The Smiths do Venice.

So I must admit that one of the major perks of having a husband in sales is the rewards trips that his company offers.  Pardon me while I brag on my husband for a bit - because while there are many things that this man is good at, one thing he is great at is sales.  And this, my friends, is how we got to Rome!

The company takes their top performers on a trip each year.  We have traveled to Maui and Bermuda on this type of trip before.  But when Chris cam home last year and told me that the trip was to Rome, don't you know I was on him each month asking him if he'd qualified yet.  Because let's be honest, with 4 kids and lots of bills, there was no way we were ever going to be able to afford a trip like this on our own.

So God made a way.

And I don't say that lightly.

It is simply by God's grace that Chris was able to earn this trip.  Yes, he worked hard, and yes, he earned it.  But God provided the opportunities and he also provided friends and family who agreed to help watch our kids.

When I think back to all the details that went into planning to be away for 11 days I am simply amazed by God's goodness to us.

The actual company trip was to Rome.  However, we had to choice to extend our trip and so we quickly said yes to that!  We traveled early (before most of his other co-workers) and visited Venice and Florence on our own.  Then, we traveled to Rome and met up with the rest of the company.

These are our travel documents that arrived a few weeks before departure.

Getting the mail this day was super fun!

Finally it was time to leave!  Kissing my babies goodbye was terribly difficult, I just needed to get on that plane quickly or I was going to change my mind!

The 14 hours of plane travel were brutal, but as we neared Italy, we flew over the Swiss Alps.  

Incredible.

Finally!

We made it to Venice!

Now, to just find our water taxi and make it to the hotel!

The weather couldn't have been more beautiful that day we arrived.  And that was a good thing, because it rained the rest of the time we were there.

We found our taxi.

Yep, a water taxi.

There aren't cars in Venice.

Chalk that up to another reason why I love this city.

The roads waterways in Venice are so narrow.  I have no idea how these people don't crash their boats on a daily basis.  I'm doing good driving my minivan on concrete.  Can you imagine driving 4 small kids around Venice in a boat?  Shoot me now.

The taxi dropped us off on the canal next to our hotel.  This is what we woke up to every morning.

Not to shabby, huh?

This was our hotel room.  I won't lie, it was a little small for American standards, but I loved the charm of it.  The walls were covered in fabric and the floors were original wood floors.  Quiet, quaint and affordable!

I had to snap this picture of myself before we headed out.

I won't lie, I do not make traveling look good.

Jet lag is not my friend.

One side of my hair is flat.

Can you guess which side I slept on in the plane?

Bless my heart.

We ditched our bags and headed out to explore Venice.  We didn't take a map.  Don't bother with one in Venice.  You will get lost anyway.

We were a little hungry, so we took Rick Steeve's advice and found the nearest chichetti bar. 

{it's a fancy name for heavier appetizers.  homemade, Italian, cheap - need I say more?}

Then, we just headed down the street to see what we could find.

We'd turn a corner and run into water.

We thought maybe we would try using the map {notice Chris on the bridge} but we soon got frustrated and threw it away.

And so we kept walking.

We turned another corner and ran into this.

St. Marks Square!

No map needed.  Just wander around Venice and get lost.

This was awesome.

Let ma pause here for a moment and talk about fashion.

Italians are very fashion forward.

I tried to be conscience of this while packing.

I made several lists.  Crossed checked them and packed like a champ.

I was so very proud of myself.

Then, we got to Venice and I realized on thing.

I forgot to pack myself a coat.

And it was cold.

So we go to plan B.

I had to wear Chris's Old Navy hoodie.

Don't get me wrong.  I love Old Navy.  But I really wanted to look cute and fashionable in Italy.  bt being warm won over being trendy.

So, check me out.

Ha!

Ok, moving on.

Again, we took Rick Steeve's advice and paid way too much for coffee in the square just to we could sit and listen to the dueling orchestras.

The coffee was expensive, but the experience was so incredible.  This was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.

I had to take a picture of our coffee.  We did after all pay a hefty amount for it!

I mean for real.  Who wouldn't love this city?

I've read several reviews by people who hated their time in Venice.

I think those people are nuts.

That night, we asked some locals for a recommendation for a good restaurant.  We ended up at this little hole-in-the-wall place.  

When we showed up for dinner at 5 PM I think they thought we were kidding.  

Don't worry, we learned our lesson and quickly adjusted our schedule to the 

Italian dinner time of 7:30 PM.  

Silly Americans.

Then, we tasted our first bite of gellatto.  It was everything that everyone said it would be.  

Pure deliciousness.

The next morning, we woke up and the sun was completely gone.  But we didn't let that stop us.  We bought tickets for the vaparetto {public water taxi} and spent the day cruising up and down the Grande Canal.  We stopped at the Academia in Venice and enjoyed a little bit of art as well.

We stopped at a canal-side restaurant and ate lunch.  The food wasn't that great, but see that heater hanging above Chris's head? It was my best friend during that meal.  I was cold and wet, and needed to warm up!

After lunch, we headed to the Venice markets to do some shopping.

We bought a few things at this incredible leather store.

And Chris really wanted to buy the "Santa on a Gondola" wine topper.  I made him settle for a picture of said topper instead.  That hideous thing was not making the trip back to America with us.

On another note, the Italians love them some Nutella.  Maybe this is why I love Italy so much.  Yum.

And apparently Ferrari is an Italian based company?  Either that, or the Italians love them some Ferrari like they love their Nutella.  Ferrari stores were everywhere.  We're not so much into Ferrari {probably because we can't afford one, or fit our family into one - whatever}.  Regardless, since Italy loved Ferrari so much I made Chris take a picture in one of the stores.  

Doesn't he look thrilled?

For our last night in Venice, we decided to have a nice dinner and then visit Sr. Mark's square.

The chef cooked us fresh sea bass.

How do I know it was fresh?

Oh, because he brought it to us raw, on a platter, freshly washed.  Apparently, we were supposed to tell him if we approved of the fish, but I was so shocked that I just stared at him.  Chris gave approval and the chef disappeared.  About 30 minutes later, the waiter showed up with a large pan and asked us if we wanted a picture of our fish,

Um, sure?

We snapped a picture before he carved the fish at our table.

And I must say, the fish was worth all the effort - it was delicious!

St. Marks at night.

Simply beautiful.

And to end our last night in Venice?  Coffee and Tiramisu, of course!

We packed out bags the nest morning and then drug them through the streets of Venice to the train station.

Yes, we wanted to take a water taxi.  But no, we did not want to pay $85 for one.  So, we thought we could do it ourselves.  

We drug our luggage to the public water taxi and paid $12.  

This would be perfect!  We will save lots of money and get there on time.

Wrong.

I read the map wrong {shocker} and got us on the wrong taxi.

Chris looks really relaxed here, but don't be fooled, we were both freaking out.

But you know what??

We made it to the train station just in time.  And I am not exaggerating.  The train pulled out of the station before we even found our seats.

You know the crazy looking tourists running through the train station looking like freaks?

Yep, that was us.

But it worked and we made it on board.

We said goodbye to Venice and headed to Florence.......