Upon some good advice from the maintenance man in billeting, we decided to scrap our train plans and drive to Venice. The advice was good because HB was able to sleep on the way to and from our destination. In his carseat, of course, because he refuses to sleep in strange places like strollers or in front of people he doesn't know. On the way there, we took the Autostrada. If you've never driven the Autostrada, you should. It's not scary, ok, if you're not going to pay attention to your driving and the rules of the road, it could be, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Autostrada is hands down, the cleanest and most well-kept road I've ever been on. I wouldn't be surprised if there were road gnomes that came out a night to patch pin sized holes in the asphalt with their concrete based spittle.The major downside to taking this road is the tolls- for us €10 each way. (In case you're wondering, the current bank exchange rate from dollars to euros is $.71)
We parked in one of the first parking garages you come to when you cross the bridge. The cost- a flat rate of €26 regardless of how long you stay in the garage. You also have to pay a walk-up teller on the ground floor near the elevator, so remember to bring your stub! We didn't so we had to go ALL THE WAY back up to the tippy top floor to retrieve ours. The garage was packed but I didn't get a creepy vibe from the place during the day so I would probably use it again.
We chose a Monday and still counted SIX cruise ships in the harbor. That being said, there were plenty of people around but it wasn't unbearable. Enough people to make you feel safe but not too many where it begins to feel unsafe. Being that we were so new in country we did not have our baby ruck sack yet and decided to bring HB in the stroller. Yes, we brought a stroller to Venice. We have an Inglesina umbrella stroller which is awesome. It's lightweight and pretty easy to maneuver so it was very easy for us to carry it over the bridges together but eventually Zack just started carrying it himself since I was too slow for him. It worked for us but I think next time we'll try the ruck sack.
We decided for this trip we would aim to see the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and eat lunch, with the possibility of maybe seeing Piazza San Marco. Using our iPhone GPS, we plotted our destination and followed the directions. I must say, the iPhone has some damn good navigational skills and I am not a GPS person.
About halfway from the car we stopped in a random square to have lunch. One of the best things about being in a touristy spot is that they will serve you food when most Italian restaurants are closed (!!!) so we got to sit down at 11:45am and order food. And wine. Wine before noon in Italy is pretty much standard practice so we enjoyed our vino guilt free.
It was a random place in a line of random places and the experience was less than memorable. As rookie tourists we made all the classic mistakes: we chose a place with a man outside encouraging us to eat, we ordered from the written English menu, of which had a photo book companion, at a place with no Italian patrons.
We also didn't understand you had to order in courses so when I ordered salmon, I literally got a piece of salmon and that was it. Zack ordered a pasta dish so he got a full meal, at least. HB enjoyed our time in the square. Since there weren't many people around, we were able to let him run free and chase pigeons. He squealed like a pig and loved exploring the old stones on the buildings. He ate some bread and salmon as well as the fresh veggies I brought for him.
To answer the obvious questions, yes, Venice is beautiful, and no, it does not stink, at least not in October. Maybe at low tide during the summer, but we found the weather extremely pleasant and accommodating.
The remainder of the walk to the museum was pretty easy and the line to get it was relatively short. There was a nice courtyard HB could run around in while Zack got our tickets. For whatever reason this kid loves foliage of all kinds so he wandered around pointing and "ahhh-ing" at all of the trees and vines and was happy to climb the steps to the entrance himself, we me close behind, of course.
Once inside there are two more courtyards boasting some pretty neat sculptures with plenty of room to move around. I'm not going to critique the art for you, but if you're into early 20th century avant garde art, this is the place for you. I did enjoy seeing some famous works but I must say, I really don't get a lot of Picasso. But I digress...
With the aide of one of his favorite snacks, he was quite content to hang out in the stroller while we viewed the collection.
The pros for bringing HB along are pretty much the same as the cons:
Pro- It's small and you can see everything in a short period of time. The courtyards provide plenty of space to stretch your legs and let little ones do the same.
Con- It's small. The exhibition is in her former home and as such, it boasts small rooms and passageways with art crammed everywhere. With a full house of companions, maneuvering a stroller, even a narrow one, is difficult. There is a small veranda on the water. It's not so safe for little HBs to run around but we held him and did enjoy the relaxing views (so I guess it's not really a con).
HB made it all the way back to the car in good spirits, even when we stopped to admire this strange and (I'm sure unintendedly) kinky mosaic over the entrance to a chapel...
and to get a couple of cones of gelato for Zack and me. This is where we made our second rookie mistake- we got gelato from a place with a really pretty looking display. I got tiramisu and Zack got pistachio. Mine was basically whipped cream and it was disgusting. Upon returning home I learned you should chose flat and dull colored gelato. And if they don't have a display, even better. That means it's made fresh and not from a box. So pretty= fake, dull= yummy.
Total time spent in Venice this trip: 4 hours. HB was starting to show signs he was ready to nap and there was no need to press our luck to see anything else in the city. Zack and I weren't done exploring yet so we decided to take the back roads on the drive home. It took almost twice as long since we hit the after work traffic but both felt like it was totally worth it to see the Italian countryside and a few small towns we will go back to visit. For our first trip I felt like this was a perfect length of time for us and HB (since he's still on two naps a day). We got lucky and chose a quality attraction on a day with nice weather. Some important lessons were learned but we didn't get mugged or ripped off. I'm counting this one a win!
Hey! Well done Carissa!
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