Italia 2017-Day 2 Venezia

We woke up and surprisingly felt great. The jet lag wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it last time. We called Stefano and asked if we could stop by and deliver a few gifts to them. We drove over to his house and the kids got to meet Carla, who they call their "Italian Grandma." She is the sweetest thing and looks exactly the same. We were able to give Stefano and Luisa their long awaited wedding gift from Patrice. It's a tradition in Andy's family (that started on Grandma Frehner's side) that when you get married you receive a handmade quilt. Patrice and Grandma Frehner made this quilt for them 15 years ago when Andy and I were going to go to their wedding. Things didn't work out to go and the quilt has been mailed to Italy and didn't make it (but got returned safely) so the quilt has quite a story of its own. It was so neat to FaceTime Mike and Patrice after they opened the gifts and share that moment that had been so many years in the making. Luisa took the kids and me on a tour of their house and in the first room there was a piano! I love that music can transcend any language barrier. The kids put on a little concert for them and it was so much fun! It's neat that they can sit down and play Despacito or How Does a Moment Last Forever and there is immediate recognition of the song no matter the language. Stefano recorded the kids as they all took turns playing something. Then Luisa played a song. It was a highlight of the visit for the kids. A memory they will always remember. After that (I think we could've stayed for hours playing music together) we headed out to Venice to do a little more sight seeing.

We were curious to go see this high end shopping mall, Fontego Dei Tedeschi, that the apartment owner talked about. We saw it with Stefano and Luisa but didn't go inside. She told us they had a observation deck on the terrace that gives you an amazing view of Venice. It overlooks the grand canal and rooftops as far as the eye could see. It was unbelievable! It has to be a well kept secret because for it being free (and spectacular) we practically had it to ourselves. We later told Stefano and Luisa it was a must do for them next time they were there. (Another perk was it had a very American bathroom.)

After that we headed to Piazza San Marco and went to the first of many cathedrals of our trip, St. Mark's Basilica. The kids kept commenting on how dark it was inside and were intrigued by the confessionals and candles. It was quite the learning experience as they were asking so many questions. We also got our first of many gelato before setting out to find a gondola ride. Andy and I had never been on one before because we were poor college students and couldn't afford the hefty price tag. It was a fun experience. We were surprised that it took us out onto the grand canal with all the boats before circling back through all the small canals. It went by super fast because there was so much to see but it was fun and I'm glad we got to experience that together.

That evening we headed back to Stefano and Luisa's for dinner. The kid's first real Italian pizza. They were gracious hosts and got each of us a margherita pizza! Ella, Braden, and Andy finished their whole pizza. Braden and Andy had to help us finish the rest of ours. We spent the evening talking and Carla brought up Elder Nordfelt, the Elder that baptized her. She wants to get in touch with him so badly. Andy shared that he saw him at a race he ran years ago and lost the paper he had his information written on. Then several years ago, Taylor's soccer coach was the brother of Elder Nordfelt and I asked him weekly for the information and he never gave it to me. Carla told us before we left we had to get his information somehow and get her in touch with him. It was getting late so we said our goodbyes. It was a little emotional saying goodbye. Living so far away from them you never know if it will be 15 years until you see them again. They have a special place in all of our hearts and we are so grateful for the time they spent with us. We were planning on seeing them the night before we left at the end of our trip but it happened to be the same week they go up to Bern, Switzerland and spend the week at the Temple so we didn't get as much time as we were hoping to but we were glad for the time we got to be with them.