The adventures of Mama & Papa Bean continue after their spectacular Mediterranean Cruise with a few days exploring the magical sinking island city of Venice. Enjoy!  ~ Mandrew

In Venice, our plan was to take a free shuttle bus, then use a People Mover train to get us to a square where we would be able to get a vaporetto (water bus) to St. Mark’s Square (where our hotel was).  Upon arrival, however, we found that there was no shuttle, so we walked a while (no biggie) and then caught the People Mover. At the vaporetto stop, we were told that there was a strike going on, so we might not be able to get a vaporetto. We bought our tickets anyway and after moving from one pier to another (it was quite confusing) we boarded a boat, but were informed that it would only take us as far as the Rialto Bridge (about halfway). So, we had to get off at the Rialto bridge and hoof it with our big suitcases – along narrow lanes and up and down bridges over canals. And to make things worse, we crossed over the big and hectic Rialto Bridge because I thought we were on the wrong side, only to find that we weren’t – so we had to cross it again! [Mandrew: unfortunately, I inherited my sense of direction from my dad].

This next post from Mandrew's parents talks about the incredible experience they had on their 12 day Mediterranean cruise.  Neither of us have been on a cruise before, but HOLY CRAP it sounds like they had an awesome time!  The idea of packing all that action into such a short time blows our minds... we're pretty sure Mama Bean (Donna) somehow extracts her endurance from red wine.  =)  Enjoy!

Mandrew's beany parents recently had an incredible travel adventure of their own, and as they were sharing some of their fun stories with us during our last FaceTime chat, we thought it would be fun to have them put them down in writing for our blog.  So, with no further ado, we present the first of their entries (and the first ever Two Bein' Chili guest post), Barcelona.