Venice

I had a three day weekend last week, so we decided to take a quick trip down to Venice.  We found a good deal on Ryanair and went down Friday morning and left Saturday night.  We did almost no research on Venice before we left so we had no idea what we wanted to see or do when we got there, but we've discovered that we love just wandering cities and stopping at anything that looks interesting.  This served us well again in Venice, except for our arrival.  We took a bus from the airport into the city and got off with no map and no idea how to get to our hotel.  We purchased a 2 Euro map from a street vendor and just started walking.

We quickly discovered that Venice can be a difficult place to get around.  There are no roads in the city, just canals and with sidewalks on either side.  We tried to just wander in the general direction of our hotel, but ran into countless dead ends.  After a bit of wandering and a quick stop for lunch, we finally found our hotel.  When we checked in, they told us that they had upgraded our room to a canal view, so we had a lovely room with a little balcony overlooking the canal.

After getting settled in the room, we went out to wander the city.  The only thing we knew was that St. Marco's plaza was the main attraction in Vencie, so we took off in that direction.  We

strolled for about an hour through tiny little alleys and along canals, stopping to get some gelato at one of the countless stands throughout the city.  St. Marco's plaza is a beautiful square with an amazing church and bell tower, but just packed with people.  We couldn't even find the end of the line to get into the church, so we just took in the view for a few minutes and then wandered through the streets again.  We stopped at a cafe for a cold drink and enjoyed watching the people and soaked up the 75 degree, sunny weather...something we haven't seen much of living in Belgium.  After a quick nap at the hotel, we went out and got a wonderful Italian pizza for dinner.  Then, we purchased a bottle of wine and went back to the hotel to sip wine (water for preggers) on our balcony and enjoy the view.

Day two in Venice was more of the same...just wandering the city, stopping for coffee and gelato here and there.  It was fascinating to see how Venetians handle their everyday tasks with no cars or trucks.  The police cruise the city in boats, even ambulances and mail are boats too.  It's very strange to spend two days in a major city without seeing a single car, truck, motorcycle, or even a bicycle.  Everything is done on the water.  It really makes Venice very unique and charming, since it operates like no other city in the world.

The one problem we found with Venice is the cost of traveling on the water.  Gondola rides were 70 Euro per person and a water taxi (which are beautiful boats by the way) from our hotel to the bus station was 70 Euro.  We passed on both of these and used the "bus" system, but even that was 16 Euro / person for a day pass.  The cost really forces you to walk everywhere, which as I mentioned can be difficult if you're really trying to get to a specific location.

Saturday evening we made our way back to the airport and after a brief delay due to the hail and lightening storm that passed through, we were on our way.  Overall it was a wonderful trip.  Venice was the fourth Italian city that we've visited, and probably our favorite as well.

Schaffer Visit

We’ve got the European whirlwind tour down to a science, just ask the Schaffer’s.  We jam packed our visit with Keith’s dad and Peggy with all sorts of European fun.  After the obligatory nap upon arrival (probably the only real rest they got while they were here), we headed out to the local cheese lady.  She normally is closed on Thursdays but was kind enough to open for us, and we of course made it worth her while by purchasing ten pounds of cheese!  Once Keith got home from work we all sat down with some wine and cheese as we watched a bit of an amazing slideshow they created for Keith.  They had scanned in and organized every photo they own relating to Keith, pictures of his grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., all in chronological order.  It was pretty incredible!  Although it difficult to pull ourselves away from the thoughtful gift, we ended the evening in Mons with dinner at the famous Steak on a Rock.  

On Friday we headed out for a day trip to Monschau Germany, just one of those adorable towns to stroll through on a beautiful Spring day.  It was in this picturesque town that we learned of Jim’s interest in making pictures into jigsaw puzzles.  It’s amazing how many things you come across; flowers, old buildings and window displays that make for great jigsaw puzzle pictures! 

Most of our traveling was done over Saturday and Sunday when we headed to the Netherlands.  Keith and I are both agreed that we would love to retire in the Netherlands, the people are amazing, the Country is truly beautiful and for some reason you just feel relaxed, even when you are running around.  We spent Saturday wandering Amsterdam, from the red-light district to the flower market, to a beautiful canal ride.  Keith and I were excited on Sunday to return to the Keukenhof gardens.  The arrangements of flowers are spectacular, and seem never ending. It’s even more amazing that they change the layouts every year, so it was all new to us, despite having gone last year.  The heavy rain was kind enough to hold off until we were leaving the Gardens.  On our way home we decided to hit the highlights of Brussels including the Atomium, the Grand Place, and of course the Delirium bar with the 2004 Guinness Record of the largest number of beers in available.

Monday Keith went back to work and we headed to Brugge.  Not much new to add about Brugge since I’ve been so many times, other than it remains one of those cities that I love to go to over and over.  I never tire of the canal ride, or the chocolate shops!  We ended their last day here with dinner at a local restaurant and a few Belgian beers back at the house.  We still can’t believe we managed to see so many things in such a short amount of time, gotta love Europe!