Day trip to Venice

As a military family we experience so many ups and downs, deployments, R&R, welcome homes, PCSing, saying “see you later” to friends ever few years, TDY’s, and so much more. So when we PCS’d overseas, you expect there to be a few bumps in the road (stay tuned to future posts, as I continue my story on our first month in Italy), but there are also so many perks. One of the many perks we get to living overseas, especially in Italy, is that we are in a perfect location to travel Europe.

So many places to see, so little time!!!

We will get to experience places most people will only see on vacations or maybe never at all. With so many places to see, I think our challenge has been where to go first.

Where to go, Where to go???

Of course anyone who has ever PCS’d knows it takes some time to get your house completely unpacked, (unless you are a super high-speed, squared away, Hooah wife who has PCS’d a bazzilion times and could probably unpack her house in her sleep the next day) I am not said wife, so we still have boxes sitting in our garage, that at this point may still be there when we PCS again next week.

Drowning in Boxes!!!

Well after awhile you just need to get out of the house, and that is exactly what we did today. One of the many conveniences to living in Italy is waking up and saying “let’s go to Venice today”. When Venice is only an hour and twenty minutes from you house, it makes day trips like this so much fun. So we loaded up in the car and began our way to Venice.

With no more planning then my DK Eyewitness Travel: Italy guide in hand (okay well I may have did a quick Google search, but sssshhhh don’t tell).

We decided we didn’t want to do any of the touristy things on our first trip there, just “get lost in the city” taking back streets to areas that are less crowded. Living as close as we do, we figure we would end up here at least once a month or so. Why not take a less stressful approach the first time and just enjoy the city.

Let’s get lost!

Once we arrived in the city, finding parking was a lot easier than we thought. There are several parking garages right as you come into the area, so we just picked one and parked. Now mind you, I was a bit worried because you have to leave your key in your car!!!!!!!! DH assured me that this would be okay, but not without a few, wait should we leave this in the car, incase it’s not here when we get back moments.



Once the car issue was settled, we made our way out into the wonderful streets of Venice. Our first real view came as we were crossing one of the many bridges.

We spent most of our time just walking the streets, taking in the beauty of the buildings, and history that surrounded us.

The shops that had something for everyone.

The beautiful masks and costumes, reminders that Carnival is only a few weeks away.

Or the vendors selling fresh produce (Remember DO NOT TOUCH!!!!)

Of course when in Italy, you must try the pizza from all areas of the country so of course what was for lunch none other than……..











Wait for it……..

















Wait for it………..

Kebabs!!!!

Oh wait, that’s not right, that’s what DD-C and I had.

At least I think that’s what DD-C had; it seems to have disappeared in a matter of nanoseconds so I guess hers was pretty good.

The other two had pizza, but I was too consumed by my food to take a photo of what I can only assume was good, as there was none left.

After lunch we continued to make our way down side streets, taking in the beautiful views of the waterways.

All in all our day in Venice was wonderful, a bit chilly, but still a trip to remember.

Oh and for those who like me were freaking out concerned about the car, like I was, you will be pleased to know it was safely where we parked it with all contents securely in their place.
So we made our journey home, where DH then lit our first fire in the fireplace and poured me a glass of Moscato.

The perfect ending to a wonderful day.