VENEZIA
Day 1
Venezia from the plane
Above: Enjoying a meal at a non-flooded restaurant on 10/29
Below: Delicious dessert made of lemon gelato, vodka, and prosecco
Flying into Venezia and Trying to Get to Our Hotel
So, we had saw the weather forecast before taking off in San Francisco for Venice, and it said "rain". Which we all though, okay... so we'll just wear our rain jackets, we should be fine. HAHAHA were we wrong. Never did we think we would land in Venice on October 29th to historic floods throughout the city. 😱
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After getting off the planes and grabbing our bags, we walked into chaos that was the Venice airport. All the water taxis were booked so we had to take car to the closest port to the city. Then we had to try and flag down a taxi driver who would take us from there to Rialto Bridge. Some begging and a few Euro later, we made it to the Rialto Bridge thinking we had made it through the worse of it. NOPE.
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We walked down the ramp from the boat stop, and realized the walking ramp ends short of our hotel, the Pensione Guerrato, which is still over a block away. The water is knee high and none of us are prepared. Having no real other choice, we held our suitcases above our heads, and jumped into the water to trudge our way to our hotel. We had to make it there in time for orientation!
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Meeting the Group
And we barely made it in time for orientation. We raced up the stairs with our wet shoes and clothing to change into some of our dry belongings and then headed back down to the dining room to meet the wonderful people we would be spending the next ten days with.
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After everyone introduced themselves, our fearless Rick Steves tour guide, Patricia, magically found us a restaurant near by that was not flooded AND we also did not need to walk through water to get there. We dined on pasta, fish, and the most delicious dessert as we all bonded over the stories of how we survived the high waters of Venice.
Day 2
Photos from the walking tour + Piazza San Marco
Scenes from our afternoon + evening
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Walking Tour + Piazza San Marco
We started our morning with a walking tour through Venice, and while it was wet out, the knee high water had receded and it was like nothing had ever happened. Our wonderful local guide for the day was Betta. She took us through some back alleyways and we ended our morning at Piazza San Marco. We made it there just in time to watch the lights turn on and reflect against the beautiful tiled ceiling and walls inside the Basilica. After the Basilica we spent the rest of the day wondering the many alleyways of Venezia and possibly getting a little lost along the way.
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Exploring On Our Own + Cicchetti Bars
We decided to take advantage of the good weather and sunshine, and wandered the streets of Venice for the afternoon in search of lunch and the sights. We definitely got lost and may have had to turn a phone on to figure out how to get back to our hotel. BUT before heading back to meet the group to check out a cicchetti bar, we went to the top of the T Fondaco Rooftop Terrace for some beautiful views of Venezia as the sun was setting.
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Then we headed back to the hotel to walk to a nearby cicchetti bar with members of our tour group. These are famous in Venice for the local appetizers that the bars offer with their drinks each evening. After an exhausting full day in Venice, we grabbed some pizzas to go and headed back to our hotel to rest up for Day 3.
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Day 3
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Accademia Museum
Today started bright and early with an early entrance into the Accademia Museum with our local guides Betta and Suzanna to admire some early Venetian Renaissance artwork. After an educational morning, we grabbed a quick espresso and headed to explore the islands of Burano and Torcello.
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Burano + Torcello
Next on our itinerary was a boat ride to the town of Burano - known for its lace goods and colorful buildings. After the hour long boat ride, we disembarked and were let loose to explore the city, find some lunch, and do a little souvenir shopping.
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Our next stop was the even smaller island of Torcello, where Cipriani is located, although there were no celebrity sightings on this day. We toured the Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta which has beautiful mosaics similar to the ones inside St. Mark's in Venezia. Unfortunately, they were partially covered for restoration. After this, we headed back so we could have some dinner and ride the gondolas in Venice.
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Evening Gondola Ride
We ended our day with a sunset gondola ride with our fellow tour members. We were lucky enough to be on the same boat as the musicians, and it was quite magical. Definitely recommend doing this if you're ever in Venice, and the additional cost for a singer is worth it. A little taste of our singer is in the video to the right. I can't recall his name, but he is from Costa Rica and his voice is magical.
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Photos from Day 3
Closing thoughts on Venezia...
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What a way to start the tour - with an immediate "wow" moment. As miserable as we were walking through knee high water, it will be amazing to be able to tell everyone we know that we all experienced history in Venice.
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There is also so much more to Venice than just the main island. The small neighboring islands that make up the Province are just as quaint and full of history and definitely worth the boat rides to explore for a day.
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