Venice
After leaving Calgary at 8:45 pm on Monday the 25th we finally arrived at Venice's Marco Polo Airport (Aeroporto di Venezia Marco Polo) on the 26th around 9:30 pm (a 16.75 hours travel time with an 8 hour time change). Needless to say we were pretty tired and anxious to get to our hotel and we waited a long time at the baggage area only to find that our luggage didn't make the trip from London.
After making a lost luggage claim, we caught the Blue bus that takes you right to Venice. It was more expensive than the city transit Orange bus, but we were in no mood to care by this point. By the time the bus took us across the causeway it was already late at night so we didn't get to see much during our approach.
We then took the No. 1 Vaporetti (or Water Bus) that wends its way down the Grand Canal from our Bus Stop to the Santa Maria del Giglio Stop just under the Gritti Palace in the sestieri (district) of San Marco (this is also where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out with the Traghetti Gondoliers).
The only gondolas still in common use by "Real" Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries (that you stand up in) crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges. The classic Gondola that people are familiar with is now mostly used for tourists, weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies.
http://maps.yourgmap.com/v/e_is_Venezia.html
The hotel we booked was the Hotel Residenza San Maurizio just off of the Campo San Maurizio, of course, and fairly near the more famous and expensive Gritti.
The hotel is located on the ground floor of a 16th century palace and it doesn't look like much from the outside. The hotel information said that it was recently renovated, preserving its original Venetian atmosphere. Apparently the smells off the "canale" are included for free.
Because the shared rooms were all full, we got upgraded to a suite that included a bathroom which was a godsend after our long flight and given that we didn't have any toiletries or a change of clothes.
We like Venice best so far as it is a little more laid back but there wasn't as much to do. We took the Doge's Palace 'Secret Itineraries' tour which takes you through the administrative areas of the Palace located on a series of half floors which from the outside looks like full height floors or attics. Here we got to see the cell that Casanova broke out of in the Piombi or "Leads" where prisoners were kept in the eaves of the doge’s palace. Plus we got to see the bones of the building that are supporting the paintings that people are looking up at from below.
Leaving early in the evening we got a much better view as we left venice, but it was so late we missed the rest of the country side on our way to Florence. We resolved to make up for that our next train trip.
After making a lost luggage claim, we caught the Blue bus that takes you right to Venice. It was more expensive than the city transit Orange bus, but we were in no mood to care by this point. By the time the bus took us across the causeway it was already late at night so we didn't get to see much during our approach.
We then took the No. 1 Vaporetti (or Water Bus) that wends its way down the Grand Canal from our Bus Stop to the Santa Maria del Giglio Stop just under the Gritti Palace in the sestieri (district) of San Marco (this is also where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out with the Traghetti Gondoliers).
The only gondolas still in common use by "Real" Venetians are the traghetti, foot passenger ferries (that you stand up in) crossing the Grand Canal at certain points without bridges. The classic Gondola that people are familiar with is now mostly used for tourists, weddings, funerals, or other ceremonies.
http://maps.yourgmap.com/v/e_is_Venezia.html
The hotel we booked was the Hotel Residenza San Maurizio just off of the Campo San Maurizio, of course, and fairly near the more famous and expensive Gritti.The hotel is located on the ground floor of a 16th century palace and it doesn't look like much from the outside. The hotel information said that it was recently renovated, preserving its original Venetian atmosphere. Apparently the smells off the "canale" are included for free.
Because the shared rooms were all full, we got upgraded to a suite that included a bathroom which was a godsend after our long flight and given that we didn't have any toiletries or a change of clothes.
We like Venice best so far as it is a little more laid back but there wasn't as much to do. We took the Doge's Palace 'Secret Itineraries' tour which takes you through the administrative areas of the Palace located on a series of half floors which from the outside looks like full height floors or attics. Here we got to see the cell that Casanova broke out of in the Piombi or "Leads" where prisoners were kept in the eaves of the doge’s palace. Plus we got to see the bones of the building that are supporting the paintings that people are looking up at from below.
Leaving early in the evening we got a much better view as we left venice, but it was so late we missed the rest of the country side on our way to Florence. We resolved to make up for that our next train trip.
posted by John at
10:56 AM
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