Venice Part II

We started the day by attending Catholic Mass, in Italian, at one of the nearby churches to our apartment.  It was very interesting and a great experience.  I had never been to mass before.  It would have been nice to have been able to understand the language.  Uncle Ryan finally arrived mid day which was awesome to be able to show him Venice and his family hadn’t seen him for over a month. 
 
Cole is in to kissing right now.  Not just the cute pecks on the cheek.  Its like these long drawn out “maul you while I kiss you for an entire minute kisses”!  I put this picture in to remind me of his cuteness!  Josh seems to be his most loved Target on this trip as well as always.  He cracks us up. 

Ellie is such a cutie!  Hello VENETIAN model: After reuniting with Ryan we decided it was time to take our Gondola rides together.  We found two Gondoliers with two boats close to each other off the main drag so we jumped on it! 
 
Jared and I had ridden before, but this was the kids first ride.  A Venice must to see the place from the water. 
 
Our Gondolier did not disappoint…..he resembled Brad Pit and is a true Venetian.  He has lived here for over 30 years. 

I love this picture of the Van De Graaffs on their ride:
 
We finally found Hanna’s betrothed Venetian Mask:  It is gorgeous with yellows and blues and golds.  She told me she would know which one was hers as soon as she found it and sure enough after shopping in about 30 different stores with masks, this one spoke to her!  Shopping in Venice is unique and fun.  They have some neat souvenirs.  Jake got a calligraphy set and a “man bag” or an Indiana Jones bag, I got two really neat and totally unique masks, and a wax seal stamp set thing.  Colette got a really neat glass tray and bowl for her house.  In Venice you shop for masks, Murano Glass items such as jewelry and dishes, and leather purses etc.  Its really a fun place to shop.  Every store is unique. 
 
The evening was amazing….you can’t tell from the pictures but the moon was giant in the sky.  It was a really pretty night.  Venice at night is especially nice because all of the cruise ships and tourists are gone and its very calm and almost deserted.  Especially in St. Marks square that is crawling with tourists all day. 
 
We of course let the kiddos play in the Venice flood waters…..its crazy that the water is up to the doors to the cathedral in these photos.  Scientists please figure something out!  Save this sinking city!!

This shot of us all traipsing through Venice with our luggage is hysterical:  WE are off to catch our cruise ship!