Europe 2011: First Day in Venice

CONTINUED...

As soon as we arrived at the hotel in Venice, we were given two choices: we could go rest until dinner in our gorgeous rooms -or- we could change clothes and explore Venice. Even though we were tired from our long journey, we decided the best thing to do would be to put on some fresh attire and go enjoy the beautiful day! We all met in the courtyard outside our hotel and strolled off with our trusty leader, Stefania.

Dad setting the kids up with their treats.

Our first stop was to grab some gelato. Bill, the kids and I had never had true Italian gelato. In fact, the only time that I had ever sampled gelato was in the United States and it was very bad; so I was less than excited about trying it again. When we made it to the gelato store, my dad was taking orders for everyone. I hung back not wanting to try any until I saw what the kids reactions were to the ice cold treats. As you can guess, they LOVED it!! Those cones disappeared faster than you could say the word, "gelato." Figuring it was safe, Bill and I decided to partake and, wow, it was perfect! I am now CRAZY about gelato and wish that it was a staple of our diet here in America.

After finishing the delicious gelato (and bellini's for some), we set off for St. Mark's Square. In order to get to St. Mark's Square, we had to cross the Grand Canal over the famous Rialto Bridge. If taking the water taxis didn't make us feel like we were in Venice, then this view definitely did the trick!

Heading up the Rialto Bridge with
Stefania, William, Kelsey and Anna.

Stephen's Family, Mom & Dad, and
the Lummus Family on the Rialto Bridge.

William & Anna taking in the Grand Canal
from the Rialto Bridge.

The ever busy Grand Canal.

Check out the outdoor cafes on the right.

After the bridge and several twisting, gorgeous cobblestone streets, we finally arrived to the beautiful St. Mark's Square. Amazing! Wow! It was so cool, and so beautiful, and so absolutely everything that I wanted Italy to be at that moment. The music coming from the orchestra set-up at one of the outdoor cafes, the gentle breeze off the water, the pigeons flying to people for their crumbs, and the manificient buildings that Napoleon once inhabited and, of course, the great arches of the Byzantine cathedral of St. Mark's Basilica.

In St. Mark's Square

William chasing the birds!

William chilling with the birds.

One of the outdoor cafes.

Window shopping for souvenirs.

We walked around taking everything in, heard a little bit of the history from Stefania, and then headed off on our own agreeing to meet back at the hotel later. After making a purchase of some Venetian glass for the kids, we headed over to what was one of my favorite places in Europe--an outdoor cafe in the square. There was ethereal music playing, the sun was setting (my favorite time of day) and a gentle breeze was coming off the Bacino di San Marco. We found that my sister, Christina, and her family had already discovered this little piece of heaven and so we joined them immediately!

Ahhh! Italy...as it should be!!

Bob living the dream!

I wanted to stay there all night, but we all knew that our first Italian dinner waiting for us. So, the check was paid (oy!) and off we went back to meet at the hotel. We stopped for a quick group picture in the courtyard by our hotel, and then we were off on foot again to a true Venetian restaurant--one not known to many tourist, but because of Stefania, known to us!

On the way to dinner...

On the way to the restaurant--crossing over
yet another bridge!

The table for the "older" people...

The kids enjoying their tiramisu!

Melody & I goofing off after dinner in the lounge...

Striking a pose for Daddy Bill...

Now they're striking a pose...

Still posing...

The girls with Papa leaving the restaurant after dinner!
Bob is taking our picture!

The Italians know how to eat! They feed you, then they feed you some more, then they feed you some more after that, and then they feed you dessert. We were all stuffed by the time dinner ended! But, as you can tell by the pictures above, we weren't tired! Something about Italy gives a person energy! However, you know the saying, "All good things must come to an end." And so, even though our spirits were soaring with the excitement of being in Italy together as a family, we all decided to head back to the hotel to rest ourselves for our next day in Venice and Verona.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Europe 2011: Getting to Venice

This has really been a difficult post to write--mainly because it has been difficult to put into words what we saw, experienced and felt a couple of weeks ago. So, while I know this won't give the trip the justice it deserves, this is my feeble attempt at sharing with you an amazing journey.

Our family trip to Italy (that's been in the works for two years) finally happened this last June/July--and it was definitely worth the wait! For those of you out of the loop, my parents (David & Sue Cain) decided to put together a trip to Italy for all their children and grandchildren (a group of twenty).

Mom and Dad spent many, many hours agonizing over the cities to visit, sights to see, hotels to stay in, restaurants with the best cuisine in which to eat, the various modes of transportation (airplanes, water-taxis, coach bus, train, boats and minivans/cars) and, finally, the decision of who would be our guide once in the beautiful country of Italia. Without a doubt, those many hours paid off! I would not be exaggerating to say that they planned the BEST tour of Italy ever!! In fact, I seriously think that if they wanted to, my parents could do this professionally.

View of Venice from the plane.

It was decided that our first destination would be Venice, beautiful Venice. But, first, we had to travel across the pond. Our large group met at the Nashville Airport one Friday morning wearing our red shirts. Red shirts? Yes, in order to ensure that we wouldn't lose someone, we all wore red shirts specially designed for our family trip. It achieved what we had hoped for--we were quite the spectacle--a mob of twenty people all wearing red is hard not to notice! From BNA, we traveled to Chicago to catch a plane to London.

Nashville Airport

Grandkids tackled my mom as soon
as they saw her!

In London airport--wearing our red!

After arriving in London, we met up with Mom and Dad who had traveled the previous day, and found our gate for our British Airways flight to Venice. (Side note: Mom really knows how to pick 'em...we flew with a celebrity on this flight. Two rows in front of me was Matthew Morrison from Glee.)

I don't watch the show, but I kept looking at this guy and thinking that he looked familiar. Finally, I was able to place him when he picked up his Glee Cast bag. I received further conformation, when upon landing my niece, Melody, ran up to my aisle and hit me in the ribs and said, "Hey, that's the guy from Glee. Cool!"

After making it through Customs, we were promptly met outside by our tour guide, Stefania. Not to mention the four glorious luggage porters she brought with her to carry all our luggage down to the water taxis. I can't express how nice it was to have Stefania there taking care of all our needs because we were beyond tired and we really just needed someone to pull us along and take us to where we were supposed to go.

Stefania explaining the plan.

The water taxis pulling up.

Christina & Stephen's crews boarding their taxi.

Racing with Stephen and Christina's taxi to our hotel.

Now they're really into it!!

We were excited to arrive at our gorgeous and quintessential Italian hotel. It did not disappoint! My favorite aspect of the hotel was that every window in the room opened to cobblestone passageways and showcased Italian flats with colorful window boxes. It was perfect!!

Outside our hotel an hour after arriving.

TO BE CONTINUED...