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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

Exploring Italy | Venezia/Venice

Last Friday I decided to surprise Sadie with a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants day trip to Venice.

Harper had just left on a Girl Scouts trip to Naples and I was able to put the littles in hourly care on post.

I realized a couple of things:

1. I’d never been to Venice in the year we’d been here- yeah, i know i know. Not sure how that happened.

2. I’d never taken Sadie anywhere for the entire day- just the two of us.

I set up hourly care for C and L, purchased train tickets, and kept the secret. If you know ANYTHING about me, you know this was excruciating.

On Friday after I dropped C&L off, I turned towards our apartment instead of towards Sadie’s school.
I wouldn’t tell her what was going on until we got to the train station. I think she was suspicious of my intentions and she didn’t seem that impressed. HA!

We bought some croissants, hopped onto the train (it was only a 45 minute train ride!) and hit the road. Tracks? Anyway…

Sadie started to get VERY excited.

When we walked out of the train station we decided to just explore. That’s probably the best thing about living in Italy. Instead of only having a once in a lifetime trip…I can come back whenever I want.

I didn’t have to cram in any must-sees or must-eats…we just wandered. And it was magical.

 

 

Every time we saw a gondola, Sadie begged to take a ride. I knew we were going to take one…I was just picky about choosing the gondolier. I wanted it to be a fun, non cheesy experience. No, that’s not right. I wanted the right kind of cheesy!

Meet Guila the gondala. And her captain, Stefano. This is one of my all-time favorite Italy stories.

Stefano and I had a hilarious conversation. All in Italian and I have to say I’m pretty proud of myself. A year ago I couldn’t have had this experience and I wouldn’t have had this story to tell.

I asked Stefano who Monica was.

He told me it was his mama. I said…You don’t have a wife? And he said…oh I have a wife, but I’m not putting her name on Guilia.

Mammas are forever. Wives do not last.

BAHAHAHAH! Such a typical comment from an Italian man. I about fell out of the boat!

Here are some things we saw on our gondola ride. Yes, Stefano sang to us. Sadie was simultaneously mortified and intrigued. I,of course, ate it right up.

We ended our gondola ride and set off to find St. Mark’s Square. Jimmy? Is the navigator in this relationship. And he was not there.

Let’s just say we got lost. Very lost. But that whole wandering/no stress thing worked. We eventually found it. Ask anyone how to get to St. Mark’s and they’ll tell you to follow the signs.

Please note that the streets of Venice are VERY narrow and winding. There are many bridges to cross and many corners to turn.

At first the signs looked like this:

Then they started to look more like this. Oh my. They got smaller and smaller. Pretty sure I saw one on a post-it.

We stopped along the way for some shopping:

We finally found the square. We chased some pigeons, did a tiny bit of sightseeing…


Had a quick lunch, and then caught the train home. Despite what this photo might have you believe- Sadie had an AMAZING time. In this photo we were standing on a bridge and every single time the lady would try to take our pic…about 20 tourists would pass in front of her. HA! Sadie was not amused. Obviously.

It was such a special day. I loved spending time with sweet Sadie. I want to be able to do one on one trips more often. It takes effort, but it always pays off.

And Venice? Stole my heart. I cannot WAIT to go back!

Ciao Y’all!

xoxo

S

Comments

  1. Stephanie, Venice is, I dare say, the most magical city in the world. You and Jimmy must got ALONE sometime for a romantic getaway. It’s just stunning everywhere. But even for kids the sights are amazing, colors bright, and so much fun!! So glad you finally made it. Go back often – it’s never the same.

  2. I am in awe!! It is so beautiful over there!! I am glad you got away for some one on one time with Miss Sadie. 🙂 I too try to do that with each of my kids once in awhile. That last photo.. made me giggle. LOL

  4. What an amazing memory for you both! Awesome surprise for sweet Sadie! You are a fantastic Mama!!

  5. It’s hard to believe that you were able to go on a 45 min train trip and end up in Venice and even harder to believe that you hadn’t done it until now!
    How special for Sadie to spend some one on one time with her Mamma. IN VENICE!!! 🙂

  6. LOVE that you did the day trip, so special for Sadie! I love having one on one time with my girls – and you get to do it in ITALY!!!

  9. Kudos for your Italian conversation. You’re a great example of an adventurer for your girls.

  10. I’ve been waiting and waiting for your impression of Venice.
    I TOTALLY agree with one on one time with the kiddos. I’ve had the best adventures when I’ve set off with just one of mine. My husband does it too.
    Great photos!!!

  13. This is absolutely amazing! What an awesome memory for you two to share! She looks so excited! Go to Burano next time!

  15. OK, so first, I can’t even wrap my head around the fact that the destination of a Girl Scout field trip is Naples! LOL! Venice looks magical and exactly how I remember it. I am lucky to have been there twice. Once when I was in high school on a trip with my parents and a second time on a student trip in college. I would LOVE to go back with my husband. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful day with Sadie and adding another item to my bucket list!

  17. Magic! So happy everything turned out so well and that you both enjoyed yourselves. And thank you for sharing with us all.

  18. So great you had the chance to do a one-on-one trip with Sadie – what a wonderful experience!

  19. Venezia is beautiful and it’s only 2 trains hour far from Trieste, my city another lovely piece of North East Italy to discover before cross the border to Slovenia 🙂 I hope we will meet here sometime uh? Xo, Giusy aka Bubiknits

  20. Looks like you had a lot of fun and enjoyed the day!! 😀
    I never thought I’d want to see Venezia (because I lost my heart to Rome and Florence when I was a teenager), but your pics make me really want to visit!!! maybe in fall when the heat isn’t that bad… 🙂 Thanks for sharing!! 😀

  21. I just love reading your adventures Steph! The fruit photo reminds me of the time in Italy I ordered gelato di pesce instead of gelato di pesche. I made the italian man laugh.

  22. What a great trip! I love the gondola story! So true, mommas sure do love and protect their sons. That is wonderful that you have the opportunity to explore the cities in Italy with Sadie one on one! I would love to have fun days like that, but we just live in Pittsburgh (haha)! If I could only get over my fear of flying, you make Italy look so appealing!

  23. What a beautiful place, and so fun you could just wander! Love the gondola story, and post-its….that’s funny! 🙂 Glad you had a wonderful trip.

  24. LOVE all the photos! You have such an amazing eye! I know it’s a gorgeous place, but you still have to be able to capture it, and you’re photos do just that!!
    Are all those photos taken with your IPhone?
    Also – I have a book recommendation for you, since you’ve been to Venice. It’s “The City of Falling Angels” by John Berendt (author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). It’s very good and fun to read since you can picture the city.

  27. Adorable! Just Adorable! and seriously atmospheric! You could cover your walls some day with just these pics alone. sigh.

  28. I have been waiting and waiting for you to go to Venice and take your beautiful photos. THANK YOU! It’s somewhere I SO want to go, but in the meantime, this is the next best thing. It looks like you both had a wonderful relaxed time. And it was no doubt very special for Sadie to have you all to herself. I shall look forward to your next visit there. Only 45 minutes by train, oh lucky, lucky you!

  29. Oh, you know, Harper was at Girl Scouts. In Naples. Holy moly!
    My favorite part about this post and the beautiful adventure is that Sadie was the kiddo that got to go.
    XOXO lady. Miss you.

  32. Oh my word, this just looks amazing. What a sweet adventure for a mama and her girl– what fabulous memories for Sadie! And for you!! I can’t believe that my little girl will be big enough someday to do something like this with me– but it’s going to be awesome.
    Thank you so much for sharing, for letting us “tag along” virtually 🙂

  33. I am green with jealousy that this is just a weekend opportunity! I looooooved Venice and would love to move to Florence with my family 🙂

  34. Venice is one of my favourite places in the whole world, so jealous of your photos – just want to go back. We are heading to Rome in July and really looking forward to it. Hopefully you and Jimmy will get to visit Venice together. Keep safe and happy xx

  66. Love this story; was so fun to read about your adventure with Sadie. So glad you were able to do something special with just Sadie. I’m a #2 in the family and we #2s are often overlooked for solo adventures with mom and dad. I think it is so important that the kids have a couple of memories with their mom or dad that are just their own.