Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

“A realist, in Venice, would become a romantic by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him.” Arthur Symons. Venice… a beautiful city upon the water. A place that is so gorgeous that pictures cannot do it justice. Until beginning to research our trip (which I do in depth before planning any travel), I didn’t even know that there were so many Islands that made up this amazing place! I was oblivious to this and thought there was one island and that was it! Like any geeky traveller, I was sure to learn more about the history of Venice before our adventure began. I won’t bore you with everything I learned but here’s a small snippet.

Venice is the capital of Northern Italy’s Veneto region and is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. There are no roads (so cool, right?) just canals (which are gorgeous) and the architecture is a mix of styles from the Renaissance and the Gothic periods with those iconic red roofs. It’s beauty is only surpassed by its amazing food (if you go to the right places), bright culture, and delightful people.

Why Venice?

In the words of Audrey Hepburn, “Venice is always a good idea”… wait that’s not right. Okay… our original plan was to go to Paris for a week and then take a plane or train and head to Rome for a week (sounds horrible right ha). Wait… I’ll back up a second. Kevin and I had planned to go on a “Babymoon” in late December/ early January to Hawaii before Mr. Linden was born, but unfortunately the timing just wasn’t going to work. Kevin was opening a new store in early January and that was taking up a lot of his time and taking a week off work was just not going to work out. This ended up working out for the better because I had gone on maternity leave in plan for this and was able to get a bunch of stuff done prior to Linden being born. I also had some health issues with Linden so this was also probably for the better (you can read about this in my pregnancy experience blog). We decided that May/June would be the perfect time to travel for a few reasons...

1. Is was right before Kevin’s busy season at work

2. Where we would travel would be warm but not scorching

3. We could plan to be away on vacation for both mine and Kevin’s birthdays (we like to be away for our birthdays and spend time together instead of get togethers or parties)

4. We were starting to feel a lot more settled as new parents and began to feel more confident about travelling with him (see my travelling with a baby blog)

5. We wanted to get Linden on a flight as soon as possible to get him comfortable flying (check out my flying with a baby blog)

6. Linden was not yet on a sleep schedule and was still waking up every 1.5-2 hours or so. So in my mind, it didn’t matter if we were on vacation, or at home, I would still be getting the same amount of sleep but I would have Kevin’s help for two weeks

7. This time of year is great luck for us and it’s never been on purpose. Our anniversary is May 9th, we found out we were pregnant with Linden in the middle of June last year, and we somehow always end going on our BIG yearly trip in May

Once we determined that we could be away for two weeks, I started planning! When I plan vacation, I go FULL investigator mode! It was perfect because I was up nursing Linden every 1.5-2 hours and during those late night feeds I would go on my phone and research where to go, when to go and what to do. Each morning when Kevin would wake up I would have a new plan. “Paris and Rome it is that way we can go to The Louvre and Vatican City”, “Hawaii, so we can have beach time”, “Greece so we can Island hop” “back to the Cook Islands”! Each day I was excited about a new adventure we would go on and I actually think it helped get through those long nights. I was able to daydream in the middle of the night and look forward to two weeks away just the three of us! We narrowed it down to a few different places and I had a list of pros and cons for each one. If you are curious about the other options we narrowed it down to, I’d love to share, just ask :)!

So again… Why Venice?

It’s actually a funny scenario. Kevin and I decided for our six year anniversary (first with Linden) to have a BBQ picnic near The Fraser River. It was an amazing and I’ll write a blog post all about it soon! The topic of conversation for this dinner was “The Big Trip” and going back and forth on our different options. I had been going back and forth through Expedia and TripAdvisor (my go to travel starting points) and I found a diamond. We planned our vacation around finding the perfect hotel for our first big vacation as a family of three. It seemed to good to be true, a hotel called The Hilton Molino Stucky Venice. It hit everything on our checklist. Also, we figured that no matter where we went, we wouldn’t want to go through the hassle of renting a car and therefore didn’t want to go somewhere where we had to lug around a carseat everywhere we went. Enter, Venice, the city of canals and boat transportation. This way we wouldn’t have to worry about a car seat. We could simply strap linden onto us and walk anywhere we wanted and then if we needed to get somewhere further, we would walk right onto a boat.

The Exquisite Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

Location. The hotel was located on the island of Giudecca which is across from the main tourist-y area of Venice. We don’t like being in the center of heavy tourist areas, especially in Venice where there feel to be hundreds of people around you at any time (very important to us with having our three-month-old). This seemed like the perfect location for us as it was private, away from the main attractions, and only a 10-minute boat ride into the main part of town. Which goes to the next section: transportation

1. Transportation. The Hilton has it’s own shuttle boat which takes you from right out front of the hotel to your choice of two stops; San Marco or Zattere. The shuttle (which is really more like a small luxury cruise boat) arrives at the dock every 10-25 minutes and was an ideal way to travel). The cost to use the shuttle was 8 euros per guest per stay which made it worth it for us as we were staying for almost two full weeks and we used the shuttle twice almost every day.

2. The Island of Giudecca. It is a fantastic small island. The people were extremely nice, there were great restaurants and cafes along the entire waterway and it was a great place to explore on its own. When visiting Venice for this length of time, it was nice to return to a more quiet and calm island and leave the hustle and bustle of the main city.

3. Rooms/Views. A million-dollar view! Holy moly did this hotel impress with their view. After a LONG day of travel, we checked into our hotel and the room was incredible. Check out the view in the video below. Not only was the view amazing but the rooms were massive, which was perfect for our little family. The room had a living room with couch, tv, dining table, and an offset kitchen with a fridge, mini bar, sink, stovetop and counter area which was fantastic for cleaning baby bottles and breast pump supplies. The bedroom had a large king bed, TV and a large en suite washroom with bathtub/shower combo and lots of counter space to get ready (and clean dirty baby clothes).

4. The Pool: OH MY GOODNESS! I have never seen a more beautiful pool in my life. 360 views of Venice, beautiful lounge chairs and a fully stocked bar with lots of bar staff. This was heaven on earth (or in the sky).

5. The Restaurants: The Hilton had many restaurants to choose from including Il Molino (buffet breakfast), Bacaromi (Venetian Restaurant), Aromi (Mediterranean recipes with local ingredients), The Rialto Lobby Bar and Lounge, and The Skyline Rooftop Bar. To read more about these eats check out my La Dolce Vita Blog.

6. The Service: Incredible. The concierges were always fantastic and helpful. The bellhops were friendly and efficient, the service at all the restaurants was wonderful and the housekeeping was always clean and quick which we appreciated. I can honestly say this was probably the second-best service we have ever received at a hotel (a very close runner up to The Langham in New York).

7. Executive Members: If you can, it is so worth upgrading to the executive level at The Hilton. It has multiple benefits. Firstly, if they can they will upgrade your room. The room upgrade we received was amazing with a waterfront view of Venice, boats, cruise ships, it was incredible. You could see the amazing view from the living room and the bedroom. Also, the executive level comes with the buffet breakfast included with your stay. The buffet is a fantastic way to start your day whether you are touring Venice, getting ready for your next tour stop or getting ready to hop a plane back home. But, our favorite perk of the Executive Club is that you get access to the executive lounge. We ended up using the lounge a lot. All-day long you can go to the lounge to get a cup of coffee, a bottle of water, juice, pop or snacks (all complimentary). They also serve a smaller breakfast in the morning and have a happy hour in the evening with complimentary beer, wine, and appetizers. It was a great way to have a quick snack and a bevy when returning from exploring the city and before getting ready for the evening.

Something that happened on our trip was that we witnessed the cruise ship crash incident that happened in Venice from right outside our window. It was quite scary. Kevin was awake with Linden and letting me sleep in while he did some work emails. He woke me up and said “I think something is wrong”. I went into the living room and we saw the anchor of the cruise ship dropped and a ton of smoke coming from the tug boat attached to it. We saw something was wrong and it seemed as if the cruise ship had lost control and would not stop. We saw that it was headed right towards a parked riverboat and we were terrified that it was going to cause a major disaster. It was honestly unbelievable to see what we were witnessing and we were just hoping that everyone would be safe. I believe that 5 people were hurt but nothing was too serious. The first video below is a clip of the aftermath from our hotel window. It does seem out of place for these huge cruise ships to be coming through this narrow area and they seem out of place.

Along with all of these amazing details about the hotel, we picked Venice because we thought it would be the best choice for our first big trip as a family. Why?

1. We had been there before and knew we loved it (for more about our previous trips to Venice, check out my bubbles & baby blog), therefore there was no risk in taking our new(ish) baby on this long flight to a location we didn’t like (and there have been travel destinations we haven’t loved).

2. Transportation. I know… it’s above as well… but, Venice is SOOOO easy with a baby. Why? transportation between the islands is done via boat, and therefore you don’t need to be bringing a car seat around with you all the time and when you are on the islands everything is walking distance!

3. Easy access to other cities. The train system in Europe is so quick, easy and inexpensive and we had full intentions of doing day trips to nearby cities including Verona, Bologna, and Trieste. But.. we were having so much fun in Venice that we actually just spent most of our time there!

4. Weather. Going to Venice this time of year (and being there for two weeks meant that we could pretty much guarantee that we would get some good weather, but not too hot! I LOVE the heat, but with Linden with us, I was worried about him being in the heat too much. We were really debating going to Rome but when looking at the potential heatwave in early June, we decided against it.

5. The uniqueness of this city. Venice is one of the most visited cities in the world (more than 20 million visitors per year), and yet it’s unlike anywhere else. There are no cars also meaning no traffic.. unless you count boat and pedestrian traffic. It’s made up of 118 islands which are connected by 420 bridges.

6. The proximity of all tourist destinations. Everything in Venice is quite close which was fantastic because we could go visit a destination, head back to the hotel to put Linden down for a nap and then head back out again in the same day. Speaking of tourist destinations… here are some of the things we did in Venice:

Favorite Things To Do in Venice

• Get Lost! Honestly, this is my favorite thing to do in Venice. The architecture is so beautiful that just walking around is an adventure. The beauty of the surroundings is truly incredible. You get the opportunity to view buildings that are up to 800 years old and the gorgeous beauty of the canals, bridges and the Venetian Lagoon. But, one of my favorite ways to explore Venice is to get lost! It’s really easy to get lost among the different alleys and squares and it is so fun. You’ll find some hidden gems, areas where there are no tourists and then end up somewhere you never even knew when you started. It’s like a big maze and even after two weeks, we would still get lost (and that’s part of the fun). Now, the good thing is that Venice is really small so even if you get lost it will only take you 10-30 minutes to find your way (the whole city is about the same size as Central Park), but it is a blast. One tip, even though the walkways and paths don’t really have traditional street names (in the North American sense), you can find your way by looking for signs on the corners of buildings before major alleys that will show you directions to main attractions (St. Mark’s Square, Rialto Bridge, etc.).

• Rialto Bridge. This beautiful and famous bridge that crosses the Grand Canal is actually the oldest of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal. It connects the districts of San Marco and San Polo and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Venice. This bridge is often considered the heart of Venice is a must-see for its beauty, but also the amazing view you can get from standing on the bridge. Get your selfie sticks (or long arms ready), snapping a photo is a must, but you’ll be joining crowds of thousands who are also trying to get that perfect pic!

• Gondola Ride. Obviously, you can’t go to Venice without taking a romantic gondola ride… or can you? OK… so here’s the deal. Visiting Venice and not taking a Gondola Ride would be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tour or going to New York without seeing the Statue of Liberty. It is a right of passage. It is also a beautiful and romantic way to view the city and its canals from the water. That being said, it’s something you only need to do once, and I had done it twice! Kevin and I both agreed that there was no way that we could top our first Gondola ride on our honeymoon when we had our first sips of prosecco and were high on the early twenties love in one of the most romantic cities in the world, so we skipped it this trip. If it is your first trip to Venice, definitely do it. Definitely get the bottle of prosecco, and definitely find a friendly Gondolier to make your experience even more romantic! As the Venetians say, if you kiss someone under a bridge, your love will last forever… hey, it’s worked for Kevin & I!

• THE FOOD. The food is so good, it deserves its own blog post. Check out my La Dolce Vita Blog for more details on the AMAZING Italian food in Venizia.

• San Marco. Obviously, this is a must, but it pretty much can’t be missed even if you tried. Piazza San Marco is the heart of Venice with some of the best tourist attractions including the Basilica, Palazzo Ducale, and the Correr Museum. I’ll talk more about these below. But, one of our favorite things to do in San Marco is bubbles with our baby (and I’m not talking about blowing bubbles ha!). The architecture and feel of this main square is unlike anywhere else. It is very busy but try your best to spend an afternoon in the square (where there are thousands of people) and try to stay a little later in the day when most of the tour groups have left for the day. It makes for a completely different representation of the city and will give you a drastically different experience!

• Doge’s Palace. When you enter the amazing city of Venice through St. Mark’s Square, one of the first things you will see is the massive and beautiful Doge’s Palace. If you're a Game of Thrones fan (like me), you might even notice it looks kind of what you would imagine King’s Landing to look like in real life. This palace built in the Gothic architectural style is one of the main landmarks of the area and a big reason why tourists visit the city. There are so many interesting things to see outside and instead of the palace. The building is large and the history is vast. An entire t.v. series could be made on the history of this building including its history as a fortress, government building, prison, and a residence. It is worth reading up on the history of this amazing place before visiting. Doing a tour would also be helpful so you could know exactly what you are looking at and the importance of many attributes of this building… you may not even realize at times that you are standing in a prior torture chamber! We opted to do a skip-the-line tour that we had booked through Venice Tours. Long story short, it was not very “skip-the-line”, things ran very behind and we ended up having to leave the tour early. Because of this, I would suggest getting in the line in your own and either reading up yourself about the amazing history or hiring a private guide. My favorite part Doge’s Palace is The Bridge of Sighs. What is so interesting is that it is thought to be romantic to kiss in front of The Bridge of Sighs from the outside but… it has a very dark history. The enclosed bridge use to connect the prison and the interrogation room in the palace. When you walk along the bridge from the inside, you can see the beautiful view of the sea from the window and it is probably one of the nicest views in Venice (one of the best views in the world in my opinion)… the dark part is that this was the last view that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The name comes from the prisoners sighing at their final view of the outside world and saying a final goodbye to Venice. Romance and crime… I LOVE history!

• Museo Correr. This was a hidden gem that we didn’t even plan on visiting. When we purchased our tickets to Doge's Palace and the Basilica, it included entry to Museum Correr. The Museum is located opposite to the Basilica and was given to the city of Venice in 1830 by The Correr family. The museum features many amazing works and historical pieces but my favorite area of the museum was the library. The library contains rare manuscripts and printed works from the early 16th to 18th century and was truly amazing to witness. Some of the books included old law books and my personal favorite; a book on math for merchants! The beautiful rooms including ballrooms, bedrooms, and washrooms that would have been used by some of the most upper-class members in Venice history. A fun experience for us in this museum was that again… Linden had a diaper emergency. We assumed (that like most of the older architecture buildings in Venice) that there would be no family change room. I used my mom’s favorite saying of “It doesn’t hurt to ask”, and asked the front desk if there was an area to change our baby. She wasn’t quite sure and walked us to speak to another staff member of the museum, and then the coolest thing happened. She led is through a secret passageway (Yes! A hidden door), into a private washroom. This place was so cool. We felt super special changing Linden in a washroom that had probably been used only by history’s most prestigious visitors… definitely an unexpected highlight of our trip!

• Academia Gallery of Venice. A little bit outside of the main tourist area of Venice, this destination takes a little longer to get to than the others on my list… but it’s so worth it! The museum is located on the south end of the Grand Canal at the end of the Academy Bridge. The museum is small but has some amazing art and historical pieces. The gallery was built in 1750 (so the building itself is a piece of history) when the Republic of Venice decided to build an Academy for painters and sculptors. The gallery is full of Venetian art from the Byzantine period, Gothic period, all the way to the Renaissance including works from artists like Bellini, Carpaccio, and da Vinci. For me, the highlight had to be the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit. If you can time your visit up with a guided tour, it is so worth it! The tour we did was included with our admission price and the guide was FANTASTIC. He was so well versed in the history of da Vinci and his works. There was not a question that he could not answer. The most famous piece to see is the original Vitruvian Man. I wasn’t able to take a picture as they requested for no photos to be taken, but just seeing this incredible piece in person and learning the purpose and history behind it is well worth the cost of admission (and more)! This is one of the only tours we did where the building was going through a major face-lift and reno, including some much appreciated modern features such as a family washroom equipped with a changing table (something not so easy to find in Venice). One of the most incredible things about this destination was the service and kindness we received while we were there. We had a parenting “experience” as I call it. In the middle of our Leonardo da Vinci tour…Linden had a “messy accident” and I had to excuse myself to quickly change his diaper, entire outfit and…. clean out the baby carrier in the washroom, ha! I wanted Kevin to stay with the guide to fill me in on all the details I was going to miss so off I went with my diaper bag to find that gem of a family washroom to do my “motherly duties”… problem was… I had exited the building and needed to get back in… and of course, I had left my admission ticket with Kevin. Security was more than understanding and let us back in without question (something that was greatly appreciated). Upon re-entering the gallery, Linden became very upset and I realized I was going to have to nurse him now or we were going to have a meltdown. So off I went trying to find an area to nurse my 3-month old… problem is.. IT WAS A MUSEUM. Was I going to have to sit in front of a piece of art from the Renaissance and nurse my baby? Should I try to find a piece of art with a breast showing so that nursing wouldn’t be out of place? Then I remembered, I had seen a courtyard between the two buildings. I found a door that went to the courtyard and opened it… not realizing it was an alarmed door (I need to pay better attention). Again, security was more than friendly about my mistake. So out I was, in the courtyard.. but there wasn’t really anywhere to nurse him. It was just a large open area with tonnes of windows facing into the museum and into classrooms. I was about to sit on the ground and begin nursing Linden or practice my standing and nursing position as I had been doing around Venice, but having a baby who was pushing 17 pounds and carrying my diaper bag this was going to be difficult. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman walking towards one of the classrooms and she looked at me confused trying to figure out what I was going to do. I asked her, “would it be okay if I nursed here?” I quickly realized that she did not speak English and was very confused about my request. So I resorted to using the best fake sign language I knew and pointed to my breast, then to Linden and made an eating motion with my mouth. She then answered with “Si!” and quickly ran into the classroom. I had no idea where she was going until she came back with a chair and placed it on the ground for me and said as best as she could in English “take your time, no problems” with a large smile. Her helpfulness was so greatly appreciated and made me feel so much more comfortable. I was able to nurse Linden back to being his happy self again, and then re-join Kevin for the rest of the tour.

Venice Travel Tips

1. If where you are going is not in the main areas of town, give yourself extra time because without traditional streets and street numbers it can be hard to find where you are going. Even locals will sometimes have trouble finding a destination. So it is almost always easier to find the main attraction close to your destination and find your way from there.

2. Familiarize yourself with the ACTV and Alilaguna routes. These are the public/private transportation systems. It will save you loads. The private water taxis can be very costly and the bus routes will take you pretty much anywhere you would need to go. You can also purchase passes that give you unlimited rides for the length of your stay.

3. Pack light when walking around the city. You will likely be doing lots of walking around the city so you won’t want anything heavy. There are also lots of pedestrians around so purses and bags that are easy to get into aren’t the best ideas just with the sheer number of people nearby.

4. If you are traveling with a baby/infant, baby carrying is much easier than a stroller due to the heavy pedestrian traffic and many bridges, stairs, and tight alleys. For more baby bits; check out my tips for traveling with a baby.

5. Don’t worry about packing water bottles/snacks. There are plenty of street vendors that sell cold beverages (including prosecco and beer-to-go), and it’s not that much more expensive than purchasing at a store, so it’s worth it to get a nice cold drink and not have to carry around the bottle all day. In regards to snacks… you're in Venice! One of the best parts is stumbling into different restaurants to grab appetizers, slices of pizza and delish desserts!

6. Currency. Venice uses the euro. We simply ordered our Euros ahead of time using Royal Bank’s online currency ordering option. My currency was ready in two days which made it easy and convenient for me. Besides, almost everywhere we went took the major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express).

7. Using the Internet. A lot of restaurants and cafes have WiFi passwords that you can ask for, but something fantastic is that the water buses have free WiFi! Speed wasn’t the best but was perfect to upload images to Instagram or send an email or text to friends.

8. Venice is fantastic for children. The sheer fact that there are no cars means you don’t have to worry about them running into traffic (although do watch out for them being surrounded by water), but kids under six years old travel free on the ACTV and do not pay for entry to museums. We also found that most restaurants did not seem bothered at all that we had a baby with us (even the fancy ones). Bars and cocktail lounges also seemed very baby-friendly which was a nice surprise for us. It did not seem like there was anywhere that we could not go!

9. Wear comfortable shoes. I think this goes for any place with lots of walking, but Venice especially. The walkways aren’t always even and there are lots of stairs and bridges. So stay away from the high stilettos or flimsy flip-flops and stay with cute but comfortable footwear.

10. You pay to use public washrooms. I know, as someone from North America this is a very foreign concept for us. But it is actually a great idea. The washrooms are clean and well maintained. There is always a staff member stationed in them meaning it always feels safe. So it is important to always have change with you to use the washroom. That being said, sometimes it might make more sense to purchase a cup of coffee or a small bite and use the washroom at the business you are visiting. It will save you some Euros, but will also have you avoid long lines when you can be sight-seeing.

11. Be respectful of traditions/culture/religious practices. It may not be something you are used to, but if you are visiting a church be mindful of your clothing. You are not allowed to wear shorts, miniskirts, or tank tops into churches including The Basilica.

12. Be mindful of tourist traps and cash grabs. Like everywhere else in the world, unfortunately, if someone can take advantage of you, some people will. Look carefully at your bill, we actually caught one of the restaurants we went to trying to charge us for extra glasses of wine that we did not have. Remember nothing in life is free, and Venice is no exception. If a street vendor is offering you a “free flower because you are so beautiful” he is going to try and get your partner to pay for it and follow you until it has been paid. If a bottle of water is brought to your table, you are going to pay for it. Always ask the price ahead of time. Whether you're taking a taxi or ordering something, not on the menu, it is easier to ask the price ahead of time than argue about it later.

So Grazie Mille Venice, we can’t wait to return to your amazing city!