The Sweet Life of the Shutlers: Italian Adventure part 3

The last part of our trip brought us to Venice. I fell in love with this city the first time I visited it, loved it all over again the second time I visited it, and was excited for the rest of my family to experience this place unlike any other place in the world. I was also really ready to have a break from traffic and driving.

We drove back into Milan -- which was much easier than our initial trip. We dropped the cars off (and prayed they didn't notice any little...scratches... :)) We then hung at the train station for a bit before catching our train to Venice. This train ride was MUCH better-- air conditioning, less crowded, shorter trip). When we got to Venice we had to call the owner of the apartment we were staying in to arrange a place to meet. We jumped on a water taxi and got off at the Accademia Bridge stop. He met us there and helped us make the rest of the trip to our place on foot. This began the workout part of our trip. :) If you didn't know- Venice is not the most kid friendly place. We had Kellen in the stroller most of the time because it was so hot. I had the Ergo too and he didn't seem to mind it ever but both of us got hot and sweaty pretty quickly. So we got real good at lifting the stroller up and down all the bridges (or taking him out of the stroller and carrying him and the stroller). The apartment we stayed in was the owner's childhood home. It was right on the canal and a really neat place. We got in and got our stuff settled and then set off to explore. While in Venice we walked around, visited the basilica and San Marco square, admired the boats and gondolas, and just did a lot of exploring (and eating!). :) We also took a boat tour the day before we left and visited three small islands near Venice. I feel like I don't have a lot to tell about Venice but that's not really true-- we just really spent a lot of time just in the city walking. It was great (although a bit tiring with the stroller).

Thursday morning we got up early and started on our way. We boarded a water taxi to the airport at 8am. The boat ride took about an hour and a half. When we got to the airport stop, we then had a "7 minute" walk with all our luggage (nine bags plus baby, stroller, car seat bag, and purses/carry-ons). Once at the airport, we got in line at Delta. We had a paper ticket for Kellen (his lap ticket) and it said Delta. So we wait in line and finally get to the front and the guy says, you're not on Delta, you're on KLM. (Luckily we hadn't waited super long). We go over to KLM and there is NO ONE working the desks at all. There is also no organized line (you know with the rope things). Instead, there is just a huge blob of people waiting (such a cluster!) and already you could hear the "I was here first, no I was here first" discussion. We positioned ourselves behind some people who had carts with their luggage figuring they could plow a path for us haha. So we wait here for a little while only to have another lady come up and tell everyone that first they must go to the kiosk and print boarding passes. By this time, we're hot, tired, annoyed, etc as was everyone else. Thankfully, traveling with a baby sometimes proves beneficial in these situations and the lady allowed us to not use the kiosk and sent us up to the front to a special family line (funny thing-- Kellen was in his stroller and the girl working the counter was like- you have a child? I said yes and pointed at him and she goes- he is younger than 3? I wanted to say, really? You even have to ask?). Anyway-- this ticket counter we again were faced with issues with Kellen and Geaneen's seats. The girl told us she could only book them on our first flight (Venice to Amsterdam) and that when we got to Amsterdam we would just have to go to the gate and get their seat assignments. We arrived in Amsterdam and of course we only had about an hour, had to go through customs, and landed in C and were flying out of F. Funny story too-- when we were at the passport check, the guy asked me where we were coming from. When I said Italy he said, where is your stamp? I told him that they hadn't stamped our passports (in fact they had not even opened mine or Kellen's-- just waved us through). The guy made some comment about "those Italians"-- hah. Thankfully a couple of us had gotten them stamped so we were able to show this. Once we got through that Geaneen, Kellen and I booked it to our gate. We arrived, went through security again, and got the checkpoint (they were already starting to board the plane). The lady said, where are your boarding passes? I said-we were told to come here and print them. She looked at me and said- sorry- it's too late. I almost flipped. I was like- no- no way am I not getting my baby and mother-in-law on this flight. Thankfully, they were accommodating and got us squared away. We boarded the plane which was WAY WAY better than the plane we flew out of Toronto on. We got settled in and then ended up being stuck on the runway for an hour and a half. A woman had tried to get on the plane who had an expired visa-- they wouldn't let her and then had to find her luggage. After they took all the luggage off and found it, they then had to refuel. The flight from there was super smooth. Kellen did SO well. I don't think he cried once. He just chilled, flirted with anyone and everyone, slept well, talked, etc. We flew into Montreal and by this time had missed our connecting flight to Toronto. Luckily, there was another one going out an hour later and we were able to get on that. Finally after 18 hours of traveling we arrived in Toronto. We spent the night and got up Friday morning and drove the long drive back home. We had an amazing, unbelievable trip but we were ready to get home too.

Kellen did so unbelievably well on this trip. I really cannot get over it. Except, if you know my child, it probably doesn't surprise you. He is the most calm, happy, good-natured kid ever. Dave and I sort of felt like we were traveling with a celebrity. We got stopped ALL the time-- people wanted to talk to him, tell us how beautiful he was, admire his smile, kiss his feet and hands, etc. And he just smiled and rolled with it all. I really feel so blessed to have a child with his disposition. I tell people that all the time. I am so proud of how well he did on this trip. While I'm sad he'll not remember it-- we have thousands of pictures to show him when he gets older to remind him of his journey (and for the record, he ended traveling to 4 different countries-- Canada, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands!)

We lit a couple candles for Glammy in a church on one of the islands off Venice. I thought of her often on this trip and how much she would have enjoyed being there but also how much she would have loved knowing we had taken this trip together in her memory. I am so thankful to my mom for this opportunity and for the memories we made that I will cherish forever!

Here are some pictures of Venice...