There are a few places in the world that are like no other place in the world, and Venice is certainly one of them. We've wanted to take Sebastian there on one of our European adventures since we moved here, so when a long weekend opened up with no school and flights that we could book on miles, we jumped at the chance for a four-night getaway.
The first three nights were in Venice. We arrived on a gray and rainy morning and took the shuttle boat from the airport to our Airbnb. Sebastian's reaction in the first few minutes made the entire trip worthwhile. Like we thought would happen, he was blown away by a city with no cars, where everything happens on the sidewalks and on the canals, and despite a place that exists entirely on tourism, can still feel authentic. For Challi, it was a bit of a blast from the past. We were in Venice in 2006, and the beauty of a place like Venice is that the beauty pretty much remains the same -- just as it has for centuries. That is to say, not much had changed. In fact, from our memory, nothing had changed. We even stumbled upon the hotel where we stayed in '06.
Venice is always crowded, apparently even in October. The crowds were pretty thick in certain parts of the city, especially around Piazza San Marco, but with a little patience, we managed to see all the main sites, including Basilica San Marco, the Doge's Palace, Campanile, Rialto Bridge, Jewish Quarter, and of course, the best site in Venice, which is the city itself. We explored the back lanes and canal-side walkways far away from the main touristed areas and got a true taste for what this city is like. The neighborhood where we stayed was almost all locals, in fact.
Some of the highlights and random sightings include time spent at the cafés in Piazza San Marco listening to the orchestras, some great pizza, a random recording of a television show, canal-side Aperol Spritzs including an Aperol boat, a few extended breaks from the rain with some sunshine, and a gondola ride to finally make up for the ride Challi didn't take in 2006 because of our back-backer budget.
Unfortunately, Alli caught some sort of stomach bug, and despite the fact she toughed it out for most of the last day, that final afternoon was left to Chad and Sebastian. They toured the city together and explored some far corners of the island, and then they enjoyed an amazing dinner together at a place we had made a reservation for on the first night. It was a fun day of father/son bonding and roaming in an incredible city.
The next morning, we walked over to the train station to board a train to Bologna. This was Chad's most anticipated part of the trip because that part of Italy is known for so many amazing foods -- balsamic vinegar of Modena, prosciutto di parma, mortadella, and, of course, the Bolognese ragu to name a few. Ok, maybe Sebastian was just as excited for the Bolognese sauce.
We basically had 24 hours to explore this ancient university town, and we covered a lot of ground. We ate some incredible food. We toured the university. We saw the ancient "skyscrapers" of Bologna. We ate some incredible food. We toured the cathedral. We climbed a bell tower. We walked around the historic market. We ate some incredible food. And we saw enough to know that a return trip to see the rest of the Emilia-Romagna region is high on the list.
Four nights. The reality is, we packed so much into four nights, five days, and two cities that this trip felt like it lasted so much longer. It was a wonderful way to introduce Seb to Italy, and we look forward to hopefully returning soon, maybe next time to see Rome and Pompeii, the top place that Sebastian wants to visit.
Ciao!