Whatever Floats Your Boat...Venice, Italy

After 4 months of traveling with just the 2 of us the time had come to add some more fun to the party....my Mom and Aunt Rhonda met us in Venice! Kayla and I were so excited to see some friendly faces from back home.There is nothing better than a hug from your mom after so long.  We met them at the Venice airport and headed off to catch a boat!

While in Venice we stayed on the small island of Lido. This worked out really well since the actual island of Venice was swamped with tourists. We were able to wake up and have a leisurely breakfast and then hop on a water taxi and head over to the main island.

On our first full day we went and visited the island of Murano which is where most of the famous Venice glass is made into things like sculptures, vases, and our personal favorite....jewelry! We spent a whole day wondering up and down the twisty waterways popping into shops and treating ourselves to pizza and gelato. It was definitely the perfect way to start our time in Venice.

On the second day we went on a walking tour and boat tour of Venice. We had the chance to see of the famous sights like Piazza San Marco, Grand Canal, and the Bridge of Sighs. You really can't see all of Venice unless you hop in one of the million boats. We had a semi private taxi boat to show us all of the sights on the water. We saw the private homes of the Venice elite and also the vacation rentals of celebrities like Johnny Depp and Brangelina. We really enjoyed our afternoon out on the water.

Of course there was a lot of wine involved in our stay in Venice.

We enjoyed gelato EVERY day!

Yum

Relaxing on Lido

Our fab Aunt Rhonda

Our own private water taxi!

Off to see the sights of Venice

A glass blower in Murano

You can't visit Venice without having some fun with masks!

Piazza San Marco

Beautiful Lido

No surprise that Kayla wanted to chase the birds.

We were always on the look out for a hot gondolier.

The nice gentlemen that drove us around Venice. We almost stayed on the boat....for one obvious reason.

While out enjoying a nice pizza and bottle of wine we were surprised by a sudden downpour.

High on a Hill Stood a Lonely Goatherd...and some BIG Ice Caves

After leaving Germany we made a quick stop in Salzburg, Austria, which was made famous by the movie "The Sound of Music." This is my mom's favorite movie of all time so Kayla and I were forced to watch it every year...ok maybe not forced exactly. While in Salzburg we went on a "Sound of Music" tour and took a day trip to the Ice Caves.

The "Sound of Music" tour took us all around Salzburg and the surrounding countryside so that we could see of the locations where the movie was filmed. We stared in awe at the abbey on the hill, twirled in front of the infamous gazebo (unfortunately it was locked otherwise I would have forced Kayla to be Ralph and hold my hand as I ran around the benches), dipped our toe in the lake outside the house used as the back of the Von Trapp villa in the movie, and ducked behind the trees that the children climbed. We were the youngest people on the tour and the guide was VERY impressed with both our knowledge of the movie and the fact that we knew the words to EVERY song. There should have been prizes....we would have won them all.

The fountain the Von Trapp children and Maria marched around during the "Do Re Mi" song.

People just stared as I spun around like a fool.

We felt like we should have fashioned some clothes out of our curtains before taking this picture.

The house used as the back of the Von Trapp villa and the lake the children fell in.

The super cool "Sound of Music" bus.

This really had nothing to do with the movie...it was just pretty.

The church where Maria and the Captain get hitched. (Sorry the pic is a little crooked...we were really excited to get outside and get some ice cream.)

And there is the ice cream.

This is not a screen saver....the sky really was that blue.

Kayla was in awe of the sky.

The gazebo....this was only used for some outside shots...the dancing scene was done on a stage :(

Our trip to the ice caves was only supposed to be a 4hr trip but turned into a day trip.The ice caves that we visited are the largest in the world!  We were loaded onto a charter bus and driven WAY up into the Swiss Alps.Then we walked even further up the mountain before arriving at a big round hole in the side. We were sweating from the hike up the mountain which made for an interesting sensation when we were greeted by the 50-60mph freezing winds at the entrance to the cave. As we entered I was handed a lantern with an open flame to help guide our group through the labyrinth of the caves....I don't know why they thought I was a good person for this job. The temperature inside the caves was below freezing (obviously or there wouldn't be any ice.) It was amazing to walk through and see walls made of nothing but ice. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures but if you are interested I am sure there are some images on google you can look at :)  On the way out we had to descend down a huge staircase. When we were about half way down I slipped and fell. If it weren't for the lantern I was holding or Kayla's squeal I don't think anyone would have noticed....unfortunately they all turned to look. Instead of helping me Kayla just stood and laughed....loudly. Aside from the fall and the fact that the trip took longer than expected it was a very good day.

This was my face after we were told that the entrance fee was not included in our tour cost....the entrance fee was $36 for 2 people...we only had $35

This was Kayla's face.
Luckily a nice couple helped us out.

My new home.

The entrance to the ice caves.

I still don't know why they thought this was a good idea...I guess they thought I looked responsible.
I almost caught a lady's hair on fire...and Kayla's pants.

It was FREEZING.

We couldn't feel our fingers.

Standing in the entrance.

We had quite a view.

On our hike back down.

Kayla and I are SUPER close...some would say we are attached at the hip.

AMAZING

Kayla was frustrated that we didn't have any money for snacks....

I was contemplating eating the table.

Even though the tour ran long and we were starving this view made the whole thing worth it.