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Published: August 27th 2010
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This is one of the highlights of our summer...Venice in style! My first visit to Venice was back in 1996...at the time I was a student, and I stay at the local youth hostel...for info, there is a youth hostel in Venice, still there in Giudecca. This time...well...another style...a way more romantic one and I'm not alone, as I'm with Ma'ri and Leslie!
Venice is really not a city for single...well, back in 1996...I was young, student and without many pennies and single aka the youth hostel was a perfect place! This time, having Leslie with us doesn't specially make it romantic either...but hey, we have the love and the family...and this can be traded from time to time for a little less romance...but what you lose in romance, you gain in love and cuddles! Family life does rock!
We stay 48 hours in Venice...I would have stay more...but time is running and the holidays are over soon. We arrived by car, parked the car for 48 hours...and hop on foot to our first little palace. We spent the first night at the Gritti Palace, right on the Grand Palace. Little Palace with only 93 rooms....this is THE place
in Venice, sharing the crown with the Cipriani maybe. And yes, we landed a Grand Deluxe Lagoon room with a small balcony...the only thing better...was the top suite...but hey, this is a little too much maybe. The suite that we didn;t get only market at ....3300 euros a night!
Standing on your balcony drinking some bubbles and enjoying the view of the Grand Canal is a truly special experience. I don't think there is a lot to add to that. On our first day, the sun was there, just for us as the day before had been seriously rainy, but as we arrived late in the day, we didn't experienced most of that rain in Venice! First thing first, our first stop was for the Palazzo Ducale, also known as the Palace of the Doges. Well...here too, there is not much need to go in details. Sadly not many pictures from the inside as most room are not open to cameras...opening your eyes is the rule here! Leslie truly enjoyed the prison, which is kind of normal...and fascinating for a young adventurer!
After the Palazzo Ducale, second stop was for the Peggy Collection at the Guggenheim. I would
have personnaly hope for more explanations next to the paintings. I have to admit, we did not took the audio tour...these museums are not cheap! But here I got bluffed! Do you know much about the Italian Futurism school of painting...me...not much...but Leslie...a lot, as he studied them last year at school....good news, we had our own guide. This was a great experience too for Leslie,being face to face to an original is somewhere an experience for such a young age!
By the time we finished to visit the Guggenheim, it was time for lunch....but first, a little complementary aperitivo on the terrace of the Guggenheim...always a nice experience! We made our way across the Ponte della Accademia to the Campo San Stefano for a lunch at Beccafico. The place was advised to us by the concierge at the Gritti. Not cheap, but great food. Venice is not well-known for great food, so a little prior homework always helps. I can confirm, so many plates on so many of these restaurants...look simply not nice. So it was a very pleasant and gastronomic experience.
After lunch, it was time to move our "home in Venice". We moved from a
huge lagoon room at the Gritti to...a very nice suite at the Danieli. This time, no canal view, but a side view right on the prison of Palazzo Ducale. The "little no so little suite" had just been redesigned by Garcia, one of the "in-moment" designer. This place was another piece of history...impressive! We spent the afternoon walking around Venice and enjoying the joy to get lost from time to time. As usual, it was also time for our usual little icecream stop.
Evening dinner, pizza time, thanks again to a very nice concierge...and yes, if you want to eat nice, you have to be ready to wait a little from time to time. Leslie was dead...and happy to retire to some tv time...so we had some "us" time to enjoy a little piazza behind the hotel...some good wine...some cigar...nice evening!
The next day was...island day. We spent a lot of time on vaporettos. For info...here is one or two advises...40 minutes of gondola...100 euros....crossing the Grand Canal on a 5 minutes big gondola...only 50 cents per person. Vaporetto ticket is 6.5 euros per person for a one way...expensive...but a 12 hours ticket is just around 18 euros
per head...so for a full day on vaporettos, it's not that bad...just a question of timing! So plan to enjoy, small things can help a lot!
So morning...after a nice long night...we made our way to Murano. I love the place, simply because it is a lot less crowded. Hundreds of shops all around the island, with some looking like serious art galeries. Ok, some of these glass creations are really really nice....but they are also seriously too expensive for our budget...or let me re-phrased...when you spend 2 months on the road...you have to learn to make choices! I'm not ready to take only 2 weeks holidays a year tomorrow!
We went back on another vaporetto to Venise, this time exploring the area north of the Grand Canal. Here, not many tourists, just the locals. Our lunch was in a lovely tratorria. There was no name on the front of the restaurant....but a nice little wine, nice pastas...and the best...no crowd around, we were eating next to a local canal...great view, great scenery and nice people to look at during our very nice lunch....follow obviously by our usual and delicious icecream.
We walk back all our
way to San Marco...enjoying also on more little vaporetto ride before coming back to Piazza San Marco...this time on the program was the Basilica di San Marco. Funny enough, it's my third visit to Venice, but only my first time actually inside the Basilica.
Later, we enjoy some rest in the Danieli, and it was already time to pack to go back to the car. That night, we were to sleep in Padova. Not as glamorous I need to admit...but tomorrow morning, we have some drive to do.
So this is it for sunny Venice. We arrive just after heavy rain...and we had 2 days of perfect sun! Amazing experience, amazing stay!
It's so good to have the family I have, and for this I know I'm blessed.
Next entry is from another nice place....coming soon...
So with love from three of us! See you very soon...
PS. Disclaimer. I also hope some of you will read this part. Gritti...our room was marketed at 750euros for the night the night we stay...and Danieli, the market price was 840 euros for our night( I'm tempted to say...not even including breakfas!). What we paid...nothing at the
Gritti and 130 euros at the Danieli. Both hotels are part of Starwood, and I play the game of their frequent stay program. They run a promotion...you stay 3 stays in any Starwood property, and they give you a free week-end night...you read me...spend 3 times one night spending 100usd a night, and this is what you get...well...I stay a lot with them, which give me automatic upgrades on top of it and a very special treatment. Danieli was simply a mix of cash and few points...amazing deals. If I had to pay full price for everything I do, I would never do what I do...it's all a question of planing...and planing a lot. If you love upgrades in airplanes, most people do not know that the game is even better with hotels! It's just a question of making your homeworks!
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liliram
liliram
Love ur traveling style!
Hey, you guys are truly living it up. Starwood perks or none, deal or no deal, that 's one fine way to celebrate life. Bravo. Celebrate! Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I always enjoy reading your adventures.