Day Five - Drove to Venice via Lugano and Verona

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Day Five - Drove to Venice via Lugano and Verona

On day five, we left the peace and solitude found at the Italian Lakes within Lombardy to the tourist crowds of Venice.

First we head towards the border into Switzerland. Since the Swiss chose not to be part of the EU and they have strict controls on what passes into their country, we had to stop for a quick inspection and the checking of our papers.. Our Tour Director gave us a great summary of the Swiss history and culture. Quite fascinating. We stopped in Lugano for about one and a half hours worth of shopping. There were watches and chocolates purchased in large quantities. It was also a wet day with drizzling here and there.

After our shopping spree, we cruised back into Italy (much easier going that way, as they let everyone in) and headed to our next top at Verona Italy. We needed to breakup the long drive with a stop, and this providential city is a great place. The Verona City center is still contained within much of its protective walls and the Roman influence in architecture is quite obvious. Unfortunately this was a quick stop to stretch our legs so we didn't get any real quality sightseeing. We did get to see the outside of the Roman arena and amphitheater which was built in 30 AD. And we did see Casa di Giulietta where Romeo climbed up to Juliet's balcony. We ate some street food and made our way back to the coach for Venice. It was beginning to rain much harder on this day.

When we reached Venice area we hit the ferry to Lido at the perfect time. We stayed on the coach while Maurizio drove us on the ferry. We exited the couch while the ferry took us through the large canal boarding the southern part of the city of Venice. The temperature was perfect and we had no rain; we grabbed a beer and stood as we cruised through this wonderful place. There were little boats, ferries and gigantic cruise ships all moving in all directions. It was simply amazing sight for the eyes.

Our destination was the island of Lido. This is a very long water bound island about 15 minutes by boat from San Marcos Square. This is the island that Italians go for holiday. It has small shops, cafes, villas, resorts and a very long and popular beach facing the Adriatic Sea.

We jumped back into the bus and head to our new hotel, the Grand Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria. With all the ornate tiles all over the building, we thought we were stopping at a museum. But no, this is our hotel for the next three nights.

We took a short break, before we took off for our trip into Venice by night. We boarded two special limosine type of boats that took us into the grand canal via open air cruising. This optional is called Magical Venice, and after seeing Venice in the day time, I have to say seeing it at night is much better. No crowds, no pick pocketeers, no derelicts trying to sell knock-offs. It is the best way to see the main sites of the Grand Canal. After the cruise our TD arranged for us to walk through St Mark's square to enjoy a drink while listening to some live classical music. No only were the musicians very talented, but they were good at putting on a show.

We returned to our hotel for the evening.

EPI Notes:
One comment ... Take the Magical Venice Cruise. No doubt.

And the provided dinner was quite nice. We walked to a risorante and was served "good" food and wine. But it felt authentic and we had a good time.

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