Venice

Experiencing Venice firsthand gives one an idea of the immense wealth amassed by the Venetian traders in the thirteenth century, when Venice was the most prosperous city in all of Europe. According to the history books, at its peak the empire controlled 36,000 sailors operating 3,300 ships and wielded an almost complete monopoly of Mediterranean commerce. It was a very enjoyable day trip from our base for the week in Bassano del Grappa, accessible via a quick trip through the Veneto region on the train.

So many wonderful colors to take in as we explored on foot and via water taxi, such a unique city with a complete absence of any vehicles, bicycles or mopeds. I’ve never visited anywhere that is so suited to exploring on foot. It’s also probably the worst place in the world to take a wheeled suitcase or piece of luggage, as every walkway over water included stairs. A trip to Venice isn’t complete without getting lost once or twice, and we definitely experience that a few times, but Lilia has become quite the competent family navigator with Google Maps and generally did an excellent job of directing us through the myriad of narrow alleyways and waterside promenades across central Venice. We took a water taxi from Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia to Ponte di Rialto to begin our adventures, hitting the rest of our destinations on foot and logging a touch over five miles/eight kilometers for the day.

We weren’t about to visit a new city without having some eateries mapped out, a New York Times’ article on cicchetti acting as our guide for eats whilst walking around the islands. The Venetian version of tapas at Bar All’Arco was definitely a culinary highlight of our day, the seafood-themed bites were all delicious and quite unique in their own way. We couldn’t agree on a favorite amongst the four of us, although the gorgonzola and anchovy toast was the only one of which we ordered seconds. I will say the langostina and cured pepper toast was quite memorable as well.

Lisa also hunted down a fun little detour for the kids: the Libreria Acqua Alta bookstore. A mass of thousands upon thousands of books in every language imaginable, the collection is all stored above street level in containers ranging from bathtubs to old gondolas to prevent them from getting wet when the city floods. I don’t know how the owners keep track of everything, but it was definitely a fun maze for the kids to explore.

Piazza San Marco and Basilica di San Marco were very awe-inspiring to see in person, the intricate mosaics lining the outside of the Basilica were absolutely amazing. Such a grand collection of architecture perched on the edge of the Adriatic Sea.