DAY #1:  WOW, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CITY

What an interesting day yesterday traveling from Salzburg to Venice.  The train ride was an absolute pleasure to our eyes and riding through mountains was incredible.  The peaks and valleys to the villages and to church steeples standing in the middle of these villages.  Everything is go green and lush here.

We spent 7 hours on the train and the kids did wonderful.  We played card games, watched movies and they did some of Summer Skills from their text books.  Ryan danced a lot from his iPod and Ashley listened to hers outside our Hogwarts Train Cabin as she watched the Italian landscape pass by.  Once we arrived, the Venice Train station is very simple and we proceeded outside towards the Grand Canal.  As Indiana Jones said in the Last Crusade Movie, “Ahh, Venice”.

We sure got our exercise yesterday and climbed about 700+ stairs with luggage getting our hotel.  If you’ve been to Venice, one can easily get lost and find yourself staring down an open street only to find out after walking down only 20 yards it turns into a dead-end street.  Venice is one big maze and it’s fun to walk to around.  We’re staying at this quaint hotel called Palazzo Odini and it took us while to find it.  We ran into a person named “Bob from Connecticut” who showed us a map and we got back on track.  He recommended a very nice restaurant called “Antico Gafallo” and boy was it good!  Guess what Ryan had for dinner? That’s right, PIZZA.  Ashley had spaghetti and I had some Pasta Carbona and Leslie split the pizza with Ryan.  Our first true taste of Italy and our tastebuds will never forget.

After dinner, Leslie wanted to explore and once we turned the corner, we heard this Italian music and I captured it on video for your entertainment and “A Taste of Venice” from what our eyes.

Tomorrow is going to be fun and more Renfro Adventures ahead.  Talk to you all tomorrow.

DAY #2: VENICE IS OURS FOR THE TAKING!

Last night reminded me of Texas from the huge rain and lightning storm that rolled in around 2am.  The nice part about the storm is it cooled everything down and the high today was only 73 degrees.  Tomorrow is a different story.

Venice is such an enchanted, beautiful City with so much history and old world charm.  If you ever watch the Travel Channel and Andrew Zimmerman, he describes Venice perfectly: “It’s great to get lost in Venice”.  And, thats what we did many times today.  You think you find the most efficient way or find a street that you think will take you directionally towards the Grand Canal or back to the hotel, but your only prize are the calories you burned turning back around and walking to find another way.  Matter of fact, Leslie and I took turns asking for directions today and many times we said to each other is “It’s Your Turn To Ask For Directions”.  We hit many Venice Tourist places today: St Marks Square, Rialto Square, Grand Canal, and through the streets of Venice.  We booked a walking tour and thank goodness for the headphones because if it’s “anything electronics”, the kids get excited.  Ashley walked behind the tour guide the whole time and was very interested in learning more about Venice history.  Ryan on the other hand lasted about 30 minutes and gave me his earphones to me---done.  We learned all about the neighborhoods and the most intriguing was how the Venicians collected water and kept safe from the salt water that surrounded the neighborhoods (these guys were sure smart back then).  You have to watch the video below because the kids had so much fun with the bird today and Ryan keeps talking about the birds in the square.  Ashley lost one of her baby teeth today and I wonder if the Italian Tooth Fairy is going to leave money in Dollars or Euros?

There are so many restaurants in this city and after a full day in Venice, The Renfro Family was incredibly tired and elected to go to the same restaurant near our hotel. I had a great Clam Pasta Dish; Leslie went with the Lasagna; Ashley with the Spaghetti and guess what Ryan had?  That’s right: PIZZA.  What’s funny is that we caught our waiter trying to get a “Double Tip” from our bill and I guess he thought he could take advantage of this American Family---not so fast partner and Don’t Mess With Texas!

We’re off to Rome tomorrow and will update all of you tomorrow.  Enjoy the pictures and funny video of the birds in the square.