fall break begins with VENICE, from all like 4 and a half days
buckle up, this post is going to be a long one

just like you would have imagined it
the canal with gondolas parked all along the dock

climbed to the top of the tower at st. mark's square
looking at st. mark's cathedral from up top

and this is us on top of st. mark's cathedral

knock knock and julie

sighhh one of these days he will like me

yes, we did ride in a gondola
and we asked the gondolier to sing us an italian song

agustin, chris, and me at st. mark's square
when it was NOT flooding

st. mark's square (and the cathedral) DID flood though, at least twice when we were there
here are some shots of the flooding



flooding? oh, no big thang,
let me just whip out these handy dandy platforms


LOOOK AT HOW PRETTY!!!
every sunset was amazing

in murano, (known for their glasswork) we found a park

and we channeled our childhood memories of swings

and then napped on the grass

now for a little bit o' scarpa

the brion cemetery
it was amazing ! scarpa blew my mind!

at the querini stampalia
where the water from the canals comes into the building

st. mark's has pigeons who have NO regard to anyone's personal space
and i hate birds
enoch, james, and i played a game to see who would let pigeons feed off of us
we bought a croissant
and then i lost :(

this is really only a small fraction of my response
james has the whole video

and then he was nice enough to do it too :)

easy does it....

and getting a little too friendly

okay here are the bienale pictures.
there were SO many awesome pavilions, so i'll have to be discerning and show you the best ones
it was an architecture bienale this year :)

this cool digital presentation
you hold up a flat piece of plastic up to the screen and an axon of the space pops up!

a small child next to a huge site model

what's this??
the belly of...

a foam city

the slovenia exhibit
everyone gets a pet plant to walk :)

melynn is so cute

hungary had a pencil exhibit!

soooo many pencils

a giant orange beanbag
we couldn't resist

this year's fall line
modeled by james and melynn

the egyptian pavilion WOULD have a mummy
so predictable

inside one of my favorites
the romania pavilion was basically a big white box with peep holes and a large hole at the top. we we were only allowed to enter one at at time
it was awesome

peek-a-boo!

i think every large soft thing we found we immediately laid down on it
inside the nordic pavilion

OKAY LOOK AT THIS FREAKY PICTURE
HE LOOKS 2 DIMENSIONAL
there was a red screen at the french pavilion, and the sun was shining through it
and then it turned james into an evil holographic image

in front of the british pavilion, there's a manmade puddle for kids to play in

they even provided the footwear!

well, if the shoe fits...


the cloud room !

those are melynn's and james's feet

probably some architecture students "sketching the space"

GOOD JOB VENICE for showing us a great time!

BEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE
our pilgrimage (literally) to the therme vals by peter zumthor in switzerland

got up at 4 am to catch our 4:21 train to florence
then from florence to milan, milan to zurich, zurich to chur, chur to ilanze
and finally a bus ride on the mountainside from ilanz to therme vals
TOTALLY worth it, and every train ride in switzerland was breathtaking

i know i said italy is the most beautiful country in the world, but switzerland is DEFINITELY giving it a run for its money
switzerland is a whole other kind of beautiful
the mountain-kind of beautiful, my FAVORITE kind:)

one snapshot of the train ride there
it looked like this for like an hour :)

IT'S THIS PRETTY EVERYWHERE
THERE ISN'T A SINGLE SPOT OF UGLY IN SWITZERLAND

at the train station

this way to the BEST WEEKEND EVER

the lobby at the hotel therme

at the breakfast buffet
20 different kinds of breads, jams, tea, and yogurt. fresh fruit, cold cuts, cheese.
needless to say, a perfect way to start the day

the fluffiest bed ever, as melynn is modeling :)
it was like getting eaten by a marshmellow

we could see the steam coming from the outside bath from our hotel room

some other beauties from standing on our balcony
i promise these are for real


and now pictures from inside the baths
didn't want to risk a wet camera so i didn't take it into any of the rooms
pictures wouldn't do it justice anyway, it's really about the experience of being there yourself
and technically pictures aren't allowed, it was not easy trying to hide my chunky SLR under my bathrobe

also got a massage in the morning. it put me to sleep and then she made me tea while i sat on a chaise and looked out one of these pictures windows

all of us
look how happy and relaxed we are :)