Venice Archives - Weary Wanderer

European Summer Part III: Venice

Published on June 23, 2025June 23, 2025 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

Hi friends — welcome to our 48 hours in Venice!

Look, here’s the thing about amazing Venice. Every single place is fantastic. So I literally took no notes of names. Not for restaurants. Not for shops. Not for drinks. Any and everywhere you eat or go here will be … fantastic.

Chris and I were so happy to have this time in Venice, not only because the grandparents were here to help give us some time alone, but because the last time we were here it was for one night, and our experience was very different. We had the best time this trip around. Here’s a bit of what we saw and did …

Taking a private water taxi from the airport to your Airbnb sets the bar pretty high.

Chris and I took pretty much the entire day by ourselves to explore and eat and drink while the grandparents took the girls to see …

Breakfast both mornings. YUM. We never got there early enough to try the pistachio croissant, but the honey, chocolate, and cream ones were a delight.

We had lunch and our first Aperol Spritz of the day at the fanciest restaurant with a live quartet playing. Who even are we??

Rooftop bar + second Aperol Spritz = Perfection.

There was a third Aperol Spritz in there somewhere, but I guess I didn’t deem it worthy of a photo 😉 We DID take an evening gondola ride, though, and that was so dreamy.

After an insane dinner, we capped the night off with gelato in the square. The best.

Even though it was only two nights, we truly packed it in.

Venice, thank you for putting on a show for us. We loved every second of it. (P.S. Can’t recommend our Airbnb enough. It was totally in the heart of things, but also so solitary and quiet. Perfect for both things.)

After we checked out of our Airbnb we took another water taxi to our rental car and drove three hours to .. the Dolomites! We’re here now, and it is so incredibly gorgeous. As I always say, I can’t wait to explore. Until then, friends … bis bald!

The Inspirational Animals of My Travels

Published on December 3, 2013December 3, 2013 by Cheryl LockLeave a comment

As I sit here working on a passion project of mine — which, to be fair, I’ve been working on for the better part of a year now — I realized that I’ve up until this time passed up a perfectly lovely opportunity to give thanks to all the inspirational animals I’ve come across in my travels. These animals have been so much fun to meet and learn about, and I’m so grateful to them for being a part of the learning process that is traveling.

So without further ado, please meet some of my favorite animals I’ve met on my journeys:

^^ This is Shawn the Koala from the Koala Park Zoo in Sydney.
He’s the animal that started my whole project idea.

^^ Can’t you tell he’s just whispering amazing ideas in my direction!

^^ This is a replica of a Kookaburra bird in the
Museum of Natural History. They’re known for their good-natured,
hysterical laugh, which can sound a lot like a human’s.

^^ This is a red panda — let’s call her Jia. This photo is from the
Philadelphia Zoo, which is sort of cheating because my real
inspiration came from the red pandas at the Central Park Zoo.
This was a better photo, though.

^^ These are pigeons. And while yes, these pigeons are in London,
let’s be honest — the real inspirational pigeons live right here in
good ole’ NYC.

^^If we’re being even more honest, my true obsession with pigeons began
when I was a toddler and my parents lost me in the Piazza San Marco
in Venice because I was chasing them. That’s why I took this
dorky photo when we were back there in 2012.

What inspires you when you travel?

Bis bald, friends!

A Gorgeous (and Expensive) Drive Through the Alps

Published on October 10, 2012 by Cheryl Lock17 Comments

Hi friends,

So back to last Wednesday morning, Chris and his dad left the hotel early to pick up our rental car so that we could get on out of Munich. We would be driving about 2 hours from Munich to Salzburg to drop Chris’s parents off (it was so sad to say goodbye!), and then Chris and I would be continuing on to Venice.

We knew that we were starting off with an expensive journey, since renting a car in one country and returning it in another is, you know, not that cheap.

Little did we know that was just the beginning …

Continue reading “A Gorgeous (and Expensive) Drive Through the Alps” →