Italy - Venice - Days 1-3 (May 23-25)
- May 9
- 4 min read
Updated: May 25
Friday 5/22
Katie and Mike are once again on their way to another European adventure. This year, we decided that since we had such a great experience a few years ago with the Rick Steves "My Way" tour of the Alps, we would try it again this year with a tour of Italy (isn't that an Olive Garden menu item?). For the "my way tours" the travel company takes care of all of the travel and lodging, and we get to choose what we do each day on our tour. This year, we will have stops in Venice, Bolzano, Cinque Terre, Florence, Assisi, and Rome.
We took off from Seatac Friday evening, and thanks to the screaming toddler a few rows away, we had a nice rest-free ten hour flight to Frankfurt. Katie was super excited about that part of the trip because screaming kids are her favorite thing in the world!
Saturday 5/23
Once we arrived in Venice we made our way out of the airport and caught a water taxi to our hotel. One cool aspect of Venice is the fact that the city is built on an archipelago of over 100 islands which are separated by over 170 canals and connected by hundreds of bridges. For the tour, we are on the main island of Venice (well, that was anticlimactic!).
After about 45 minutes on the water taxi, we finally arrived to our destination and were overdue for some food and a good night's sleep! We arrived at the Hotel Lux in the heart of Venice, threw down our luggage, and crashed out for a nice 3 hour nap! After awaking from our slumber, we quickly walked the local neighborhood to find something delicious to eat. We decided on some late-night gluten-free pizza to introduce us to our first local meal....yummy!! Afterwards, it was off to a well-earned night of sleep to take the edge off of the jet lag!
Sunday 5/24
After about 11 hours of sleep, we woke up and felt GREAT! Time for a fun day around town before the "beginning of the tour meeting" with the group at 5pm that evening.
We started off with a cappuccino and chocolate filled croissant from a little coffee shop outside of our hotel door, and it was exactly what was needed to begin the day (I mean, what's wrong with a little caffeine and sugar???). Afterwards, we prepared for the day. The first thing we had to do was change hotels (long story), so we packed up and traveled 50 feet down the narrow street to the tour sponsored hotel Antigo Trovatore. We left our luggage for a later check-in after 2pm and headed out for the day.
The first stop of the day was a visit to the Doge's Palace in St. Mark's square in the heart of Venice. The palace which is one of the main landmarks in Venice, was built in 1424 and includes old government offices, a jail, and the residence of the Doge of Venice who was the elected leader of the Republic of Venice. The building also included large meeting and reception rooms intended entertain and impress foreign dignitaries. Additionally, there were many rooms which were dedicated to all things military, including swords, armor, crossbows, shields, guns, and any other weapon you could imagine using to defend your city-state from aggressive neighbors*. (*see Mike living in Federal Way).
The second stop of the day we stayed in St. Mark's square and voyaged through St. Mark's Basilica. Construction on the church probably began in the late 800s and finished sometime during the 1700s. The interior of the church is enormous and represented the standard conception of a typical medieval church which was to overwhelm the observer with the omnipotent power of God and to minimize mankind to a mere small insignificant being who is at the mercy of God. I'm pretty sure that I felt the power of the architects and engineers instead.
Afterwards, we stopped in St. Mark's square and had a nice refreshing limoncello spritz to cool us off. After a second consecutive evening of pizza for dinner, we decided to take a nice romantic sunset gondola ride through the meandering canals which transverse Venice. The 45 minute voyage took us through several neighborhoods and culminated with a trip under the famous Rialto bridge. It was an absolutely clear night and we enjoyed every moment under the moon and stars, even as our gondolier attempted singing a few Italian ballads in an unknown key. We returned back to the hotel room afterwards to enjoy a solid night's sleep in preparation for a fun day tomorrow.
Monday 5/25
Monday morning commenced with a nice breakfast of cappuccinos and panini breakfast sandwiches. Today we decided to do an "eat like a local" food tour of Venice. This was a fantastic voyage through the culinary delights that Venice had to offer, but through the perspective of a local citizen, bypassing the touristy, pricey options. We visited the Cantina Do Mori and had a traditional Venetian sandwich, the Salumeria Roby & Giusy where we had prosciutto, local salami with a white truffle bruschetta, and Latteria Vecchio/Ubriaco cheese with a balsamic reduction along with a Refosco wine. We then traveled to the Oseria Ruga Rialto and had sardines, mixed fried seafood, shrimp and zucchini pasta and Glera bubbles (prosecco), and Friulano wine followed by a trip to Cantina do Spade where we had a mozzarella sandwich, house merlot and ascoli olives. We concluded by picking up a delicious pastry at Pasticceria Rizzardini and finished by having a macchiato at a local coffee shop and gelato. YUMMM!! Everything was delicious. What a great way to get to know local cultural preferences. You really get to know people, their history and their culture through their food and drink (just ask Anthony Bourdain or Stanley Tucci!)
After an afternoon siesta to sleep off the calories ingested, we went to a very nice dinner at the upscale Santo Mare restaurant in the St. Mark's area to have an amazing dinner of salted branzino (sea bass), roasted potatoes, and a nice local white wine to cap off a perfect day of culinary excellence. Needless to say, we won't be eating again until we get to Florence next week!
Venice was everything that we expected, and more! What a fantastic beginning to our trip. Tomorrow we rise early and head to Bolzano, high up in the Italian Dolomite Alps.
Until then, arrivederci everyone!!
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