My daughter and I traveled with a tour group through her school to Italy.  I had never been, but always wanted to go so I think I may have been more excited than her! Our first stop was Venice.

We arrived in time to make our dinner reservation – I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but it was in a kind of trendy industrial, re-done warehouse.  The parents ordered  wine and beer, and we had a set menu of first course: pasta (this was pretty typical of each dinner), second course: lemon chicken and salad.  And then dessert, which here I believe was tiramisu.

 

The next morning we were up early to beat the crowds to the ferry.  As you probably know, there are absolutely NO cars or trucks in Venice.  It’s really neat to not have that normal automobile background noise.  This particular day was overcast which made for great pictures with my big camera:)  But it was a little bit chilly.

We started off in St. Mark’s Square ( 12th Century ) and our teacher told us about the architecture and then we had some free time.  We were told to go exploring- that Venice is full of mystery and intrique with all the canals and stone walkways.  He just suggested we keep coming back St. Mark’s cathedral that to keep our bearings and not get lost.  We also managed to find the Venice Hard Rock Cafe:) but just for a Tshirt.

 

After we were on our own for lunch, we met up to have a glass-blowing demonstration on the “real” way Murano glass is blown.

Besides glass, Venice is also known for their lace-making and masks.

My overall thoughts… I do think I would like to go back to Venice.  I do think I would go in the Spring again, not summer or winter.  And I would plan to stay there and have some kind of water transportation lined up so I could explore more than just the St. Mark’s Square area.

My daughter said she does not feel the need to go back to Venice.  My guess is that, because it was our first stop, the kids were a little uncertain and nervous about all the warnings and preparations we gave on pick-pocketing, getting lost, etc.  The kids got WAY more comfortable as the trip went on… really by our next stop in Florence.  So I wonder if her feelings would have been different if it wasn’t our first stop.

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