Take Off Tuesday : Venice

In an effort to create a summer agenda, I came up with Take off Tuesdays. Every other Tuesday we would pick a location within an hour train ride and go explore. This weeks pick was Venice.

 While this city is amazing and brimming with the art and history, making it fun for the kids and within a tight budget can be a challenge. My initial thought was that we would eat our way through, little bites here and there. But fortunately, my constant bout with insomnia paid off, and I was able to find some cool stops that I knew would please the kiddos. 

For G, I found a bookstore with a staircase made from books...oh yes! Not only that, kitty cats lived there. Perfect! It was an interesting experience to say the least. I don't know if you could classify this as a bookstore, more like a hoarders collection of books. Damp and dusty and filled with everything you could imagine, some things I didn't really want to see let alone the kids...but I am teaching them to laugh. 

What could I find to entertain the boy? Tripadvisor, once again, came to the rescue and I came across the Museum of Natural History. Dinosaur bones, odd creatures, and hands on exhibits...yet again, perfect! 

 

Let me first say the I kept the itinerary for the day a complete secret, which drove them crazy. So, when we first walked up to the museum, M was a bit unsure of how cool this could be, he saw the word history and thought mom failed. O ye, of little faith :) The first room was filled with dinosaur bones and I could see the smiles. The next room had rocks and minerals. Ok, so mom is awesome. The museum was a big hit, for all of us. And for less than 20 euro! Might I also add that it was air conditioned and practically empty, which in Venice is amazing. 

Now, what would mom love? Too easy, coffee! I found a place that was touted as having the best coffee in all of Venice...uh, yes please! Today we learned that while tripadvisor is awesome for recommending great places, it is almost never accurate to where the place is actually located on a map. When you combine bad directions with a maze of a city like Venice, you're gonna be doing some walking. So, we finally stumbled upon Torrefazione Marchi (which means roasting brands in Italian), and made our way up to the counter. This place is standing room only and is a coffee lovers dream. On one side is bags and bags of beans. On another is a wall of various coffees and spices. And in the back is where they roast the beans...as you can imagine, the smell is heavenly. I decided I would let the kids try a sip of my cappuccino.

The boy actually liked it and I may have created a monster. But G decided that she will just be a tea drinker. 

We roamed around the city some more, grabbing snacks along the way and getting lost as one does in Venice. We had a fabulous day of exploring and laughing. 

Our souvenirs 

Where will we go next??