Wondering why I didnt give a try to Venice earlier!

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June 26th 2012

Published: August 19th 2012

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Venice, Italy

And here comes Venice! Although a must see, I had somehow always managed to skip it to go for less touristy destination, having this pre conceived idea of a place where one could only find hordes of tourist and honeymoon couples… Well time to time guess it is a good idea, to ignore whatever you might have heard before and give it a try (ok and it was kind of on my way to Austria too…)

Ah the freedom of road trip…until you actually need to park the car!

Driving freely from one place to another is one my favorite way of traveling, just after the bus/ train rides where you got the added bonus to meet locals, but when it comes to Venice, a bit of advanced planning is needed if you don’t want to explode your budget.

Cars are not allowed in Venice itself except at the arrival point so when arriving by car you only have three options:

- Opt for an overpriced hotel in Venice itself or one of the few affordable hotel to which you would need to carry your luggage to & then park your car at the entrance

Ah Venice...

Venice, Italy

of Liberty bridge where you will pay for a yet overpriced daily parking fee (if you are lucky to find space available)

- Opt for yet a quite costly hotel on Lido (the island next door) where cars are accepted, but parking won’t come free either and then you would still have to cross to go to Venice itself

- Settle for an accommodation in one of the city located just before the bridge and use the excellent public transport network

Went for the option three and this is definitely a great one! I stayed in a lovely hotel in Marghera, called Antica Villa Graziella, a bright yellow house with extremely helpful staff, free parking space right in front and a bus stop at less than 5mn walking from where you can go straight to Venice city center. All in all, a good value for money hotel, no hassle with parking the car and in 15mn I was in Venice, love it!

Exploring the Venice of venetians

Guess I was still scared of potential hordes of tourist so most of my first day in Venice was spent exploring the back alleys where venetians actually

Venice, Italy

live. Not so many famous museums or churches here but an amazing labyrinth of colorful alleys, plenty of tiny canals and not quite so many gondolas which I assumed was a good sign!

One of my favorite area was the Dorsudaro known as the artistic heart of Venice, loved the atmosphere with people chatting seated on benches or at a terrace, kids playing on Campo Santa margherita, clothe drying out at the window & the usual ciao bella when passing by Italian men, hard not to enjoy! Even got approached twice by women asking in Italian where I got my shawl from and who were quite surprised when the answer came out in English, Italian language is definitely next on my list!

Time to time, would walk in one of the tiny cafes hidden here and there and order an espresso at the bar, simply love the taste of these and although by the end of the day the level of caffeine in my body must have been quite high, if I didn’t get to enjoy these while in Italy then when would I?

In the evening, I headed to the plaza San Marco via

Venice, Italy

vaporetti (water bus), and these are absolutely great! Got a 36 hours travel card (23 Euros) that gives you unlimited access to all the vaporetti and buses (works as well to go back to the hotel) which is a real bargain considering that a single ticket on one of these cost you 6.5 Euros. Seated outside at the front of the boat, your whole perspective of the city changes, no more head twisting looking up at the facades but instead wide water avenues along which churches, palazzo and plazas are lined up, small private boats passing by and sea gulls flying around.

Ended up going on and off along the Grand Canal, until I finally managed to reach San Marco, which is normally the touristy spot of Venice, but much less late afternoon once the tour groups are gone. The late afternoon light was just perfect, giving a nice warm hue to the golden mosaics on the Cathedral & an overall pleasant summer feel to the whole place.

Spent most of time, either taking some pictures or simply relaxing and watching people passing by, all monuments were closed and apart from the gondoliers who

Early morning coffee

Venice, Italy

were still quite busy, everyone else seem to have slow down its pace. I was seated along the canal admiring the grandeur of the place when the pinkish lamppost lining up the square lighted up, and that is exactly when the romantic feel of Venice literally hit me. The elegant beauty of the place combined with the charm & kindness of people and this feel of “je ne sais quoi”, definitely make of Venice a very romantic destination. Only idiots don’t change their mind and as for me in less than a day I had completely changed my approach on Venice…

The lovely dinner I had after that in a tiny little restaurant where I was the only foreigner simply finished to convince me, I am definitely in love with Venice ! This gem is called Osteria Alla Staffa and only has a few tables, no terrace and people walking in and out repeatedly only to be turned out as they hadn’t made a reservation (guess I was really lucky on that one as I hadn’t booked either…). The place is a family run business, with the father behind the stoves and the son taking care of

Venice, Italy

the clients, only fresh products and a quite small menu that change daily. I simply don’t recall the last time I had such a nice tasty Italian dinner while sampling some fine Italian wines, fully trusted the son on this and didn’t regret it!

Ready to give a try to the touristic spots!

The previous day had given me the energy to dig into Venice history and architecture and what a better place than the plaza San Marco to start with.

By 8.00 in the morning, I was on the square which was birds aside nearly empty, perfect way to start the day! Most sites only open around 9.30, so an early arrival allows you to have the place for yourself and be at the opening of the main sites, fewer crowds, less queuing and the possibility to secure last minute special visits when otherwise advanced booking is needed.

My favorites visits included:

The “secret itinerary” of the Ducal Palace – for an extra fee, you get to explore with a guide the “backstage” of the palazio where the administration worked during the Republic as well as

Venice, Italy

the cells where Casanova was locked in until he managed an incredible escape. We were a small group and the guide had a real talent to tell stories that propels you back into the past.

The one of Casanova is definitely entertaining to listen to, especially when it is an Italian who tell you the story of his failed attempt (he dug a hole under his bed only to be moved by coincidence to another cell just when he was about to escape) and the successful one… Casanova was under close watch due to his first escape attempt so he opted for the team work approach and managed to pass the piece of metal he had hidden to a priest jailed in the cell next to him by placing it into a book and putting a large plate of gnocchi on top of the book. The guard too distracted by the gnocchi didn’t check the inside of the book and every night the priest (jailed because he had had too many women) patiently dug a hole through the roof of this cell and then into the one of Casanova. The day of their escape, they put back their high

Venice, Italy

end outfits and as the part of the building they managed to reach was locked, Casanova simply passed his head by the window and got someone to come back inside and open the door for him to the main entrance, thinking that they had been locked in…and that is how he managed to escape through the main door and take refuge in France…

Campanile di San Marco, a quite pricey elevator ride but the panoramic view of the city gives you a bird view over Venice that is simply superb.

The clock tower, a tricky one to get the ticket for when you travel without a travel guide…Visits have to be booked in advance (a few hours ahead in my case) at the Correr museum which is as well the meeting point for the tour. The importance of this astronomical clock, built during the XV century is quite fascinating, due mostly to its location (gateway between the religious and political center of the city) and the fact that in addition to the time, it gives as well the astrological signs the sun is in and most importantly the moon. Venice was known as the

Along Venice Grand Canal

Venice, Italy

Queen of the Adriatic due to between other things its maritime power, the close watch of the moon cycles and impacts on tides was thus regulating the days spent on the water of its lagoon or out at sea.

Scuola grande di San Rocco, absolutely not a fan of Tintoretto but somehow enjoyed the visit of the house with its gigantic paintings including the ceiling ones all taken from the bible that you get to admire using a mirror (a nice break from the perpetual head twisting)

Rialto Bridge at night ! Seated on one of the wooden platform right by the water, pictures taking at night (especially when you forgot your tripod) is fun & challenging and before you know it you are in for a chat with fellow photographers!

Saint Mark's Basilica just before it closes for the day (around 4.45pm) as you simply don’t want to spend a few hours queuing to get in… The other option (wish I had knew about it earlier) is to pre book your visit (will cost you one euro per person, definitely worth it). The basilica is known for its mosaic and

Breathtaking view

Venice, Italy

gold background, which are the architectural elements that link the different areas together, the sun filtering in simply magnifies these and makes you once more going for the head twisting exercise! Looking at these mosaics it is the whole history of Venice you go through to the extent that you have to force yourself to admire the other architectural treasures hidden inside the basilica and its marbles which are like the vein of trees…

And the most colorful one for the end! Burano…a true firework of colors, each house more exuberant than the other, only the water on which these atypical rainbow reflects itself attenuate slightly the brightness of colors. Late afternoon already and the village is literally asleep but walking around was a pure delight and so was the ride in vaporetti from Venice and back…a visit in Venice would definitely be complete without a stop by Burano…

Time to head to my favorite snack place, Fritto & Frutta, to get one last bite of its fantastic oven baked delicacies from the fresh calamari to the cheese and vegetable, absolutely not healthy but truly self indulging!

Next…and I

Venice, Italy

am definitely running behind when it comes to updating my blog, been traveling non stop since June…Vienna, Austria; Poland and a great three days party in the countryside and Berlin…Hope to manage to write a blog about the latest as it was after Italy one of my favorite place, street art and more street art !

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