Getting to Venice

Our adventure began shortly after church on Sunday, April 17th.  As soon as we got the car packed up and the kids fed we were on our way.  Our first stop was Innsbruck, Austria, about 3 hours away.  Here we stayed for the night in a wonderful guest house situated on the hillside outside of Innsbruck.  After traveling for so long the boys were excited to get out and run around.  Hyrum took them on a hike up the hill to a small playground to get some wiggles out while I put Julian to bed.

The view from our guest house, typical Austrian landscape, beautiful mountains, green meadows and a church.

The next morning we all hiked up to the little church at the top of the hill.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Julian wanted a drink of water from this fountain but we didn't want to take him out of the backpack so Hyrum had to bend way down so Julian could reach the water, it was pretty cute.

Monday, April 18th we left beautiful Austria for beautiful Italy.  To break up the 4 hour trip from Innsbruck to Venice we decided to tour the town of Verona.  There is actually a balcony in Verona that tourists can stand under and pretend it was the balcony from Romeo and Juliet but unfortunately there isn't really any historical connection to the star crossed lovers other than the fact Shakespeare chose Verona for the setting of his tragedy.  We got a bite to eat, enjoyed the sun and did a self guided walking tour of Verona (thanks Rick Steves!)

Enjoying a nice lunch under the trees in Piazza Brà.

Julian loved throwing rocks into the grates and listening for the splash of water.  Hey, anything that keeps him happy and occupied while we eat lunch is OK with me;)

Daddy and Julian outside the Roman Arena in Verona.  

Porta Borsari, original Roman gate that functioned as a toll booth.

Mommy and Townsend enjoy the view of Verona from the river walk.

After a quick stop at a yummy gelateria we were back in the car for the last leg of our trip to Venice.  We parked our car in Mestre and from there took a train onto the island of Venice.  Once on the island we took a vaporetto (Venitian water bus) to our hotel.  The sunlight was just perfect for our first introduction to Venice along the Grand Canal.

The Grand Canal with gondolas parked outside Venetian buildings.

Another shot along the Grand Canal.

We got to our apartment with no problems.  The boys were excited to have the whole upstairs all to themselves with their own bathroom.  We were all happy to be in a clean and comfortable apartment and to start our adventures in Venice.