after spending a day at my aunt's office in milan, we headed to venice the following day.
have i mentioned here that venice is my favorite city in the world? really. it's beautiful! if you like the old world beauty, rustic, and mysterious...venice is the place for you. i can still vividly remember my first time in venice 10 years ago (yikes! ang tanda ko na!) and my jaw dropping at just how beautiful it was. i am not easily impressed...not because i'm maarte (sometimes i am, tho) but because there's so much beauty in the world that something has to really standout for me to be impressed. well, venice did that to me 10 years ago and it continues to do so each time i visit. there is no other place like it in the world! maybe that's why i love it so much.
anyway, after a 2.5 hour train ride from milan's centrale (pronounce chen-tra-le), we arrived at our hotel in venice. we found a nice little hotel online that was reasonably priced and within walking distance from the train station. they had free breakfast and free wifi (pang facebook syempre!), the hotel capri. note: out of the 3 hotels we stayed in italy, this is the only one worth mentioning! the rooms are small (most hotel rooms in europe are small) but well kept and clean; breakfast was delicious, and the staff very friendly and helpful! if i were to go back to venice, i would stay here again in a heartbeat!
after we dropped of our bags, we found a little restaurant not far from the hotel (it wasn't that good). we went to the murano to watch the master glassblowers at work. after the demo, i was suckered into buying more murano glass pendants and earrings and a glass christmas ornament.
i forgot to mention, during this trip, we gave michelle a budget to spend on things like souvenirs or toys...of course we still held the money but setting aside an amount she can spend helped her make better choices when came to buying things she wanted. she wasn't asking for every cute things she saw...she knew that if she blew all of her money on one item, she wasn't going to get anymore. so with that, in venice, she bought a family of murano glass lady bugs, and a murano glass pendant. (i will update this post with photos).
after murano, we went back to our hotel for a quick nap and then we went to st. mark's square. i haven't been here at night...my past trips have all been day trips so this was a new perspective of the city for me. it was cold and the ferry from the hotel to st. mark's took longer than we expected. after a few quick photo sessions in the dark, we headed to hard rock cafe for dinner. i know! i know! why hard rock cafe when we're in italy!? for the same reason we went to mcdonald's for the kids...we needed the familiar american food for the adults. plus, my aunt and my cousin don't really know much about american food so it was a good introduction for them. we had them try the bbq ribs (yummy) plus all the good for the soul [bad for the arteries] fried food! we all left full and satisfied with our meal.
the next day, everyone else wanted to sleep in but i was determined to have paul and michelle see st. mark's square during the day so after a yummy breakfast at the hotel, we took the ferry (the faster one with less stops!) and we were at st. mark's in 20 minutes. pictures here, pictures there...michelle wasn't convinced that it was worth it to leave her cousin gabri (4 years old) behind at the hotel just to be at st. mark's again.
all that changed after one good natured lady, captivated by my daugher's charm, handed her a piece of bread to feed the pigeons. yes, the vermin of the bird world! ha! as paul and michelle excitedly fed the birds, i was saying a silent prayer, 'please don't let the birds poop on us!' michelle's excitement went over the top when a pigeon rested on her head! all the more i prayed, 'please don't let the bird poop on her!' michelle left st. mark's square beaming with joy! i think this was the highlight of the trip for her and i was so thankful the birds didn't poop on us!
it was another great venice visit for me, made all the more special because now my husband knows why i love this city so much. we headed back to the hotel and proceeded to the train station for another 2.5 hour train ride to florence.
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