Originally we had planned only one night in Venice, and with a morning flight out we decided to book a hotel at a Marriott Courtyard at the Venice airport. When we changed our plans to include a second night (NYE), accommodations within the city were scarce and upwards of $400 a night. So we decided our airport location would work just fine, and it turned out to be super easy to get into the city. We had a city bus stop right across from our hotel, and 20 minutes later we were at the canals.
After resting up, we hopped on the bus, eager to explore the city during the remaining daylight hours. As we walked through the canals, we came on to a square where the boys saw this streaming, twirling contraption floating through the air. Being kids, they were like moths to a flame and went running to it.
The owners of the contraption were so friendly, they immediately let the boys both try it and asked us all kinds of questions. There was lots of friendliness, they even ran and got a soccer ball and started kicking it back and forth with the boys! All this seemed fairly innocent enough until the young guy just-a-little-too-eagerly offered "Here, let me hold your backpack!" and put his hand *on my shoulder* to take it. Had I not realized what was going on and backed away, I'm pretty sure this would have been the last moment I ever saw my backpack again.
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| Could have been the last picture of this backpack.... |
Upon reflection, Bob and I were pretty sure the streaming thing was a "lure" that the would-be thieves were using to attract someone. And with the myriad tiny streets that branched off the square, they could have quickly run with my backpack and we never would have found them. Fortunately, I'd been wearing my backpack on my shoulder with my hand on the strap, and Bob and I were already a little on-guard, knowing Venice's reputation as a pickpocket central.
One of my favorite things to do when traveling is talk with random other people when the opportunity presents itself (as it did here). In the beginning, the exchange felt authentic and it was a nice moment. Feeling like the whole thing was a set-up was disappointing, but fortunately we had Venice's beauty to remind us why we came to the city in the first place!
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| Being silly during our walk. |
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| Piazza San Marco at dusk. |
We wandered the streets, admiring the beauty of the canals and architecture. We were also on the hunt for a specific souvenir: Venetian glass. In 2001, I'd purchased a set of 6 hand-blown Venetian wine glasses; over the years and multiple moves, 3 of the 6 have been broken and I wanted a new set. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a proliferation of stores selling cheaply produced trinkets and glassware from China, to the detriment of the authentic glass blowers' merchandise and success. And even though I went in only authentic-Venetian glass stores (identified by Association stickers and also their much higher prices), I was unable to find anything nearly as beautiful as what I have (left). Instead I purchased a small bowl, so that and my 3 remaining wine glasses will serve as our family's souvenirs of Venice from now on.
As the evening went on, we stopped for something warm to drink, walked more, had dinner, looked for geocaches, stopped into the Hard Rock Cafe shop (just to mooch off their heating to warm up) and continued to walk to pass the time until the midnight countdown. The boys were content to run around in Piazza San Marco, which was quickly filling up with revelers, some in masks. The police presence was heavy as well, which gave the festive evening a much more somber tone.
The not-so-fun part of the night's story was that I had a panic attack about 15 minutes before midnight and the fireworks display. Piazza San Marco is completely surrounded by huge buildings, and there is a narrow(ish) passage between buildings that leads to the water. The fireworks were going to go off over the water, so as midnight approached the crowds started well, crowding, into this passage. We were caught up in a mass of people, and as it got busier and busier I started to feel my anxiety growing as I realized there was no easy way to leave the area, even if I wanted to. Frankly, the police with automatic machine guns and people wearing masks didn't help, either, and my thoughts unfortunately turned to the "what ifs" and the fact that I couldn't get me and my family out if there was an emergency situation. Everything culminated in me being a gasping, crying mess about 10 minutes before midnight, all the while trying to minimize my anxiety for the boys so as not to scare them. I didn't really accomplish that, but we made it through, I (kind of) enjoyed the beautiful fireworks, and then we got the heck out of there.
I am not claustrophobic, but this is the second time I've had this experience and I think I've narrowed down the problem. I don't mind crowds, but I don't like feeling trapped and unable to get out, should the need arise. The first time I felt this way was actually at Obama's inauguration in 2009, when my sister and I (6 months pregnant) got stuck in a highway underpass packed with visitors and nowhere to go. With this in mind, crowding into Piazza San Marco with tens of thousands of other people was likely not the best decision, and I'll be more mindful of this in the future.
Moving on to happier memories...after sleeping in on New Year's Day, we went back into the city to take our long-awaited gondola ride through the canals. The boys were really excited to do this, especially Colin, who had just finished reading a Magic Treehouse book set in Venice. A gondola ride was a great way to start off 2016!
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| Colin took this picture, I think it turned out great! |
2 days in Venice was the perfect amount of time for us to wander and admire its beauty. We came home from Italy a little heavier (thanks to the amazing food in Bologna and gelato everywhere), a little more knowledgeable (certainly about Roman history), and excited for our upcoming 2016 adventures!
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