Grandma and Grandpa Bradford made their annual trip to Prague this year in April. We planned a week-long holiday with them to Italy starting in beautiful Venice!
The trip started a little rough as we arrived at Prague airport and realized we had left an entire suitcase back at our apartment. That was a first for us. It contained all of my clothing and most of Jackson's. With not enough time to go back and get it, we considered leaving Cisco behind to catch the next flight, but decided we would make it work without the bag. Thankfully, Grandma Gena and I wear the same size and paying for another ticket would cost as much as buying new clothes. After the initial mishap, the trip went smoothly with an easy 1-hour plane ride, 40-minute bus ride into Venice, and a 5 minute walk to our hotel/apartment. The Bradfords took one for the team and grabbed the loft bedroom (which we all agreed was not the safest place for Jackson). Though climbing the stairs to the loft turned into one of his favorite past-times during our stay.
So, the Bradfords gave the Walkers the room with this lovely canal view. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Jackson preferred the view from the loft window...it was a little more his height.
Touring the city was wonderful. The canals, gondolas, bridges, buildings, and piazzas (not pizzas...though they were good, too) made for a wonderful atmosphere. 
We walked through the canal streets and across who knows how many of the 400 bridges connecting Venice.
Jackson loved pointing out the boats as they passed.
We also made our way around using the Vaporetti (water bus) system. Jackson's enjoying the ride with Grandma and Grandpa.
The Vaporetti go up and down the Grand Canal. The views were very enchanting from the vantage of the boat. Maybe it didn't have quite the same ambiance as a gondola ride, but it didn't cost 120 Euros an hour either!
One of our first tourist destinations was St. Mark's Square and Basilica. 
Jackson quickly showed his love for pigeons.
And was fascinated when we could get up close to them and feed them.
Jackson even got to feed some pigeons. Though at times he wasn't sure if he wanted to feed the bread to the pigeons or eat it himself. Check out this video of our little 13-month-old in motion.
Feeding the pigeons was a favorite activity for Grandma Gena, too! I definitely got my love of animals from my Momma.
A very special part of vacationing with Grandma and Grandpa was getting to go out on a couple of date nights with my hubby while Nana and Bapa (as Jackson so fondly calls them) stayed back with the babe. 
We ate fantastic food and walked through the quiet streets taking in the views.
Speaking of food, we all thoroughly enjoyed the Italian gelato throughout our trip. It was a big hit with Jackson...zoom in on this pic for a close-up of his choco-mustache.
Another of Jackson's favorite activities on the trip was playing in water...wherever he could find it. This fountain was just outside our apartment and I think Jax would have spent most of his days there if he could have.
So, basically, in order to make Jackson happy, all we have to do is go someplace with stairs, puddles, and ice cream.
After four days in Venice, we took a train to Florence for a couple of days. It was a huge change of pace, as we arrived in this bustling city. There was a lot to see in just a couple of days. First stop was Il Duomo. One of our friends said it best, "It looks like a giant frosted cake."
Il Duomo has a very famous domed ceiling. It really is magnificent. If you zoom in on this one maybe you can make out the scene - Heaven on one side and Hell on the other. That Hell side looks pretty dang scary! 
Cisco climbed the 463 steps to the top, getting a close-up view of the dome and also some spectacular city views. (The rest of us made our way down the awesome market street!)
The next day we decided to take the Open Bus city tour. Jackson had a front row seat & thought it was pretty great.
First stop was the Uffizi Gallery. It's a beautiful museum featuring Italian artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo. It's quite large, and luck was with us as Jackson fell asleep just before we got in.
Here we are in the courtyard of the museum after Jackson had woken and needed some time to stretch his legs.
Next, we went to Santa Croce, the church where Michelangelo is buried.
Here is Michelangelo's tomb. It has 3 sculptures on it - one representing a painter, one an architect, and one a sculptor.
Coming out of Santa Croce we walked through a lovely courtyard. It's so nice to have my Momma around.
After Santa Croce we hopped back on the Open Bus to our next tourist destination, Piazzale Michelangiolo, which offered unbelievable views of the city.
Florence is right on the edge of the Tuscany region and you could really see it in the landscape here.
On our final day in Florence we had two goals...One, see Michelangelo's David at Galleria dell'Accademia. It really was an incredible piece of art. It's hard to describe, but it's one of those famous things to check off your list that when you actually see it, you know exactly why it is so built up. 
Our second goal before leaving the city was a little shopping. We found an indoor market with TONS of delicious Italian foods and drinks. Had we known we were going to take a train home instead of a plane, we would have purchased loads more than we did. 
We left Florence and headed back to Venice for a little more exploring before catching our flight the following day.
As it turns out, the Icelandic volcano eruption caused our flight to be canceled. Since we were "stuck" in Italy, we decided to see a new city...The fair city of Verona - setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
We took a train from the airport to Verona and were pleasantly surprised with the city. It was big enough that there were things to see each day, but small enough that we got a few days of down time before our next rescheduled departure (3 days later than we had originally planned). Verona has it's own Roman arena.
It's actually the 3rd largest in the world.
And it had giant steps for Jackson to climb.
Looking down from the arena into the main square - Piazza Bra. We happened to be there during their big weekend market. Lucky us - more delicious Italian cuisine!
We also saw Juliet's balcony - that is, a balcony that they think must have looked like the one described by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet :)
In the small tunnel leading to the balcony, people have written their own love notes. There's a Cisco loves Hannah in there somewhere.
Verona also has a castle...
Castle Vecchio is an art museum now with quite a nice selection. 
Watch out for this motley crew storming the castle walls!
We enjoyed some walks through the city.
But we were all ready to head home when it was time to go.
The volcano was still causing air space closures on the day of our rescheduled flight, so we made the tough decision to head home by train. We were expecting the worst (about 13 hours with Jackson going stir-crazy) but ended up having a lovely trip...if a bit long. Jackson did great on the train - and we had a couple hour stop over in Munich so he got to stretch his legs a bit. 
All in all, a wonderful trip...The little man enjoyed his Nana and Bapa so much. Life won't be nearly as fun when they head back to the US.
The trip started a little rough as we arrived at Prague airport and realized we had left an entire suitcase back at our apartment. That was a first for us. It contained all of my clothing and most of Jackson's. With not enough time to go back and get it, we considered leaving Cisco behind to catch the next flight, but decided we would make it work without the bag. Thankfully, Grandma Gena and I wear the same size and paying for another ticket would cost as much as buying new clothes. After the initial mishap, the trip went smoothly with an easy 1-hour plane ride, 40-minute bus ride into Venice, and a 5 minute walk to our hotel/apartment. The Bradfords took one for the team and grabbed the loft bedroom (which we all agreed was not the safest place for Jackson). Though climbing the stairs to the loft turned into one of his favorite past-times during our stay.
So, the Bradfords gave the Walkers the room with this lovely canal view. Thanks Mom and Dad!
Jackson preferred the view from the loft window...it was a little more his height.
Touring the city was wonderful. The canals, gondolas, bridges, buildings, and piazzas (not pizzas...though they were good, too) made for a wonderful atmosphere. 
We walked through the canal streets and across who knows how many of the 400 bridges connecting Venice.
Jackson loved pointing out the boats as they passed.
We also made our way around using the Vaporetti (water bus) system. Jackson's enjoying the ride with Grandma and Grandpa.
The Vaporetti go up and down the Grand Canal. The views were very enchanting from the vantage of the boat. Maybe it didn't have quite the same ambiance as a gondola ride, but it didn't cost 120 Euros an hour either!
One of our first tourist destinations was St. Mark's Square and Basilica. 
Jackson quickly showed his love for pigeons.
And was fascinated when we could get up close to them and feed them.
Jackson even got to feed some pigeons. Though at times he wasn't sure if he wanted to feed the bread to the pigeons or eat it himself. Check out this video of our little 13-month-old in motion.Feeding the pigeons was a favorite activity for Grandma Gena, too! I definitely got my love of animals from my Momma.
A very special part of vacationing with Grandma and Grandpa was getting to go out on a couple of date nights with my hubby while Nana and Bapa (as Jackson so fondly calls them) stayed back with the babe. 
We ate fantastic food and walked through the quiet streets taking in the views.
Speaking of food, we all thoroughly enjoyed the Italian gelato throughout our trip. It was a big hit with Jackson...zoom in on this pic for a close-up of his choco-mustache.
Another of Jackson's favorite activities on the trip was playing in water...wherever he could find it. This fountain was just outside our apartment and I think Jax would have spent most of his days there if he could have.
So, basically, in order to make Jackson happy, all we have to do is go someplace with stairs, puddles, and ice cream.
After four days in Venice, we took a train to Florence for a couple of days. It was a huge change of pace, as we arrived in this bustling city. There was a lot to see in just a couple of days. First stop was Il Duomo. One of our friends said it best, "It looks like a giant frosted cake."
Il Duomo has a very famous domed ceiling. It really is magnificent. If you zoom in on this one maybe you can make out the scene - Heaven on one side and Hell on the other. That Hell side looks pretty dang scary! 
Cisco climbed the 463 steps to the top, getting a close-up view of the dome and also some spectacular city views. (The rest of us made our way down the awesome market street!)
The next day we decided to take the Open Bus city tour. Jackson had a front row seat & thought it was pretty great.
First stop was the Uffizi Gallery. It's a beautiful museum featuring Italian artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo. It's quite large, and luck was with us as Jackson fell asleep just before we got in.
Here we are in the courtyard of the museum after Jackson had woken and needed some time to stretch his legs.
Next, we went to Santa Croce, the church where Michelangelo is buried.
Here is Michelangelo's tomb. It has 3 sculptures on it - one representing a painter, one an architect, and one a sculptor.
Coming out of Santa Croce we walked through a lovely courtyard. It's so nice to have my Momma around.
After Santa Croce we hopped back on the Open Bus to our next tourist destination, Piazzale Michelangiolo, which offered unbelievable views of the city.
Florence is right on the edge of the Tuscany region and you could really see it in the landscape here.
On our final day in Florence we had two goals...One, see Michelangelo's David at Galleria dell'Accademia. It really was an incredible piece of art. It's hard to describe, but it's one of those famous things to check off your list that when you actually see it, you know exactly why it is so built up. 
Our second goal before leaving the city was a little shopping. We found an indoor market with TONS of delicious Italian foods and drinks. Had we known we were going to take a train home instead of a plane, we would have purchased loads more than we did. 
We left Florence and headed back to Venice for a little more exploring before catching our flight the following day.
As it turns out, the Icelandic volcano eruption caused our flight to be canceled. Since we were "stuck" in Italy, we decided to see a new city...The fair city of Verona - setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
We took a train from the airport to Verona and were pleasantly surprised with the city. It was big enough that there were things to see each day, but small enough that we got a few days of down time before our next rescheduled departure (3 days later than we had originally planned). Verona has it's own Roman arena.
It's actually the 3rd largest in the world.
And it had giant steps for Jackson to climb.
Looking down from the arena into the main square - Piazza Bra. We happened to be there during their big weekend market. Lucky us - more delicious Italian cuisine!
We also saw Juliet's balcony - that is, a balcony that they think must have looked like the one described by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet :)
In the small tunnel leading to the balcony, people have written their own love notes. There's a Cisco loves Hannah in there somewhere.
Verona also has a castle...
Castle Vecchio is an art museum now with quite a nice selection. 
Watch out for this motley crew storming the castle walls!
We enjoyed some walks through the city.
But we were all ready to head home when it was time to go.
The volcano was still causing air space closures on the day of our rescheduled flight, so we made the tough decision to head home by train. We were expecting the worst (about 13 hours with Jackson going stir-crazy) but ended up having a lovely trip...if a bit long. Jackson did great on the train - and we had a couple hour stop over in Munich so he got to stretch his legs a bit. 
All in all, a wonderful trip...The little man enjoyed his Nana and Bapa so much. Life won't be nearly as fun when they head back to the US.
