the one with the trip to Italy

It's a four day weekend in our house. The man has been traveling a lot for work as of late so we decided to just have a leisurely weekend home.

I was watching Isaac playing video games and truth be told was searching my mind for something to do, so here I am.

I really enjoy writing. Growing up me, my sister, and a cousin of ours would spend hours writing stories of whatever grand adventure we had in mind. So whether or not many people read these, it is enjoyable for me to write and have my memories written down to look back on.

Our trip to Italy was in February. Around that time here in Germany there is a serious lack of sunshine and lots of people get hit with the seasonal depression. It definitely makes you appreciate the sun so much more now that we are past winter and enjoying an unusually warm spring. Looking outside our window right now to all the tall trees and blue skies makes me so happy.

Since it was so dreary and bleak here I was really hoping (and praying a lot) for blue skies and no rain on this trip.

Our flight left on a Monday afternoon so we weren't too rushed to get to the airport. We arrived with plenty of time and I was definitely excited. My husband knows how passionate and sometimes even emotional I get when traveling, and I can see him watching me while we wait to board the plane.

Once boarded, we said goodbye to the grey clouds and as usual, Isaac is asleep in minutes. I don't know how he does it.

It's a pretty short flight to Venice and when it came into view I had to wake Isaac up to see it with me.

God answered my prayers and despite my apple weather app forecasting rain, there was only sunshine. To Him be the glory. I really believe He cares about the little things and is a God of the details as well as the big things in life.

We had to take a public water bus to get to our hotel which was so fascinating to me. Everything there is done via boat. They even had trash boats, which if you've ever seen The Regular Show you will understand the significance.

It was about an hour before we arrived at the dock we needed to get off at, and only a short half kilometer to our hotel.

I'm pretty sure I said "Oh my word, Isaac, I am so excited, I can't believe this." about 10 times on that short walk. Venice was already stealing my heart. Our hotel is on the right side of the picture below.

The next day we got up an enjoyed the hotel's free breakfast while chatting with each other and drinking a few cappuccinos. We both really love cappuccinos. We also watched the canal as the locals started their day.

We travel a bit like an older couple, and are always out and about before everyone else and back in our room by 8. Since there was hardly anyone out, we decided it would probably be a good time to go on an official gondola ride. God had blessed us with another day of sunshine and I just want to praise Him for that.

"I'm riding a gondola in Venice with my husband," I had to tell myself, because these moments are so surreal.

They say if you share a kiss when going under the bridge of sighs your love will be eternal. So of course we had to smooch.

Isaac, my amazing personal photographer, was also very sweet and took some pictures for me.

After our gondola ride, we spent the remainder of the day exploring the city, eating our weight in pasta & gelato, and Isaac getting water all over the bathroom when he turned on the bathtub's jacuzzi jets before the tub was full. We had a really good laugh about that one.

Our train to Rome was the next day, but I had I booked it for the afternoon so we could take our time. We stopped at a few of the shops to get some souvenirs. We always get my parents a magnet, a coffee mug for me, and something for Payge (which this time was a hoodie).

We sat at a restaurant right near the dock and enjoyed another cappuccino and some tiramisu. Isaac had developed a love for these on his last trip to Israel, so he made it a point to try them at every restaurant we went to. It was so nice to be able to reconnect and enjoy uninterrupted time together, considering how much he has to be gone. There were some nosy birds perched outside the restaurant, which gave us a few laughs before we boarded another water bus and headed to the train station.