Road Trip Day 2: Venice

There are certain undeniable advantages to sleeping on a dairy farm. You wake up to very fresh milk, butter, and cheese...as well as homemade pumpkin-apple-pear marmalade to spread over your bread and homemade pastries to satisfy your sweet tooth. Not a bad way to start your day!Jackson enjoyed his fresh milk very much.
Today our destination was Venezia, or Venice as we refer to it in the States. (Dan and I are still wondering why Americans don't call most Italian cities by their true names...ie: Rome is actually Roma, Florence is actually Firenze, Naples is actually Napoli...you get the idea.)
"The Sunken City" is actually 117 different small islands connected by bridges and, more efficiently, by a large network of shuttle boats or the infamous gondolas which navigate the city's canal system with expertise and charismatic flair for a hefty price of $100 or more.We opted for the affordable vaporetti (shuttle bus) route over the gondolas, especially considering we had a stroller and an overactive little boy who would literally jump at the chance to go overboard in search of a good splash.Note to parents: carrying a stroller up and down staircase bridges for 12 hours is tiring......but ultimately worth the experience and, more importantly, the napping capabilities. Yes, Jackson stayed true to form and fell asleep in yet another famous corner of the world.We spent the day getting lost in the confusing maze of tightly packed restaurants, shops, canals, and tourists and we enjoyed every bit of it. Venezia is certainly unique in both its architecture and charm.Jackson's happiness came primarily from waving to strangers, splashing about in the city's drinking water spouts, and chasing birds while yelling "Birrrr" at any given opportunity.Here we are in the very crowded St. Mark's Square - in front of the 11th century St. Mark's Basilica.
And here we are atop Rialto Bridge - it's not a great photo necessarily but it's the best we could do as a self-portrait on a bridge packed with tourists.
While we didn't give in to the temptation to ride a gondola, we definitely indulged in dining canal-side. We found the last vacant table at an out-of-the way spot along a sleepy canal, ordered pizza (what else?) and finished off with what I'm pretty sure was the best gelato combination I've had since arriving in Italy - chocolate and coconut. Yum!I caught a little bit of our experience on video:

Before catching our bus back to Mirano, we capped off our night with one last boat ride through the Grand Canal and ended up meeting a couple on holiday from Florida of all places! It's a small world after all.