Venice, Italy – Now I know what teachers feel like in the last week before summer vacation. We’ve reached the point where I’m ready to take field trips pretty much everyday. Honestly, nothing else is going to get accomplished here.…
Palazzo Ducale
Venice, Italy – Now that it’s December, the tourists are gone (except for us!), the Venetians are friendlier and it’s safe to go to Piazza San Marco. We took our visitors to the Palazzo Ducale–the Doge’s Palace–for a primer on…
Venice Naval History Museum
Venice, Italy – The Museo Storico Navale–aka the Naval History Museum–is approximately two minutes away from our apartment. And there is a giant anchor out front marking the entrance. We walk by it nearly everyday. I can’t believe it took…
Murano
Venice, Italy – The glassmakers’ workshop in Murano was obviously a hit with the twins, because: fire. (Twin S now asking for a blowtorch for Christmas.) But there’s more fun to be had on the island of Murano. We didn’t…
Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Venice, Italy – If I were independently wealthy, I would buy a palazzo on the Grand Canal and use it to house my fabulous collection of modern art and to entertain my artist friends. There is so much to love…
Venice Museum of Natural History
Venice, Italy – The Venice Museum of Natural History is creepy. So of course my kids loved it. This place is filled with specimens that explorers brought back from around the world — featuring everything from stuffed animals to mummies…
Ötzi the Iceman
Bolzano, South Tyrol – It’s a cloudy day in the Dolomites, so we decided to spend the morning with Ötzi the Iceman. Hikers in the nearby mountains found this 5000-year-old mummy frozen in the ice. He now resides at the…
Edward M Kennedy Institute for the US Senate
Boston, Mass – The legacy of the Kennedys continues to influence the political and cultural landscape in Boston. The Edward M Kennedy Institute for the US Senate is a cool new addition to the city’s educational circuit. It’s an interactive…
Have sketchbook, will travel
Boston, Mass – We used to be regulars at the Museum of Fine Arts. You know, back when the twins didn’t go to school and I was always looking for things to do with them. (Read about some of our…
Bonk Museum
Uusikaupunki, Finland – Bonk Museum is clever, but definitely one of the oddest museums I have been to. It details the history of the fictitious Finnish company, Bonk Inc, from its early days producing the hallucinogen Garum from anchovy relish,…