Italia...

Warning: This post is photo heavy... and I mean heavy so, don't feel obligated to sit and watch each slide show, but, of course, you can if you want to ;).

We just recently returned from our long anticipated and long awaited trip to Italy with both girls. We had a wonderful time! Sarah was a real trooper, and a great traveler. And, Claudia was just a sweet pea and quite the tourist attraction! Everywhere we went, people would comment on her. It was fun to be able to understand every time someone would say 'che bambola' - translation: 'what a baby doll'. We thought everyone just thought she was as cute as a baby doll, until we heard someone say as they passed, 'ma, e finta' - translation 'it's fake'. They really thought we would enjoy pushing a stroller around Venice with a doll in it... not my idea of fun. One of the older ladies that we stopped to talk to after she admired Claudia, said, "Only four months old, and already in Venice!" - Our little world traveler.

Well, we started our trip in Venice, and it was really fun to take the Vaporetto - a water bus - to our hotel right near St. Mark's Square. Our room was quite fancy, and Sarah thought it was just like living in a palace.

After one night in Venice, we headed North to Gorizia and Monfalcone, where Tim served part of his mission, and met up with friends, and went to church. Sarah had a wonderful time playing with her new Italian friends, and pretending to be a princess in the Medieval castle.

On Monday we hopped on the train to Padova and had lunch in a beautiful park, then took our chances at getting a tour of the Scrovegni Chapel. Our guidebook recommended getting reservations two days in advance, but we forgot, so we just walked in and asked if they had any availability - they did... in five minutes. Perfect. So, we toured the chapel, and then made our way into town to find our favorite Italian Gelateria - GROM. So yummy!

After that, we jumped another train to Verona and stayed there for two nights. We were supposed to meet up with another friend there, but it didn't work out. We toured the famous Arena, and then Tim decided to purchase tickets for him and Sarah to go see Supertramp in concert there that night. No, Tim is not a huge fan of Supertramp, but he wanted to see a concert in the Arena, and that was his only option while we were there. He and Sarah had a wonderful time, despite the pouring rain, and I got a nice rest in the hotel with Claudia. The next morning, we were on our way back to Venice to finish out our trip.

Back in Venice, we stood in line to get into St. Mark's Cathedral (made even more crazy by the arrival of the tide that flooded the square, and forced the powers that be to move the line to another entrance and set up raised platforms to walk on). We had to check our bag before going inside, which seemed like a good idea until, soon after entering the church, Claudia became inconsolable because of hunger, and I had no bottle to feed her. So, Claudia and I left the church early and sat outside with the crowds to have a bottle and a nap, while Tim and Sarah had a great time exploring the church and the museums. There are a few photos below that Tim took of me from the top of the Cathedral - it's almost like 'Where's Waldo' looking for me in the crowds.

By the time Tim and Sarah came out of the Cathedral, the square was totally flooded, and Sarah couldn't wait to take her shoes off and splash in the water, so we did. She hiked up her skirt and shorts, so they wouldn't get wet, and then promptly slipped and fell right on her bottom in the middle of the water - oops! We took her soggy bottom to a nearby restaurant for lunch - right next to a small canal with gondolas going by every few minutes. Later that day we sought out the Gondola repair shop, just to see what it was like - no crowds - and also found the GROM in Venice for some delicious gelato. We also found a little bookstore and bought a fun book of common fairy tales all translated into Italian.

That night, we climbed to the top of the Campanile to get a good view of St. Mark's Square, and then took a 'romantic' gondola ride through the city guided by our new gondolier friend, Paolo. He was amazed and delighted that we both spoke Italian, and told Tim he spoke with "almost no accent, almost."

The next morning, I let the kids sleep in and took a little morning walk by myself along the Grand Canal. I found myself out with the joggers, the delivery boats, and the Asian tour groups - I guess they like to get a jump on the day. When I got back to the apartment we rented, we packed our bags, left them in the hall behind two locked doors, and spent the rest of the day exploring the less touristy parts of Venice, including a large park with a small playground. Then we went back, grabbed our bags, and hopped on the Vaporetto for the last time along with all the other day-trippers on their way out - crowded and hot - and headed for the bus station to take us to our final hotel, right next to the airport.

The next morning, we braved the airport without our stroller (Air France has a 'no gate check' policy, and we were forced to check our stroller with everyone else's bags), and were finally on our way back home.

We had a wonderful trip overall, and are glad we took the girls with us to share in the fun.