnB, she helped us settle in, gave us a tour and left us to make ourselves comfortable, having stocked the kitchen with various goodies.  It's considerably colder than I anticipated, and I think we brought just barely the right amount of warm clothing to get us through, but I think we'll be fine. The picturesque setting is more than we could have ever dreamed of.  We both shared some initial mild skepticism with regard to not having a car to get around such a massive expanse, but reading the myriad maps and brochures she showed us and taking her little tour, we felt more at ease and can't wait to get out and explore!  

View #1 from our terrace

View #2 from our terrace

It will certainly be a fun week, and I can't wait to eat some more delicious food, chat with our hosts, and explore the mountains! 

Italy Day 3: We're On A Boat!

This morning's grand plans of waking up for the sunrise, not surprisingly, never came to be.  In fact, the struggle was very real just to wake up in time for breakfast at 8am. The fact that I'm the more chipper of the two of us in the morning baffles me, but the lovely spread lulled us to our little dining table for some tea and other goodies.

Right out the gate, the weather seemed uncooperative, but that didn't deter us from starting the day strong.  First on our list was a trip to the train station to buy our tickets for tomorrow. Along the way, we poked our heads inside a beautiful-looking church, but seeing the fee to explore, we opted to soak in a few moments of culture through the curtains before the ticket booth.  Call us penny-pinching, but we saw what we needed to see.  We bought our train tickets, choosing the less expensive Regionalr Veloce train over the high speed Frecciabianca, and then waited to buy a 24 hour vaporetto pass. Our BnB host advised we time our 24-hour pass for just before we planned to arrive at the train station the following day. This way, we could ride the vaporetto all day today and  still use the pass to for our final ride to the station tomorrow.  Plus, only a few rides and the 20 euro pass easily pays for itself.  During our 30 minute wait, the rain abated and we explored the nearby Papadopoli Garden, a pleasant little park across the bridge.

To the train station

Almost there...

Once on the vaporetto, we felt almost a little disappointed by how incredibly crowded it was. Perhaps the ride the first night gave us the wrong impression, or I was ignorant for not considering daytime hordes.  Probably a little of both, definitely stupid on my behalf. It wasn't unpleasant, but jammed into the stuffy main compartment was a far cry from the idyllic ride we envisioned perched at the front of the boat with a 270 degree panoramic view of the canal. We were headed to the Guggenheim museum, realizing that we had likely missed the boat (no pun intended) on visiting St. Marks in the early morning. But soon the idea struck me that all of our fellow passengers were likely bound for San Marco, and when I checked the route map, I realized that if we took the vaporetto as it continued on to the island of Lido, we would likely get that perfect boat ride we envisioned.  And we were right! The ride to Lido was absolutely beautiful, and we switched seats on a whim, getting incredible views in every direction from inside and outside the boat. When we finally approached the Accademia stop for our museum excursion, we both nearly considered staying on the vaporetto for the rest of the day and exploring nearby islands.  

San Marco from the sea

All smiles

More pretty buildings

But seeing as how the Guggenheim was one do the few of such attractions that was at the top of both our lists, we forced ourselves to disembark and hired for the museum.  A short queue later and we were standing in front of Jackson Pollack's epochal Mural, and hundreds of other beautiful works of art.  Reading the descriptive placards associated with several of the pieces, I was taken back to my favorite of all my college courses, Art History of Latin America.  The visit reminded me of how much I enjoyed art history and how it brought out the most of me creatively and analytically.  I know that I am, by many standards, utterly ignorant when it comes to identifying periods of art history, styles, techniques, and famous artists, etc., but I still relish the unpredictable way some art affects me and makes me concentrate in a broad but still intensely focused manner. It's difficult to describe, and my yammering probably just illustrates how naive I am on the subject, but I guess the point is to say how truly wonderful those couple of hours were with Maddie, wandering room to room.  Sharing which ones we liked, which ones whose descriptions we disagreed with, even laughing at some whose abstractions had us beyond flummoxed by the connections drawn in the narrative displayed.  All told, we spent two to two and a half hours wandering the museum, and it would have been longer had we eaten a proper lunch before entering. The museum sits right on the canal and we took a lovely break there, but after touring the entirety of the gallery, we soon surrendered to our fatigue and headed out in search of another delicious pizza. 

Taking a short break from the art...

...because this view is awesome 

Pablo

Picasso

It wasn't long before we decided to settle for the absolutely divine pizza of yesterday's acclaim at Birraria La Corte.  The route back would take us through the Dorsoduro area, allowing us to say we walked through pretty much every major area of the heart of Venice. Upon our arrival some 30 minutes later, however, Maddie was growing foot-weary and exhausted, compounded perhaps by the fact that the restaurant had just closed up until dinner time. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!  To make matters worse, while we sat on a bench in San Polo square, a bird decided to decorate Maddie's hair and the back of her shirt with lovely, not gag-inducing, shades of grey, puke-green, and yellowish-white.  That was the straw that broke the camels's back for her, and, cursing the bird that thwarted my lunch plans, I escorted a rather distraught Maddie back to the room a few minutes away.

Moments before the afternoon turned...shitty

There, Maddie cleaned herself up, and suggested I go off exploring on my own.  Not wanting to eat an entire meal before dinner, I downed a few snacks and took off into the unknown between breaks in torrential rain.  Perusing various shops, it is always tempting to drop a few euros here and there on neat little hand-crafted things, like a leather-bound notebook with hand-made paper, but with my parents' cluttered, albeit incredibly interesting paraphernalia ensconced in my memory, I find the will to appreciate these things as I see them.  Instead I strike up interesting conversations with these local artisans, asking them about the process that goes into their work. There are many beautiful things in Venice, but it can be difficult to ferret out which ones are real or fake.  Besides, I don't have the storage space to afford collecting any more trinkets for now.

Dun dun dunnnnnn

As I walked, it became more and more apparent that I would be rained on, hence my donning of sandals.  It was to my delight that not only did it rain, but beautiful flashes of lightning thundered overhead, all in all producing the effect of clearing the most congested of Venetian streets of most tourists. Tramping through the puddles, my umbrella hardly doing a thing in the driving rain, I was happy as could be roaming the streets scouring shops and admiring the bevy of inviting smells emanating from local restaurants.

Went inside this cool church to look at some reallyyyyy old instruments

By the time I finally scuffled through our front door, drenched in several places, I realized how incredibly hungry I was.  Hoping the rain had driven the birds away so as to eliminate any risk of a repeat of the afternoon's events, we sauntered to that same pizzeria to enjoy some home-made pasta and that same glorious pizza.  A rich potato, pesto lasangette for Maddie, and a fried eggplant Parmesan pizza with San Marzano tomatoes for me, a glass of wine to share, and a tiramisu.  Perfection. We have taken to bringing in our own water surreptitiously, realizing yesterday that our refreshment requests were costing 4-5 euros for a small-ish bottle.  Not sure what the protocol is on that, but until I'm scolded or publicly shamed, I plan to carry on cultivating this frugal habit.

In post-pizza bliss, at just the exact right level of satiety, we walked slowly back to the apartment engaged in a wonderful and thoughtful conversation about the pitfalls of the system of tipping servers, which cascaded into a full-fledged commentary on social injustice that lasted for the better part of the next hour and a half.  I cherish these lengthy talks.  Soon though, we knew it was time to pack up, which we did, and then it was time for bed, which we gratefully fell into. 

That sky looks so much like the real one at the Las Vegas Venetian Hotel!

It was tempting to venture out one last time to enjoy a vaporetto ride or the romantic city lights, but we were honestly a bit exhausted.  Considering this was our first leg of the trip, entrenched in a jet-lagged stupor, I thought we did amazingly well for ourselves and saw a TON of interesting things.  I'm going to bed now extremely satisfied with my time in Venice, and j know Maddie feels the same. But now it's time to rest up for the next part of our journey. It's time to leave the city buzz behind us and head north into the mountains for some fresh air and majestic scenery.  

Missing you all...but only a little bit because we're having such a good time! 

Italy Day 2: My Pizza Has A First Name, It's G-R-E-A-T

Forgive the captions to pictures that may or may not be visible to you. I'll sort this out when I'm less tired.

I'm in heaven. Truly. I feel overwhelmingly fortunate to be spending such magical days here in such a beautiful city with such great company. What an adventure!

As tired as we both were last night, sleeping was a bit tumultuous, as would be expected. Maddie sounded wide awake at around 4am, and I grumpily told her to shhhhhh while I tried to go back to sleep, reaching for that elusive window back into dreamland. Neither of us seemed to have much luck until around 8:30am, when our natural circadian rhythm started to kick in. Fighting that urge and putting our intrepid traveler game faces on was a challenge, but nothing our included room service breakfast couldn't help ease!  Rolls, croissants, cheese, yogurt, juice, and hot tea made for a lovely start to the day. 

Yum yum in my tum tum

After snapping a couple photos on the balcony, we were ready to hit the canals. On our way out, our lovely host took the time to give us recommendations for things to do and places to eat, which was much appreciated. Within minutes on our way to the Rialto Bridge, we found ourselves in a lively fish and produce market next to the grand canal. It was warming up and it wasn't long before both of us started wishing we'd worn shorts, but it never got unbearable, so we kept pushing.

One of I'm sure dozens of canal selfies to come

Like I said...dozens

The walk to Saint Mark's Square was expectedly busy, but not in an unpleasant way. The trinkets and shops were fun to look at, and the smells emanating from the innumerable restaurants were enchanting. The lines for the big ticket attractions around St Marks were a bit too long for us to wait out in the sun and broil, so we meandered down the waterfront along to what I think was the place I stayed when I visited here years ago with my family. Not sure. But it was a pleasant, sunny walk, and we eventually decided to cut in to one of the many narrow side streets for a break from the sun. These less crowded, more residential alley ways and canals offered a shady respite from the main drag, and we just delighted in the ambience of it all.  Not much map consultation, just peaceful wandering. In one strikingly in-crowded campo, we stumbled in to a free church where a modern art exhibit was being held. What a neat little gem! It featured artists using recycled materials and the works, which hung from scaffolding in front of the native churches intricate paintings, mimicked ancient works but depicted such robed figures in silhouettes taking selfies, putting up scroll phone towers, and sporting Facebook and Skype logos. It was a very cool little exhibit that gave us both a laugh, and they were really quite impressive.

St. Marks

I've pretty much gotten by knowing just this word and "grazie"...we'll see how far this and some awful pantomiming carry us.

Sunny and beautiful

Fun little exhibit

Duh, Bangladesh = wayyyyyy more authentic Italian

Soon enough, we had worked up an impressive appetite, and aimed for one of the pizzerias our host recommended in Campo San Polo, the second largest public square in Venice, apparently.  Reading its wiki article on my map, you'd expect it to be more crowded than it was, but I guess everyone really does tend to flock and stick around the St. Marks area, as our lunch was incredibly tranquil, with the perfect amount of breeze to help us re energize.  

More please

We've all been there...

Lunch presented us with our first dine-out experience on the trip, and we followed convention and ordered pizza, the easiest and best decision we've made so far. One margherita for Maddie, one with fresh basil and cherry tomatoes for me. Thin, chewy, crusts with the perfect degree of char around the edges. Divine. And as our host promised, prices were more than reasonable for the quality. 

Bellies at just the right amount of fullness, we ventured north to the train station to get the lay of the land for Sunday--I like to do this so I'm not winging it the day of, and it makes things easier.  From there it was a very short walk east to the Jewish Ghetto, a very interesting part of the city. We almost opted for a synagogue tour, but were enjoying our walk too much to stop.  It's funny because for our two year anniversary, I gave Maddie a Murano glass necklace I picked up in a store here. But my indecisive, one might call obsessive, nature meant that the search for a perfect anniversary gift for her was a tedious process. My parents still give me more than my fair share of grief about my compulsion to look inside every store for the "perfect" present. I'm now realizing how much ground you can cover in a day when you aren't slave to such a quest.  Maddie's aversion to decorative souvenir-like items also makes window shopping go at a little bit of a quicker pace.  Between her expediency and my wanderlust, we go at a very good pace. Balance is key.  

Across from the train station

🇮🇱

Walking through the shops of the Cannaregio area was one of the cooler areas, we thought, until we happened upon that symbol of everything you don't want to see while on vacation in a charming historical city: McDonalds.  Clearly I wasn't the only one perplexed by its presence near the canal, as several people snapped photos.  I was curious to find out how much they were charging for a Big Mac--not to consume, mind you--so I ventured inside. I was about to take a snapchat when the feisty woman behind the counter scolded me for trying to take a photo.  What was I thinking? You can't take pictures in plenty of historically significant cultural buildings in Europe, so why would Micky D's be any different? How foolish of me!  And by the way, the Big Mac was 8 euros.  

Just cruisin 

Humiliated over my display of irreverence inside the Holy House of Ronald, and with the heat wearing at our stamina, we looked for the best pick-me-up we could think of, gelato. My dad's heart just fluttered as he read that word, I just know it. Mango sorbetto in hand, we rounded the corner and stood waiting for a gondola ferry to cross the grand canal. We figured spending 4 euros to ride in a gondola (we got ours to ourselves!) across the canal gave us the vibe of the longer ride without us having to shell out 20 times the number of euros. And indeed, it was fun, one of our skippers even singing a little tune toward the end. 

Dare I say, more delightful than a bottle of wine, a summer salad, and the film Chocolát with Johnny Depp...but just barely

Pretty buildings

WE'RE ON A BOAT

Our ferry dropped us a brief distance from the BnB, so we decided to take a page out of the Italian playbook and reward ourselves with a little siesta. We had to have walked over 7 miles by that point, so an air-conditioned nap was definitely the right call.

Nap time ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz

If I'm being honest our "brief" siesta went a little longer than anticipated, but in retrospect, anyone who knows Maddie's napping habits won't be the least bit surprised. After discovering our first choice of restaurant was booked solid for the next few nights, we opted for the nearby Osteria Mocenigo, also recommended by our host. So far she is two for two, as this place was delicious. Spinach and ravioli, black pasta with shrimp and tomatoes, warm bread, and a glass of wine. Perfection. When we left, smiling and full, we walked right into a drizzle, a very pleasant, warm drizzle--like in Hawaii but not as humid. Hustling back to the apartment, we made the decision to stick to our original plan of wandering arguably the workd's most romantic city at night. Armed with umbrellas, we set out toward Saint Mark's to see what more the evening had to offer.

Scott was a little peeved we left him in the suitcase today, so I let him out for some fresh air on the canal this afternoon.

Shrimp and tomato spaghetti

Ravioli please

The walk was pleasant, and surprisingly warm. As we approached the Rialto bridge and St. marks areas the soft glow of the street lights and the plastered walls of buildings made the whole city feel like some sort of enchanted amusement attraction. I guess that sounds a bit cheesy, but regardless, it was gorgeous. At St. Marks the rain really started coming down and ushered what relatively few people there were into the cover of the adjacent buildings and walkways. This left Maddie and I, umbrellas in hand, to wander about the square almost alone at times, marveling at the painted facades and delighting in the numerous small orchestras playing in the square. In fact, at one point as I was alone in front of one orchestra, I turned to see Maddie smack dab in the center of the square, with the entire expanse to herself!  As the deluge retreated, we walked hand in hand around the square, satisfying the romantic in me, watching boat go by on the water, before turning back to call it a night. 

How...palatial...

Where did everyone go?

We couldn't have asked for a better, more magical first day here! As for tomorrow, Maddie mentioned getting up for the sunrise, which I informed her she would likely be doing alone unless I'm magically awake at that time. Regardless, we'll both be here for our breakfast at 8am, before heading to the Doge's Palace, the Guggenheim museum, and who knows what else. Beyond excited!

Italy Day 1: Babies On Planes

I suppose the title of this post connotes a bit more about the day's events than every traveler's--not worst nightmare, per se--but perhaps greatest source of exasperation. You get what I mean, we've all been there.  I guess it was just a baby-on-a-plane kind of day.

That is not to say these two bedraggled travelers haven't maintained a hum of excitement throughout the journey. In fact, I would go so far as to say the positive energy between us is unflappable. But that doesn't mean the universe hasn't tried throwing a couple curveballs--and one incredibly loud, unrelentingly piercing breaking ball--our way.

I'm not sure where to start, I guess I could go back in time a bit and regale about our preparations, but who wants to read about other people packing for vacation, arguably one of the more tedious, albeit exciting, tasks of traveling. Some of the more pertinent parts of the planning process for me included a truly exhaustive search for the best travel clothing, downloading map apps of cities to be visited, dealing with attempted identity theft mere days before our departure, and of course, looking up Air France's in-flight movie options (duh).

Without going into too much boring detail, I'll mention the results of my clothing and map app quests first.  Full disclaimer about my fashion knowledge, or lack thereof.  Faithful readers of this blog know full well that I generally fall into that category of people who prioritize function over form.  Heavily prioritize function over form.  Style ain't my game. Though my days of  I would be lying if I said there wasn't a teeny part of me that chose dentistry because I wouldn't necessarily have to wear a suit all the time.  But alas, for the sake of posterity and my beautiful traveling companion, I felt a duty to seek out those garments that would enable Maddie to take photos with me sans embarrassment while also keeping me comfortable. This led me to what I'm currently wearing, a pair of Mission Workshop Division Chinos. In short, yoga pants meets chinos. They shed water, resist stain, are durable and they STRETCH. Do a little research into performance fabrics, and you'll be inundated with subreddit feeds and blogs detailing these garments made with the active commuter in mind. I won't rehash what's already out there, but for those totally new to this type of clothing, check out Mission Workshop, Outlier, Outerboro, Ministry of Supply, and Bluffworks, to name the handful that I narrowed my search to. 

As for map apps, I have yet to use them as of this writing, but I went with my buddy Rick Steves on his recommendation, CityMaps2Go.  I actually like the app interface, and I had a great time inputting points of interest in preparation for leaving.  The search function isn't a fraction as useful or helpful as google maps, but I just used google maps to help me locate some places and drop pins in the corresponding places in the app. Not terribly efficient, but it worked and I'm excited to use the maps. Indeed, we're putting it to test right out the gate by trying to navigate to our BnB in Venice at night!

As for that pesky attempted identity theft...sigh. It was on my way up the 5 freeway to San Francisco when I stopped for gas in Coalinga. As I tried to fill up at pump #8, I was prompted to go inside to pay at the cashier. In retrospect things seemed a little off, but it was 106 degrees and I wasn't really in the mood to be suspicious.  As it turns out, someone did try to charge stuff to my debit card, and I promptly cancelled the card. Wells Fargo told me they couldn't get me a debit card sooner than 7-10 business days, so that left me without a means of withdrawing cash from an ATM, a fairly useful transaction capability when traveling abroad.  Hours of phone calls and requests to speak to managers later, and we find out they can, in fact, rush ship a debit card. Lies.  Even more fuss later, and I'm waiting for a telephone call from a delivery person on the morning of our departure to hand me my new card. We explicitly noted in the rush shipment request that the delivery person call at the gate to the apartment, as our doorbell doesn't work and we have difficulty getting packages.  As I sat down to my breakfast, still waiting for a call, I decided to go check the mail for the heck of it.  Lo and behold, I find a note on the door. As I frantically call the bank and talk to one of a seemingly endless stream of managers, I notice the time stamp on the notice: it was only 6 minutes ago. I hang up the phone and was out the door in my pjs and running shoes sprinting around my neighborhood, circling a good 10 square blocks before spotting a FedEx truck 5 blocks away. Game on. I chased the truck for another 4-5 blocks down the busy street before finally flagging him down. Entirely exhausted, cranky, and panting, I profusely thank the driver for stopping, finally asking him if he had a note to call me when he got to the gate. "Nope." As I walked back to my apartment, my frustration barely outweighed by my triumph for hunting down my card, I called the manager back. In a calm voice, "I really don't want to be the customer that ruins your day and yells at you, but I just want you to know how disappointed I am with the service I've received. It's been incredibly disjointed, and there's a major communication gap between you and the carrier service that needs to be resolved." Another meager apology. But that's okay. I thank her anyway, hang up, sit back, and smell the roses.  Besides, I got my morning workout in without even planning on it!

Debit card in hand, I picked up a couple of items from the tailor (Eddie of Taraval Tailors is great, by the way), came home, and set about packing.  And the rest of the day was as you would expect. Last minute check lists, paranoia about forgetting to include stuff on the check list, etc.

At the airport, everything started to feel more real. Our first big trip together not spent inside a tent!  We each devoured a mediocre personal pizza and made our way onto the plane. Last minute goodbyes, snapchats, and bitmojis. Don't know what that last one is? Ask my parents. 

My plan was to watch as many movies as possible on the plane. International flights have always provided a great opportunity for me to binge watch all those movies I wish I could have seen in theaters, or those I wanted to see but wouldn't be willing to pay the steep prices to see in theaters, or even those I have only the most remote desire to see (I'm talking to you, Night At The Museum 3).  But alas, my better half persuaded me to join her in an attempt to sleep. And one movie (Insurgent) and one Benadryl later, I was in the that uncomfortable semi-paralytic state that is unique to flying economy on a transatlantic flight under a sedative. Not ideal, but the fact that time sort of whizzed by told me that I was getting at least some valuable rest. This is all despite the two--not one, but TWO--wailing infants flanking us.  A couple notes on this scenario, I joke and complain, but it is no one's fault. I do not blame the child, or the parents, I just shake my head in a sort of such-is-life sort of way and laugh it off.  I will note that the father didn't lift a finger the entire flight to help the mother with their only child.  I was blown away.  Nevertheless, I managed to struggle through some marginally restful moments.  Only once did I get up to stretch, and before I knew it, we were landing in Paris!

Oh, the choices!

Bring on that disappointing airline food!

Bring on the complimentary cocktail (seriously though, I know the last one was sarcastic but this was actually welcomed)

We easily found our next gate, waited, boarded, and promptly took another nap, Maddie's head in the crook of my neck. So peaceful. The last 25 minutes was spent reading our Florence guidebook.  On our arrival in Venice, we disembarked and were met with the realization that we were both doing this on our own for the first time. Foreign country, foreign language we promised we'd learn 8 months ago but never did, foreign currency. It was so exciting! Without too much trouble we navigated our way to an ATM, then the bus stop, then the water taxi, and finally our BnB. It was a bit dark, and scattered passersby meandering the streets kept the city from feeling eerily deserted.  The lack of car traffic lends a comparatively deafening silence at night to other cities. After briefly settling in and contacting our folks, we set about a brief walk back to the water.  I can see how easy it is to get lost, but our map app is solid!  The silence in some alley ways was so palpable, even a whisper felt a little abrasive to me. It was so dramatic that the roller suitcases sounded thunderous to the point that I opted to carry both of them all the way from the water taxi stop to our BnB. But I love it. I'm trying to soak in every detail, savor it, and it's great to have Maddie with whom to share it. Well, and you guys I suppose.

Nap time

Lovin that water taxi

And that's a wrap! Gonna get breakfast in the morning (in our room! Whaaaaat?!), and get an early start on what is looking to be our only sunny day here in Venice!