Where in the World...Part 1

Well - the question might really be where haven't we been... in the past 11 days we have traveled to 6 cities in 4 different countries. We have had a wonderful Christmas vacation in Europe - definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity. We started out this vacation with the first half planned - a week in a chateau in the Austrian Alps. Craig and Jared had a great time skiing while Katie and I shopped and kept house. Despite the temperatures that never went above freezing - we were warm and cozy in our chalet. From Austria we decided to go to Italy, we could not be that close and forego such a romantic destination. Our original plan was to go to Milan, the closest big city, for at least one night. One the road however, spontaneity got the better of us and we switched routes at the last minute and ended up in Venice!

While we all knew it was a city built on the water, we were a bit surprised that you could not even take your car into the city.. you had to go in by boat. Well, we had no reservations and did not even know where to begin looking for a hotel. So after speaking with the lady in the tourist office at the parking garage we decided to just head in to the city and find a place for the night. The only problem was - our luggage - we had too much! We were not really prepared for our spontaneous change of plans and therefore had not bothered to simplify our packing.. so there were were on the 10th floor of a parking garage in Venice with all of our clothes strewn about as we tried to consolidate our things into one bag per couple. Things were touch and go for a few minutes as the wives were not too excited about consolidating on such short notice in the below freezing temps.. not to mention in the middle of a parking garage. But after a little work we were on our way. We hopped on the water bus and headed for St. Marco's square. We found a great little hotel right off the square and hit the town for some much anticipated Italian cuisine. We were not dissapointed!

The next day we wandered through all the little alleys, markets and shops. We did museums, churches and palaces. We stopped for pictures and pizza and of course... gelato - Italian Ice Cream. Even though it was freezing outside, this proved to be one of our favorite treats. Venice was amazing - although a little on the pricey side - every restaurant charged us for the use of the silverware, needless to say this was not something we had anticipated in the vacation budget! We had a great time and are so glad we made the last minute detour (although it was painful for Jayme to break away from the pre-prepared maps and plans).. as this is a spot we may never get to see again.

So where did we go next - you'll have to wait until we can post it to find out.