When Mom was a teenager and a budding artist, she read "The Agony and the Ecstacy" in middle school. Since then, it's been her lifelong dream to go to Italy and see all of the world famous art there, specifically "The David". Well with all the typical constraints life brings, a trip to Italy never materialized. So when she was diagnosed with cancer in September 2018, we all pushed for a trip. We tried twice, and it was always pushed aside for one reason or another. Us kids kind of gave up on the dream. But in the summer of 2021, Jenn stumbled upon a great deal for a tour and plane tickets. It started out with just a few children and Mom, but sooner than later, all of us kids and our spouses and Dad jumped on board too. So in November 2021 over Thanksgiving, we had a once in a lifetime trip to Italy. I'll never forget it. It was absolutely incredible.
After many long flights, we landed in Venice. It was completely surreal to get off the plane, and have to rent a water taxi to get to our hotel. It was just like all the pictures and movies I've seen. Small cobblestone streets, bridges everywhere, quaint corner cafes, flower boxes outside windows, clotheslines stretched between buildings, ancient church bells ringing....ahhh take me back!
Our hotel was right on the grand canal. We had dinner in the hotel and then spent the rest of the evening meandering through the streets and pinching ourselves.
The next day, we enjoyed an outing to the nearby island of Murano, where they are famous for their glass making. Nothing in the showcase room was in our price range, but the demonstration was fabulous. We also took a classical gondola ride that afternoon. Wow!! They had an accordian player and operatic singer serenade us as the gondoliers guided us through the narrow canals.
Venice was my favorite city that we visited by far. We took a guided tour around the city. We learned about the town squares and how they each had a church and a well. There are hundreds of bridges in the city. Anything built within the past 100-200 years is considered brand new. We also toured inside St. Mark's Basillica. It, like most of the buildings we toured, was huge, ornate, super old and beautiful. :)
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