The first springtime long weekend in Canada is an almost mythic ritual where one heads out of the city, pretends it’s warmer than it is and looks forward to the approaching summer months. In honour of that tradition, we Italianized our plan and headed to Venice for four late May nights.
Dalia and I honeymooned in Italy for one full month in September, 2017, but mostly due to routing challenges, never made it to Venice. Now, as travel slowly re-opens in Europe, it was a perfect time to visit the famous city before the tourist throngs return.
I’ve often pondered where the magic of childhood disappears to once we become adults. It gets harder and harder to be astonished, enchanted and surprised. But I can now conclude that one place where magic continues to abide is in Venice. What an incredible, unique, unlikely and charming city. Seeing it for the first time really makes the heart marvel. And seeing it for the first time towards the end of the pandemic only reignites the desire to discover and explore that much more.
We ate, we wandered, we floated around for three days, wondering if it would even be worth returning once the streets, alleyways and canals are overcrowded again. For now, there was no dampening our spirits (even if the last day was rainy from start to finish) and we enjoyed the beauty and opportunity both under our feet and gondolas.
The challenges of travelling with an infant were on fully display in Venice also. We wanted to practice taking Aleksander on another trip and the train, plane and boats to get to and around Venice provided a great opportunity. Daddy was kept busy hauling the stroller over a selection of Venice’s 300 bridges but otherwise we powered through and made the most of a visit that would have looked quite different in our pre-parent days. I’d advise not to be discouraged and adapt as needed to see this world class city, with family in tow.
Dad In The World 