I have just realised that I really don't post enough pictures on my blog. I will try and start posting more! (including the Venice pictures!)
I'm doing ok as far as not accessing Facebook. But I did have to get DH to have a look at my step sisters pictures today to see if there was a weight and birthday for her youngest son as I'm nearly finished his cross stitch! Pictures to follow!
Only 12 more days till I can go back to my beloved Facebook! So Sad I know!
BTW, Zachary has got a funny rash on his bum which seems to have spread a bit down his legs and one or two dots on his tummy and neck...Chicken Pox? Who knows, but he's just as happy as ever. He's at nursery at the moment and I've not got a call to say to pick him up. I'll see what they say at 5:30!
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Wednesday 17 March 2010
Happy St Paddy's Day!
Zachary sporting his Irish shirt from Uncle Graham and Aunty Sandra and his Irish socks from Uncle Geoff and Aunty Susan. Smiley was wearing Green today as well but didn't want his picture taken. Moose is the only Paddy among us so Happy St. Patricks Day Moose!
Saturday 13 March 2010
Venice - The LONG version!
This weekend we went to Venice. It was nice to get away and finally see a place that has been on my top 10 for years. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting. I know I didn't imagine it like the movies as we all know movies are never a good representation of reality.
It was cold, very very cold! I guess I imagined it warm(ish) like spring where we could sit outside and sip a cup of coffee. Also. I knew there were canals...but there were hundreds of them not to mention the bridges to go over! I wasn't hugely impressed on Friday when we arrived but by Monday when the weather was a wee bit warmer and the sun was shining and I knew where I was going, it was starting to grow on me.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and took a coach from the airport to the bus station in Venice. From there we took the Vaporetto (water bus) to a stop instructed by the agency for the apartment we were renting. Unfortunately we missed the stop as we were too slow getting off and had to get off on the next stop and wait for another boat going in the other direction. Eventually we got to our tiny flat (but very recently updated) and dumped our stuff before going to the supermarket to get some supplies (milk, breakfast stuff, beer, wine and of course nappies!). Both Smiley and I found the people SO rude. The shop was very small and people would push by and not hold doors and that was for me, with a pushchair with Zachary in it. On Monday morning Smiley confessed to me that he thought "What a dump!" on our first day there.
We managed to walk to a main "road" Strada Nuvoa or something like that and had dinner. It was...interesting! Starters, First course, Second course, desert...REALLY???? We all had a meatball which was scrummy and then had just one course and no dessert. I had the house wine every where we had dinner and it was SO good. none of the harsh/bitter crap you get here.
The next day we met Laura (our friend that came with us!) at San Marco Piazza (St. Marks Square). She got up nice and early but with little man we were a lot more restricted on our coming and goings. We left and got the Vapporetto right round to the square. It took 45 minutes and we were about an hour later than we had planned meeting Laura. Fortunately, or unfortunately the tour she desperately wanted to go on was fully booked till Monday so we weren't really late in the end! We did the typical wandering around a museum and went through the bridge of sighs. It was nice to get a bit of history...but unless you're into all that, it gets a bit boring. Next we went up the bell tower to have a look but this trip wasn't well planned as we arrived at the top about 1:55pm and the bells chime every hour! OPPPS! Poor Zachary and his little ears! Fortunately it doesn't seem to have damaged his hearing. Next we went on the number 2 Vaporetto up the Grand Canal. Forget going on a gondola, go on the water bus, it won't bankrupt you! It was along the Grand Canal that you can start to see the charm of Venice. After that we wandered around and got lost and had a coffee and a crepe (which Zachary loved with the yummy Nutella in the middle!) and got told where we were. "Erm, excuse me, do you mind showing us where we are on this map please" The man was very nice and smiled and said of course. I wasn't even on the right page! It's very easy to get lost in Venice unless you follow the flow of people! Dinner was at an out of the way pizzeria and Smiley had a massive beer. I'm sure it was a litre! The staff were very nice and even suggested a lovely pizza for me. For desert we had Tiramisu which I've once before and I didn't like it much. I was convinced to try it again and it was SO Good! That and a coffee and we were set to head out in the cold again.
Sunday the plan was to walk to the Jewish Ghetto and then take the Vaporetto to Murano and the Burano. This was the coldest day. It was every so windy and it made it so very, very cold. I found Murano boring, lots of glass shops and I was so cold I just couldn't warm up. After some lunch we got back on the water bus and headed to Burano which I loved. The wind seemed to calm down and the buildings are painted such lovely bright colours. It also seemed in better upkeep than Venice and also cleaner, this could be because of the bright colours, or the size of the island (it is tiny!) or possibly because there was just less traffic (foot traffic of course!). We stopped for a hot chocolate and a biscuit and Zachary thoroughly enjoyed dunking his biscuit in my hot chocolate! Back in Venice we wandered around the streets a bit and even though we were trying to get lost we got trapped in the throng of people heading to and from St Marks Square. We had dinner just off the square and I settled with the "Menu Turisto" but it was very nice and again the wine was Delicious! The Waiters adored Zachary and gave him a little toy and loved watching him run around. This of course is the benefit of eating earlier is that little man can run around without being a nuisance to other patrons. After dinner we headed back to the Square to take some night shots. There were much less people around and it was really quite nice. Zachary started to get in a strop and we quickly rushed back to our flat...it took about 45 minutes to get back what with all the lifting the push chair up and down the stairs to get over the bridges. I still have bruises on the back of my leg from where the pushchair kept banging against it going up the stairs!
Monday Morning we had to be out of the flat by 11am so we got up and went for a little walk down to Rialto bridge. Smiley and I hadn't bought hardly any souvenirs yet so we spent about 2 hours wandering and purchasing our goods. We had a bit of time and let Zachary out to walk. He's really starting to get to the age where he would rather walk than be in his pushchair, not all the time mind, but some of the time.
In the end, regardless of the cold and the masses of stairs and the lack of changing facilities (I got really, really good at changing Zachary on my lap while squatting against a wall to steady myself!) and the old rude Italians (the rude ones always seemed to be old...I'm not just being ageist), we had a lovely time.
It was quite the experience taking Zachary with us as we had yet to go on a city break since he arrived. Usually we walk loads and loads and see everything we possibly can in a very short time and we weren't sure on how well Zachary would do. He really seemed to enjoy himself. We invested in a harness for him (something I said I would never do!) and let him wander around. He loved chasing the birds in St. Marks Square but I felt very secure knowing he was less than a foot away from us at all times and couldn't get lost in a crowd of people. Birds and Boats, something Venice has plenty of were Zachary's favourite items on our trip, not to mention the Gelato!
I don't think I'd want to visit Venice in the summer as we did get the slightest hint of rotting seaweed/algae a couple of times and the heat would just make it so much worse. Not to mention hoards of people and more birds which tend to rip into the rubbish bags and spread the rubbish all over the streets. Perhaps the beginning April would have been a better choice, but hey, ho.
Venice...I've been, I can cross it off my list and I'm very, very glad for that.
(short version with pictures to follow)
It was cold, very very cold! I guess I imagined it warm(ish) like spring where we could sit outside and sip a cup of coffee. Also. I knew there were canals...but there were hundreds of them not to mention the bridges to go over! I wasn't hugely impressed on Friday when we arrived but by Monday when the weather was a wee bit warmer and the sun was shining and I knew where I was going, it was starting to grow on me.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and took a coach from the airport to the bus station in Venice. From there we took the Vaporetto (water bus) to a stop instructed by the agency for the apartment we were renting. Unfortunately we missed the stop as we were too slow getting off and had to get off on the next stop and wait for another boat going in the other direction. Eventually we got to our tiny flat (but very recently updated) and dumped our stuff before going to the supermarket to get some supplies (milk, breakfast stuff, beer, wine and of course nappies!). Both Smiley and I found the people SO rude. The shop was very small and people would push by and not hold doors and that was for me, with a pushchair with Zachary in it. On Monday morning Smiley confessed to me that he thought "What a dump!" on our first day there.
We managed to walk to a main "road" Strada Nuvoa or something like that and had dinner. It was...interesting! Starters, First course, Second course, desert...REALLY???? We all had a meatball which was scrummy and then had just one course and no dessert. I had the house wine every where we had dinner and it was SO good. none of the harsh/bitter crap you get here.
The next day we met Laura (our friend that came with us!) at San Marco Piazza (St. Marks Square). She got up nice and early but with little man we were a lot more restricted on our coming and goings. We left and got the Vapporetto right round to the square. It took 45 minutes and we were about an hour later than we had planned meeting Laura. Fortunately, or unfortunately the tour she desperately wanted to go on was fully booked till Monday so we weren't really late in the end! We did the typical wandering around a museum and went through the bridge of sighs. It was nice to get a bit of history...but unless you're into all that, it gets a bit boring. Next we went up the bell tower to have a look but this trip wasn't well planned as we arrived at the top about 1:55pm and the bells chime every hour! OPPPS! Poor Zachary and his little ears! Fortunately it doesn't seem to have damaged his hearing. Next we went on the number 2 Vaporetto up the Grand Canal. Forget going on a gondola, go on the water bus, it won't bankrupt you! It was along the Grand Canal that you can start to see the charm of Venice. After that we wandered around and got lost and had a coffee and a crepe (which Zachary loved with the yummy Nutella in the middle!) and got told where we were. "Erm, excuse me, do you mind showing us where we are on this map please" The man was very nice and smiled and said of course. I wasn't even on the right page! It's very easy to get lost in Venice unless you follow the flow of people! Dinner was at an out of the way pizzeria and Smiley had a massive beer. I'm sure it was a litre! The staff were very nice and even suggested a lovely pizza for me. For desert we had Tiramisu which I've once before and I didn't like it much. I was convinced to try it again and it was SO Good! That and a coffee and we were set to head out in the cold again.
Sunday the plan was to walk to the Jewish Ghetto and then take the Vaporetto to Murano and the Burano. This was the coldest day. It was every so windy and it made it so very, very cold. I found Murano boring, lots of glass shops and I was so cold I just couldn't warm up. After some lunch we got back on the water bus and headed to Burano which I loved. The wind seemed to calm down and the buildings are painted such lovely bright colours. It also seemed in better upkeep than Venice and also cleaner, this could be because of the bright colours, or the size of the island (it is tiny!) or possibly because there was just less traffic (foot traffic of course!). We stopped for a hot chocolate and a biscuit and Zachary thoroughly enjoyed dunking his biscuit in my hot chocolate! Back in Venice we wandered around the streets a bit and even though we were trying to get lost we got trapped in the throng of people heading to and from St Marks Square. We had dinner just off the square and I settled with the "Menu Turisto" but it was very nice and again the wine was Delicious! The Waiters adored Zachary and gave him a little toy and loved watching him run around. This of course is the benefit of eating earlier is that little man can run around without being a nuisance to other patrons. After dinner we headed back to the Square to take some night shots. There were much less people around and it was really quite nice. Zachary started to get in a strop and we quickly rushed back to our flat...it took about 45 minutes to get back what with all the lifting the push chair up and down the stairs to get over the bridges. I still have bruises on the back of my leg from where the pushchair kept banging against it going up the stairs!
Monday Morning we had to be out of the flat by 11am so we got up and went for a little walk down to Rialto bridge. Smiley and I hadn't bought hardly any souvenirs yet so we spent about 2 hours wandering and purchasing our goods. We had a bit of time and let Zachary out to walk. He's really starting to get to the age where he would rather walk than be in his pushchair, not all the time mind, but some of the time.
In the end, regardless of the cold and the masses of stairs and the lack of changing facilities (I got really, really good at changing Zachary on my lap while squatting against a wall to steady myself!) and the old rude Italians (the rude ones always seemed to be old...I'm not just being ageist), we had a lovely time.
It was quite the experience taking Zachary with us as we had yet to go on a city break since he arrived. Usually we walk loads and loads and see everything we possibly can in a very short time and we weren't sure on how well Zachary would do. He really seemed to enjoy himself. We invested in a harness for him (something I said I would never do!) and let him wander around. He loved chasing the birds in St. Marks Square but I felt very secure knowing he was less than a foot away from us at all times and couldn't get lost in a crowd of people. Birds and Boats, something Venice has plenty of were Zachary's favourite items on our trip, not to mention the Gelato!
I don't think I'd want to visit Venice in the summer as we did get the slightest hint of rotting seaweed/algae a couple of times and the heat would just make it so much worse. Not to mention hoards of people and more birds which tend to rip into the rubbish bags and spread the rubbish all over the streets. Perhaps the beginning April would have been a better choice, but hey, ho.
Venice...I've been, I can cross it off my list and I'm very, very glad for that.
(short version with pictures to follow)
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