Venice — Italy, 2026

Day 11

Saturday, September 5

Arriving in Venice

The train from Florence brought us to Venice, then we walked from Santa Lucia station to Hotel Al Vagon with our luggage. That took us along one of the main routes through the city, so we got a very thorough first look at Venice on the way.

St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace were originally planned for that afternoon. We moved seeing the exteriors to the next day and skipped the interiors. If you've been to Italy, you know there are a lot of churches, and they eventually start to run together.

Shiloh and Jordyn beside a Venice canal — The cicchetti (appetizer bites) available to try on our food tour

Shiloh and Jordyn beside a canal in the evening — Venice and especially its island Murano are known for glass. Here's a sculpture of an angel we found

The food tour was the weakest of the trip, although the guide was good. She knew her stuff, connected the stories to her family, and did not judge anyone for being less adventurous.

Unfortunately, Venice and my seafood preferences were not an ideal match. I absolutely hated the cuttlefish. The fried seafood and vegetables with polenta were surprisingly good, especially because fried food does not automatically make something safe for me. We also had sandwiches, including anchovy options and less-adventurous alternatives.

The gelato was piled into a “mountain,” which the earlier tours had already taught us was a warning sign. It was not real gelato by the knowledge we had acquired over the previous week and a half. Gelato, because of its chemistry, needs to be kept at colder temperatures, and real gelato doesn't have mountains in the tins, because it would melt.

Day 12

Sunday, September 6

Murano and Burano

Murano came first. We did skipped a glassmaking demonstration, but we went through plenty of glass shops and found souvenirs for basically everyone in the family. We also found pieces that looked pretty close to Dylan and Luna.

The Burano visit was shorter, about an hour or two, but I loved the colors. The houses also seemed better maintained than Murano’s. I liked both islands for different reasons: Murano for the glass-shopping treasure hunt and Burano for wandering around and looking at everything.

Shiloh and Jordyn on the waterfront in Murano — Murano

Brightly colored houses along a canal in Burano — Burano's colors, seen in this window

Shiloh and Jordyn in St. Mark's Square — St. Mark's square. Cannot show the sheer size of Doge's Palace

After the islands, we went to see St. Mark’s Basilica and Doge’s Palace from outside. The sheer size of both buildings was the part that stuck with me.

Day 13

Monday, September 7

Bologna day trip

Bologna was mostly a food tour and anatomical theater day. The porticoes were nice, especially for the shade, but we did not explore much beyond those two things.

The food tour focused on cured meats, which should have been obvious in hindsight, and local pastas. The food was good, although we did not really connect with the other guests. It ranked third of the four food tours: below Rome and Florence, but above Venice.

Shiloh and Jordyn in Bologna — A day in Bologna under the porticoes.

Two local pasta dishes served during the Bologna food tour — Local pastas from the food tour. Left is tortellini, and right is Bolognese

The historic anatomical theater in Bologna — Inside the oldest University in the West, pictured are family crests of attendees

The dark-chocolate gelato I paired with salted caramel was my favorite gelato combination of the entire trip. It was real gelato too.

At the Teatro Anatomico, I had hoped to see old medical instruments. There were no instruments, just the cadaver table and the history of the university. It was still interesting, just not quite what I pictured.

Day 14

Tuesday, September 8

Rosa’s class and our anniversary

The cooking class was moved to noon, so there was not much time beforehand. We saw the Bridge of Sighs and wandered for a while. The bridge was cool, but not especially memorable. It is so named because it was the last look of freedom for prisoners before they would be executed.

Rosa’s class was on Giudecca, where I also got a very good lemon soda. The class itself was the best of the trip. Rosa was old enough to be a nonna, kept my wine glass full, and made the whole thing extremely hands-on.

Shiloh and Jordyn near the Bridge of Sighs — The Bridge of Sighs

Shiloh and Jordyn during Rosa's cooking class — Final Cooking Class

Rosa's roasted vegetables and fruit — The roasted produce dish

We made ravioli, tiramisu, and her roasted vegetable-and-fruit dish. Ours included eggplant, onion, garlic, kiwi, squash, and a lot of other things. The basic idea was the produce aisle minus citrus, roasted with olive oil, then tossed with the “smelly” herbs afterward cooking so the produce did not dry out (think rosemary, thyme, sage). It was simple and very tasty.

That evening, we had our anniversary dinner outside at Osteria Barababao. The weather was comfortable and we could people watch. They brought complimentary prosecco, so I effectively had two glasses because Jordyn did not finish hers due to her alcohol allergy.

I ordered a crab tagliatelle dish. It was good but a little oily. Jordyn ordered a steak we described as essentially au poivre, and it ended up being the best meal of the trip. Then again, I am a sucker for steak.

Shiloh and Jordyn seated outside at Osteria Barababao — Anniversary Dinner

Jordyn's steak at Osteria Barababao — The winning steak

Crab pasta at Osteria Barababao — My crab pasta

Day 15

Wednesday, September 9

Going home

Hotel Al Vagon was the hotel I would be most willing to stay at again. Everything worked, although the duvet was scratchy enough that I only used the sheet. The main downside was the number of uneven stairs in the building.

We walked to Piazzale Roma and took the bus to the airport. Everything went smoothly, and sitting at the gate an hour early was completely fine after some of our other transportation adventures.

The flights took us through Frankfurt and Denver. Frankfurt at least asked for our trip dates, and I got to skip fingerprinting because of my hand. Denver customs was basically: pick up the checked bag, carry it halfway across the room, drop it off again, and answer no questions about what we were bringing home. After all the pre-trip concern, that was weirdly anticlimactic.

The flight map on the trip home — The final stretch home. Pictured here is the flight path we took from Frankfurt to Denver.

Next sectionRecipes: coming soon →