A perfect stay in the city of water

Posted by Elizabeth. After the first day of rain in Venice the sun came out and the water sparkled in full glory. We stayed in a sweet apartment next to the Giardini Bienielle (thank you Anna!) and enjoyed the neighborhood which was free of tourists and has a fun main street lined with shops, restaurants and bars full of locals. 

Venice has a familiar feeling. The water and air feel the same as Seattle. But the architecture, cobblestone streets and meandering canals are magical. 

The boys and I spent an afternoon at the Guggenheim (you can read Leo's post for his opinion of modern art). I love the museum for it's big open rooms and light filled spaces. It doesn't have the heavy feeling of the other palazzos. Yesterday we explored the city. The Jewish ghetto is fascinating. The Jewish people were kept within the small neighborhood for 200 years with guards at the two bridges.  There are four or five synoguogues within a couple blocks. It appears to still be home to an active Hasidic population who were enjoying the sabbath at the fantastic kosher eatery, Gam Gam (we, unfortunately had cranky kids so couldn't stay). 

This morning Griffin and I strolled along the water to the Doges Palace to see the Henri Rousseau exhibit. A very well done collection of his art and others influenced by his style. Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera, Cezanne, Picasso, and Klee were just some of the artists who admired his work. As we were leaving at noon a cacophony of church bells in St Mark's Square surrounded us. We topped the morning off with Italian cappuccino on a sidewalk looking out to the water. 

On the train to Rome now and looking forward to sandal weather. 

 

Even a baby could have done that

Posted by Leo. Here in Venice everything is pretty with canals all over and gondolas going by. Gondolas are skinny long boats that skim on the surface of the water. So far I’ve seen many great sights. At a bookstore there were gondolas used as bookshelves and the door at the back opened up to a canal where you could sit and read at the water side. But when a boat went by you got a little surprise.

We went to the Peggy Guggenheim museum yesterday. There were a few good pieces but I don’t really enjoy art as you know. Compared to the art in the Uffizi museum it was much more modern with just a bunch of splashes of paint. There was one painting with a background of red paint and up front there was blue paint. It was called Red and Blue. I think even a baby could have done that. The Jackson Pollack painting, called Alchemy, was pretty cool because he used a different style of painting than other people. He threw the paint on the canvas that he laid on the ground.

The views of the bridges are amazing and the Grand Canal is stunning but there are only two bridge crossings. That meant a lot more walking.

Locked in a bathroom

Climbed out this window

Posted by Leo. As soon as we got to Venice we took a boat bus to an island. When we arrived I was feeling really bad because I get motion sick. The boat rocked back and forth the entire time. We ran in the pouring rain to the apartment where half way through we met the person who was running to meet us to show us the apartment. When we arrived I was relieved -- soaking wet and pretty mad but for me that’s normal. The apartment is nice.

I really had to go to the bathroom and I saw a key on a table so I picked it up and went to the bathroom. I locked the door and the when I tried to unlock it did nothing. I called out and I could hear people talking about what to do on the other side of the door. I heard my brother laughing. That really got under my skin and I yelled at him to shut up. I was really desperate at this time so I went out the window and I could see the kitchen window but in between was about 7 feet and a 10 foot drop. I ended up jumping out the window to the roof next door and throwing the key to my mom and then they unlocked it from the other side.

Choppy waters on the boat