Venice, Italy

Venice was a reminder to me that some things should just stay the way they are. (That is, as long as they aren't sinking.) We only had one day in Venice, but it was enough time to marvel at the gothic architecture, listen to some wonderful classical musicians on the San Marco square, and eat some delicious pasta.

We quickly learned that it's an easy and fun place to get lost, as long as you're not trying to make it to the bus station to catch a bus to catch a plane. We were beginning to wonder whether our map was an actual map of Venice. At one point, by God's grace, we found the best map possible: an elderly gentleman who grew up in Venice. When we asked him how to find the square, he said, "Yes, follow me. I know Venice. It's very complicated." He was shorter than me and may have even weighed less, but we were huffing and puffing to keep up with him.