Venice

We rented a private apartment here. 2 bedrooms, kitchen, lounge and bathroom. (It also included breakfast for us at a nearby B&B) One wall of the building was on the canal and the other on a small lane. We were on the 2nd floor and across from us was one of the local schools. The kids terrace playground was at the same level as us. What a different experience school is for them than for most aussie kids... It was a treat to actually have a washing machine again. Here is a photo of the kids in a couple of our apartment windows (look carefully to see Mitchell hanging out the left hand side of the building), our washing hanging out side, and the canal below. This is a photo taken from the kids bedroom window looking up the canal. Note the coloured railings of the kids playground for the school on the terraceon the left. We were surprised to see just how high the water got on an average high tide. It must be daunting for the locals when they get one of the 40 floods per year.

We all were keen on a gondola ride so the next morning we found one near by and the gondolier took us down many tight canals then onto the grand canal. At some points it was very busy and it had us all wondering how they manage their traffic 'jams' (note both kids hands up practically biting their nails with this blockage ahead) with boats handling all normal amenities which we would presume are done by a truck for us.

We enjoyed a couple of days strolling the streets and continually crossing many of the over 400 bridges in this beautiful city. Our visit to St Marks square had us all in awe. For Mitchell it was the bell tower. For Mark (and all of us) the buildings and for Ashleigh and I, the fabulous shops that surround the piazza. Though she tried, Mark did not give in to Ashleighs jests to buy her something at Cartier, Chanel or one of the many other shops there.

This is the view from the Rialto bridge at dusk.

Our last night we booked a table at a nearby restaurant that looked great. It was tiny and had lots of character. Before dinner we went to a bar around the corner. It is very 'ok' here to buy your drinks and take them outside (some 50m away) to drink. Either sitting on nearby stairs or standing around. We chose half way up a bridge. What a lovely night we all had. Many laughs and chatting over our drink and then dinner.