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March 17th 2007

Published: March 17th 2007

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globetrekkingmama

Basilica di San Marco

We arrived in Treviso Airport at about 5:30 in the evening. We caught a bus to Venice that left at 6:00, and although Treviso is only 19 km away from Venice, the traffic made the ride last an hour, so it was about 7pm when we arrived in Venice. All buses (and cars and other vehicles) stop in Piazzale Roma, the end of the road. Here we found a nice Co-op (grocery store) where we stocked up on cheap bottled water and snacks before heading out to find our hotel. We took water bus #42 (or was it #41?) to the island of Murano and tried to find our hotel. It was dark, and the map I had from the internet (in which I had zoomed in as close as possible to the hotel) was worthless. We found out later that the hotel was on a street that didn't show up on the map. Wandering around pushing a preschooler in a stroller while carrying luggage and groceries is exhausting, but it's even worse after dark when you're lost, and really, really bad when you're in a tangle of canals and bridges. We tried to call the hotel on David's cell

On the Go

phone, but we had no signal. Luckily, David had the good sense to ask me the hotel's address, and we realized we were on the wrong street. Then we decided to wander around, and we eventually found the street we needed. Good times.
The concierge showed us to our room. We got settled in, ate dinner in our room, and went to sleep.

The next morning we ate our continental breakfasts on the terrace and headed back to Venice. We rode the water bus back to Piazzale Roma and then switched lines and rode down the Grand Canal to San Marco. We fed pigeons until lunchtime, and then ate at a nearby café. David had anchovy pizza, Katherine had spaghetti, and I had "mixed fried fish". The fish dish was served Venetian style with polenta on the side. It didn't really have much fish, though. It was mostly squid, which is great, because I love squid. There were also a lot of shrimp, but the were friend with heads and shells still on, so I gave them to David, because peeling and beheading shrimp is too tedious for me, and we were trading/sharing anyway.
After lunch we played with

San Marco

Do we look touristy enough?

and fed the pigeons some more… Because pigeons are pretty much the best things to happen to children under the age of 5 while on vacation, and Venetian pigeons are the friendliest pigeons in the world.
Then we tried to follow signs to Rialto (a famous bridge and shopping district), but we just ended up wandering around and endless maze of bridges and alleyways.
We ended up near Fondamente Nuove and decided to catch the waterbus back to Murano and our hotel for nap time. (June Bug didn't nap, she palyed with the complimentary shampoos and lotions while Papa and I napped.) We went back to San Marco at night. And yes, we ate McDonald's for dinner…Because McDonald's is pretty much the second best thing that can happen to children on vacation…Especially when they're giving away free balloons.

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