In preparation for attending German school, Zoe headed off for a two week intensive, but fun, German language summer camp along the Bodensee. She spent the time boating and building rafts, but also learning German.
Avi and I (and Slim Jim) took the time to take a trip to Italy. He had always wanted to see Pompeii and Venice and a volcano, so it was a fun trip! We started with a night in Liechtenstein. This tiny country is basically one city, so we spent some time walking around there before getting some sleep after a long drive.
From there it was a long drive, with some crazy fellow drivers along the roads of Italy, past a burning truck, and into Venice. We got there with enough time to take the public ferry boat from the car park around town on the main canal to the Toma stop where we could walk to our hotel. We stayed at the small Hotel Della Mora, which was right on its own little canal.
We found a great little outdoor pizza place for dinner and spent the evening walking around. It is such a lovely city without all the day tripping crowds.
We spent the rest of the next day wandering around to see the big sites. San Marco square, where we got some coffee and people watched. Avi even got one of the birds to land on his hand. There was a lot of walking, so by midday we were ready for a nap before heading out later for dinner. It really is a magical city.
From Venice we continue on down the boot to Pompeii!