Italy - Day 30 (Venice)

We relaxed around the house the morning, enjoying the beautiful breezes coming in the vast windows overlooking the canals.  We all love being in the great room or the living room together.  Very fun having a piano and hearing Lily play, as well as playing with her doing our amazing Heart and Soul number where we skat about Mandy J

Around 10:45, we made the 5-minute walk to the print screen studio by our house for a family class.  The class was only an hour, but that was the perfect amount for the kids.  We learned about how screen printing is done, the history of their factory that was started by the grandfather 40 years before that introduced the technique to the many artists of Venice, and we each had an opportunity to screen print.  The kids each did a paper print, and Gia, Lily, and I each did a canvas bag while Corey and Caden each did t-shirts.

Caden admiring my new Murano hand-blown glass bead necklace :)

My handsome men!

Lily just looked so grown up to me sitting here.

Caden and Gia playing out front.  Gia had been standing with her arms crossed and her hip jutted out, clearly negotiating, but my camera snap was just a tad bit too slow.

Success!

 We headed back to the house for lunch and spent time relaxing reading and playing games...

After 5 days, they are beginning to know their way around.  Too cute the way they look like they live there.

 

The Venice journal entries:

Aerial view of the canal

By Lily

Caden's journal entry - he drew a view from a side window looking at another house.  His write up reads: Venice is different from Indiana because Venice has no roads, just water.  That is one fact about Venice".  Love it!

Around 5:30 the girls and I headed to one of the piazzas to get our Venice souvenir shopping done.  Masks, beads, lace, and fine linens are the souvenir specialty.

Gia with her screen printed bag she made packed for her shopping :)

Lily modeling her glass pendant purchase

Gia modeling her Venetian fan

We shopped for about 45-minutes and then ventured to a well rated restaurant on the other side of the island touted for having an interesting twist to typical Venetian dishes.  It did not disappoint.

We were a tad bit early, so enjoyed some people watching in one of the little nearby squares.  Amazing all the activity and how the kids manage to play soccer amidst it all.

Love the light as this little girl played in one of the many fountains for drinking as her grandma stood by.

Dinner was great at Antica Besseta, complete with a neighborhood cat milling about, who I somehow did not manage to photograph?!?

Their take on caparese - basically a mozerella soup

Corey's dish titled - Delicates of the Adriatic Sea.  Notice the 'noodles bianco' on the background that Gia has managed to for every meal except breakfast!  She usually accompanies her noodles, as does Lily, with caparese.

He ate not one, but two baby octopus.

A little game of tag on our way home.

Just waiting for our ferry...

Capturing the kids view as our ferry headed back up the canal.

After dinner we took our long anticipated gondola ride.  Just beautiful.

Love this shot!

Goof ball

Gia rockin' the gondola hat

Our gondalier Giovanni...His grandfather and father made a living as a goandalier before him.

After our ride, we found ourselves in San Marco Square (this is where Lily fed the pigeons when she was one and I captured no less than 100 photos of the cuteness);  We made it here by following lights shooting up into the sky.  It was quite late, but we couldn’t resist, and found ourselves the owner of three whirly lights that were the source of the lights.  A rubber band is used to shoot them in the air where they float and flutter about as you try and catch them on their way home.  Even though their lifespan is likely hours, they are pretty cool.

A whrily in action

6 Euros for 3 whirlys = 3 happy kids

On our walk home, we funny enough ran into the family from MN that we met in Cortona (the one who is a cousin to Fr. McGraw at ND)!  We chatted a bit and then said our goodbyes.  I always think friendships are providential when you meet unexpectedly - twice!  Just like with Harj and Neena :)

On the final stretch home we passed by this club that was hopping.  As we walked by Caden burst out giggling about bras, which has replaced poop as one of his favorite things to giggle about, but insisted that there were bras on the ceiling.  We all turned back to check, and sure enough!  Had to snap a photo.  Gia could care less and just wanted to stay and dance, asking how old she had to be until she could!!!  Yikes!

Goodnight Venice!