Ah, Venice!

Day 2: Historic Venice

Since our first meeting as a group wasn't until 9:30, my family and I left the hotel around 8 and explored Venice on our own.  Venice in the early morning, it seemed, belonged only to us!  Since most of the tourists who come to Venice either stay in one of the 'luxury' (aka American) -style hotels on the mainland or on one of the -gulp- massive cruise ships that stop in for the day, the streets, squares and canals are blissfully tourist-free in the early and late hours of the day.  Believe it or not, being out and about in the morning allows you to see- gasp- actual Venetians going about their business!  We spent an hour walking through empty squares and watching boats loaded with food and goods deliver their stores to businesses in town.  

Later that morning, we met back up with our group for a tour of the Galleria San Marco, a glass factory located on Saint Mark's Square.  We got to watch a glass blowing demonstration, then tour their gallery, where it was hard to resist buying a few of the beautiful pieces of glass for sale there– I got some jewelry and a little glass gondola, myself! If you don’t see exactly what you want, there are hundreds of little shops selling glass all over town.  I decided to help the local economy by buying at as many places as I could… :O)

 Once our tour of the glass factory was done, we were free for lunch and then met up with Roberta, our local guide for the afternoon, to tour the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica San Marco.  The Doge’s palace was incredibly ornate, a reminder of the extravagant golden age of Venetian culture.  Walking into the Basilica, however, was like walking into the Byzantine era– I can’t even imagine the hours it must have taken to cover the walls and ceilings with intricate, colorful mosaics.  I could have stood there all day, just looking up!

We were free for dinner and then met back up for an unscheduled but absolutely amazing group gondola ride– singer and band included!  It’s hard to describe how wonderful and memorable this was, except to say that this is one of those moments I wish I could save in a jar and re-live whenever I was feeling down!  I know that the gondola ride thing may seem a bit cliché, or a bit touristy, but it really was worth it– especially having the musicians along!     

After the gondola ride, we stopped at a café off of Saint Mark’s square for some prosecco– a perfect end to a perfect day!

Day 3: The Art of Wandering in Venice

This morning, we set out early on a walking tour with Louisella, another fantastic local guide.  As we walked towards the Accademia (a great museum filled with works of art that the Venetians both made and ‘borrowed’ over the years), she taught us more about her amazing city. 

Next, we went to the Frari Church, which is home to Titians “Assumption” and other amazing paintings.  If you’re in Venice on your own, I would definitely recommend seeing if she’s available for a tour!

We had the rest of the afternoon free and, though it seems like a lot of time, we could have found 1,000 different ways to fill it up.  Unable to decide, my family and I looked in our guide book, each voted on which of the “Top Sights” we wanted to see, and picked a few that we thought we could get to in the time remaining.  We ended up going to the Rialto Bridge, the “Tragicomica” Mask Shop, spent some time wandering the smaller, crowd-free back lanes and then took a sunset ride on the Vaporetto.  We would have liked to have seen the islands of Murano and Burano, but if we saw everything on the first trip, we wouldn’t have such a great excuse to come back again!  We must have walked 10 miles that day, but don’t worry– we had enough pizza, pasta and gelato to prevent malnourishment!

As the sun set over the Grand Canal that evening, I found it hard to resist photographing everything in sight, because I anted to be able to remember every second of this wonderful trip! 

To Florence!

My very own view!- looking out my window 

The Zattere Stop

Bud & Linda in Piazza San Marco

The Flags in Piazza San Marco are flown only on Sundays and Holidays —since we arrived on Easter Monday, we got a special treat!

Day 1: Arrival & Introductions

 We arrived at Marco Polo Airport, and stepped giddily onto Italian soil for the first time.  We bought a ticket for the Alilaguna Shuttle Boat (yes, boat) and rode it to the Zattere stop, where our hotel, the Hotel Belle Arti, was located.  If we had wanted to arrive in luxury, there were also private (but expensive) private taxi boats available (like the ones Indiana Jones smashes up in "The Last Crusade").  

Our hotel was only a few steps from the Zattere stop, down a quiet street near an old monastery and bell tower.  When we reached the hotel lobby, we found that our Guide, Ferdi, had posted our itinerary and info on where and when to meet.  

That afternoon, Ferdi met with us all, described a bit of what we were in for, and took us off on a short tour of the town near Piazza San Marco before a dinner of local seafood specialties at a wonderful restaurant nearby.  I could easily write a long-winded description of Venice here, but I'm sure you'd rather see it for yourself, so here are a few pictures, and don't miss these Venice Webcams!

Linda gets a first look at Venice from the Alilaguna boat

The Bridge of Sighs... sigh...

Looking towards Santa Maria della Salute- beautiful even with scaffolding all around!

Oooooh, Aaaahhhh- Ferdi shows us the world's first Digital Clock- built 600 years ago!

Where did all the tourists go?                Linda beats the crowds to the shops.

One of the master artists at the Galleria San Marco glass factory makes us a 'leetl' horse -Then, I bought a 'leetl' jewelry...

"Everyone said I was daft to build a tower in the swamp, but I did it anyway!"

Venice is built almost entirely on mud with millions of wood posts for support- I guess we should be impressed that this tower is as straight as it is...

The intricate, ancient mosaics of San Marco   

Roberta, one of our wonderful local guides, shows us the Doge’s Palace

In total awe as we ride the gondola, and it really sinks in: “We’re in Venice!!!”

Prosecco: We’d call it champagne, but I think the French would sue us… 

Louisella shows us the Frari using great little headsets that allowed us to hear her every word, even if we wandered a few feet away! I’m sure everyone else in the church appreciated the devices, too, since they kept it nice and quiet!

Titian’s “Assumption”

The Rialto Bridge– beautiful, but visit it early or share it with 1,000 of your closest friends!

For a great view of the Canal at a low cost, ride a Vaporetto at Sunset!