Bye Bye Focus

After we came home, my car started great on Monday morning. For some reason it wouldn't start at all that afternoon. That was the last straw of a long and arduous process of fixing my car up for both Hunter and me. We had played with the idea of getting a new car earlier in the year and that last incident made it official. We spend a couple days looking for a car and finally decided on one (more details on that later). The car we want isn't available for 3-8 more weeks from Sept. 7th. Which leaves 1-6 weeks at this point. We figured that was perfect. It would give us time to sell my car, get a little more money put together for a down payment and go from there. Perfect plan, yes?

I cleaned it out really well, took some pictures (shown below) and posted an add on KSL for significantly more than we expected to be able to get. 

24 hours later I got a phone call from someone who wanted to look at it. 48 hours later, my car had already been sold for 3 hours - for very close to the asking price. 

Who knew that cars sell so fast? Neither of us were at all prepared for it to sell nearly so quickly. I wasn't emotionally prepared to sell my car that quickly. I was surprisingly still attached. It was my baby. The first car I bought completely by myself and the car I had been driving for the last 6 years. I have a good feeling about the new owners though and I'm sure they'll take good care of her. I will miss my car, although I'm sure those feelings will start to fade once I have a new one. 

We had some good and some bad times Focus, but overall it was a very good 6 years we had together. 

End nostalgic blurb.

Here's to living the next 6 weeks or so with only one car and a bike. 

Italy Day 7: The Trek Home Begins

And our last day begins. We were so very sad to leave. We. Loved. Every. Minute. No words will really do justice to just how incredible of a vacation we had. Here is one last shot of us before we boarded the vaporetti on Guidecca. 

We had to have one last gelato. Yes, it was 9 in the morning. Did we care? Nope. haha. Hunter wanted the last thing he ate in Italy to be gelato and I as happy to oblige. 

Shortly after finishing our gelato, we boarded the boat that took us to the airport. It was about an hour ride in total. Towards the end of the trip, we got pulled over. Who knew that there were police patrolling over the waters? It makes sense thinking about it, especially when that is their main means of travel. This time more than any other was when we wished we could understand Italian. There was a very heated conversation going on between our driver, the driver of another boat (that I'm guessing our driver offended by his speed), and the policeman. How we wished we could have understood exactly what was going on. Most of us passengers (I'm guessing there were about 50?) thought it was humorous at first, but as it kept taking longer and longer we all began to get a little worried about making to the airport in time. But, all worked out in the end and we got to experience getting pulled over in Venice. I bet not many people can say that!

We then boarded the plane for home. We had a layover in JFK, then on to Salt Lake. Good bye Italy, you were oh so good to us. Ideally, we WILL see you again!

This picture is one I took just a couple days ago.

We never actually tried sparkling water while we were there. They give you the option every time we stopped to eat but we generally had our own water bottle and opted to not spend the extra 3-5 euro. We were tempted though, just never got around to it. It appears that the United States is coming around to this strange European trend and is now selling sparkling water in gas stations just in case we ever get the desire to try it out. 

A few weeks later, we are adjusted back to normal life pretty well. Although we still wish we were walking around Italy - Rome or Venice or really any Italian City would do I think.

Italy Day 6: Island Hopping in Venice and a Gondola Ride

Our last full day in Italy (sigh...) we spent hitting up the hot spots in Venice that we hadn't gotten to yet. First on our agenda though, was making sure we could get to the airport and figuring out exactly how long it would take us to get there. It was actually very good that we did this because we learned where to get on the vaporetti and that we had to pay especially to get to the airport. We would have been freaking out if we hadn't trial ran it.

After our trial run, our first stop was Murano, the home of glass blowing. This was showcased not only by the fact that every shop was full of blown glass but also by random glass sculptures throughout the island.

After Murano, it was on to Lido. The sense we got from Lido is that it is how the Italians experience Italy. Also, there are cars and roads in Lido. As well as canals of course.

One thing we were sure to do was roll our pants up and walk along the beach with our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. It was so peaceful and serene. 

Random parts of the beach were completely covered in sea shell bits. Kinda cool.

Then it was back to Venice. We made a special trip to the Piazza de la Roma. Sounds like an interesting place, right? Well, turns out it is just the big transportation hub. It's right by the train station and there is a big bus station. It is not a tourist spot. Note to self. However, once we were up there we decided to take the long way back to St. Mark's Square and walked through parts of Venice we had yet to see so it all worked out in the long run. 

Hunter had yet another seafood meal. This one consisted of Cuttlefish. The name sounds innocent enough, but don't be fooled. It is really baby octopuses. You can feel the tentacles and everything. Not to mention that the black color of it completely died his tongue and teeth black. haha. He even made me try it and I begrudgingly agreed. Never again. 

The Guidecca Canal is wide and deep enough that big cruise ships can go through. We had seen a few, but this one was by far the biggest we had seen. It was HUGE! It was the MSC Divina. Apparently it's a fancy new cruise ship. It was pulled through the canal by a little tug boat. Our guess is that it would cause to many waves if it were actually running of it's own accord.

One of many random pretty churches throughout the city. It seriously took me about 5 minutes to get this picture because of all the people milling around. We were dedicated. 

And more pigeons....these ones were at the Royal Gardens. They aren't quite as brave as the ones at St. Mark's Square. Only one would actually jump up on our hand the rest of them only felt comfortable standing close to us and were still pretty jumpy.

We ended our last night in Venice included a tour of Eastern Venice by night (with an excellent tour guide), a Gondola Ride, and some of the best food we have ever had. Here is a little picture documentation of the Gondola Ride:

Perfect romantic end to our stay, no?

Our delicious meal was at Fiaschetteria Toscana, near the Rialto Bridge. If you go to Venice you NEED to eat here. But, it is pretty pricey so be prepared for that. We had actually eaten here our first day in Venice as well. It was life changing the first time and lived up to all our expectations the second time. 

They even make sure that their oil and vinegar for bread dipping is pretty. Although, I do prefer a greater vinegar to oil ratio.

We inhaled our food the first time before we could take pictures so we were careful to take pictures of everything this time. 

They let you choose your fish. They give you options, you choose, they cook it, then they come out and fillet it in front of you. How cool is that? I think a great deal to the awesomeness of the meal. I had a baby John Dory - less than 100 grams. The perfect amount of fish if you ask me, but Hunter has a different opinion. 

His was a much more sizable Sea Bass, which he also had previously.

Have I pressed the need to eat at this place enough? Seriously, it is life changing. 

After that it was pretty late, cold, and windy. We didn't get back to our place until well after midnight. It was definitely worth it to see the city at night though. 

Italy Day 5: All Around Venice

Day 5 started with a trip to the baker and fresh fruit/veggie place down the street. It only cost us 4 euro to get 3 rather large baked goods - croissant, strudel, cream filled donut - and two peaches. We were stoked. Welcome to the non-tourist laden part of town. Next it was time to head across the Guidecca Canal and into the main part of Venice again. Our morning was filled with a walking tour of the Doge's Palace, St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's itself (Again, no pictures allowed. The whole roof is covered in gold. Needless to say it was very impressive and also very shiny.), and the western (I think? There really is no sense of direction there and I would have been utterly lost without my direction savvy husband by my side.) side of Venice.

Side note: it rained on and off all day. When you are in Venice pick your shoes wisely. The particular pair of flip flops that I was wearing had ZERO traction. I came dangerously close to falling many, many times. I'm surprised that my legs weren't sore the next day from trying to catch myself so many times.

This is a picture of the Bridge of Sighs. We were told repeatedly that this is not a bridge you want to cross. It was only used for transporting prisoners, so that is understandable.

The front of St. Peter's

And the bell tower. One of many in Venice.

And then we met the pigeons of St. Peter's. You haven't really met a pigeon until you have met a St. Peter's Square pigeon. These birds have no reservations. Seriously. If they think you are holding food they will pounce. It must be a survival tactic to jump at whatever chance for food there is in a sea of so many hungry mouths.

We weren't the only ones that looked like this.

Surprisingly, they were very gentle. Their little feet didn't hurt at all on landing or take off and you could hardly feel them picking up the food with their beaks.

They aren't very cleanly though. This is the mess of crumbs and melted chocolate they left on our hands.

The Doge's Palace is in the background of this picture and Hunter is rocking the aviators.

Later, we went on a boat tour of the Grand Canal. It was really cool to see everything from the water, as it was originally meant to be seen since Venice used to be completely inaccessible without a boat. It gives a whole new perspective. The houses are far more decorated on the side facing the water and only people of great importance were allowed to build houses along the Grand Canal. I can't even imagine how expensive it would be to live along it today. Yikes.

This is a picture of Santa Maria della Salute from the water.

There are many a gondola along the Grand Canal, which makes sense since that is the very touristy thing to do in Venice (we'll get to that in the next post).

See how much prettier everything is from the water view?

The Rialto Bridge. It was once the life blood and main trading center of the city. It was also the only original crossing of the grand canal. There are now three others - all of which have been built in the last 150 years or so.

Pictures from on top of the Rialto Bridge...

I don't even know how many other little bridges dot the city. I did learn this though: when the train station into Venice was built, they had to do a lot of modification to the city so that it was accessible by foot. They filled in many a canal and built 430 (or somewhere around there) bridges to supplement what was already in existence. It is also important to know that in the original days of Venice the bridges connected houses, which were generally rivals of some sort. They would often hold competitions to see who was the "stronger" family. Young men would fight a top a bridge (none of which had side railings originally) and see who could throw the other off first. In essence, who was king of the mountain. They were eventually stopped because they became to violent. Interesting.

This may be one of my favorite pictures of us from this trip.

See how this bell tower is leaning? Well, as it turns out, most buildings in Venice are leaning in one way or another. The sediment underneath is and has been shifting and constantly changing for all this time so none of the buildings have very solid foundations.

This is a street. It is a smaller one, but streets this size (and smaller) are not uncommon.

I thought it was funny that Venice also has a Daily Universe. BYU must have an Italian branch.

And final picture of this post: If you want to live in Venice, you must own a dog. There were soooo many dogs! You really can't go anywhere without at least having one or two dogs in sight. Ameya would freak being so close to water all the time.