Venice

April 13-14, 2019

In 2017, mom decided that she wanted to commemorate her 60th birthday with a grand trip to Europe. Whenever my family travels to Europe, we always pick one country per trip and then we spend 2-3 weeks in that country. So for this special celebration, my mom chose Italy! 🇮🇹 Two years of planning and now I’m posting about it a year after. Time is a funny thing. It has a way of sneaking up on you when you’re not paying attention.

The task of planning the nitty gritty details of this trip fell into my OC, very anal hands. It took me weeks to figure out which cities we’d go to and a lot of consultations from friends, blogs and travel books. All the hard work paid off because looking back, I feel like I had planned the perfect itinerary for my family - with their input and help, of course. We were able to see everything we wanted to see but had enough time to sit, people watch and just enjoy Italy.

So first stop, Venezia! There’s something deeply romantic about arriving at your Airbnb via a boat. We had a great first day, albeit a small hiccup with Ate Luzee’s baggage. Luckily, we had enough pasalubong for her to wear. (Note to future self: always carry at least 2 days worth of clothes in your hand carry.) Our first meal was quintessential Italian with pizza, pasta and wine while being serenaded by a cantante. My favourite thing about Venice is traveling via the water canals and the fact that the city is small enough for you to walk from one end to the other in one day. Not a fan of how touristy the city centre was, though. Seemed like every street was littered with souvenir shops. I remember saying that the city felt like a Disneyland for adults. Luckily the area we chose to stay in was in the quieter part of the island but still had that quaint Venice charm.

A few things have changed since this trip but I choose to remember it as it was - a month full of good food, great company, breathtaking views, belly laughs, and most of all, amore.

Watch video recap here.

Airport shenanigans while waiting for my siblings’ flight

My family 🥰 Can’t believe it’s been over 10 years since we all traveled together. Now, my brother and his wife are Canadians!

Unplanned matching airport looks

Maleta galore

My face when we enter a pasticceria