Trip Report Venice June 2003
 

We are back from our trip to Venice. It was a busy but fun trip. Thanks to everyone who helped me plan our trip! We also spent time in London and Paris but Venice was our favorite!The people were so friendly here, even though we spoke very little Italian. We picked up a little more Italian each day we were here. My kids actually had fun trying to learn the language. My son commented that he never really thought that it was that important to learn a foreign language, but now he understands why it is important.

We arrived at 9:30pm on a flight from Bristol since we had visted Bath UK first. We took a water taxi to our apartment and I am really glad we did.It would have been difficult to find our apartment in the semi dark on the narrow winding streets in Venice.

We rented an apartment from Madame DaSchio. It was called Palazzetto DaSchio. It was very clean and spacious and we loved the location on the Dorsoduro. Madame Da Schio was very welcoming and spoke very good English.

Day 1

We tried to take the Doge's Secret Itinerary Tour today, but the guide did not show up for work this day. We scheduled for the next day.
We walked and walked etc. with my 17 year old son as our navigator on the narrow streets. I loved stopping on the bridges to look down the canals. It was absolutely beautiful!

We visted the Formosa and Santa Maria Miracoli churchs today. Thanks to Shannon for telling us about the Miracoli. We really enjoyed it!

We went grocery shopping this afternoon at Billa. Wow! It was fun and confusing with everything in Italian.

We ate dinner at Taverna San Trovasa. The Lasagna was very good. Then we walked on the Zattere to Nicos for gelato. My kids love gelato and it is a bargain here compared to other European cities.

Isn't Venice amazing? I only spent 2 days this past July and definitely plan on returning and spending more time there. There are so many little streets and alleys to explore plus I would love to also sit back and people watch.

Did you go to St Marks' Square in the evening and listen to the musicians? It was one of my favorite moments of my entire 2 week vacation.

Looking forward to more, Laurie. We also just returned in July and loved it!

Lyb, We also loved St. Marks square at night.The music and the stars were both gorgeous the nights we were there. It was one of those moments where I thought "Wow! This is one of the coolest things I have ever done!"

On to Day 2:

Day 2
This morning we headed straight to the Doge's Palace and picked up our tickets for the Secret Itinerary Tour. We had about an hour to go so we toured the Palace on our own. Really beautiful and very ornate. We loved the room after room of beautiful chandeliers, marble, frescos and paintings.

We went back down to take our Secret Tour and we were waiting for our guide when we noticed the workers running around with walkie talkies. They came over and told us that everyone would need to leave the area because their had been a bomb threat at San Marco's Basillica. So.. we never did get to take the tour. However, they refunded our money even though we had already toured the palace on our own. The bomb threat turned out to be a hoax.

Next, we ate lunch at Da Pinto. My daughter and I shared the spaghetti, which was very good. My husband had squid. Molly[daughter] tried it, and liked it, but she said she felt like she was on Fear Factor since this was something so strange for her!

This afternoon we toured the Frari church and Ca' Rezzonica. I thought the Frari was the prettiest church we had seen, although my son,Alex liked the Miracoli we toured yesterday even better. I really enjoyed the Ca' Rezzonica too!

The kids really enjoyed shopping at a little Venetian glass shop near our apartment. The owner was so friendly and was joking with Alex.
We returned here several times. We bought several small items and the owner gave us his card for 10% off!

Tonight we went to Da Raffaele for dinner. It was a beautiful setting right next to the canal. The food was pretty good,too. A gondola with someone playing accordian and a singer floated by. We thought that was pretty cool!

After dinner we wandered over to San Marco Square and listened to the dueling orchestras.
Wow! This was really fun! There was a lady singing soprano in the audience and she was very good! The waiters were laughing because she was kind of upstaging the bands. What a beautiful starry night this was! I can't think of a more perfect setting!

When I sat in San Marcos square listening to the music and drinking champagne, the first word that came to my mind was "magical". Later when I came back and read messages regarding Venice, I realized how many people use that word to describe Venice. It is truly "magical". Again, I have to say, I envy spending all that time in Venice.

Isn't the Miracoli a beautiful little church? I read somewhere it's a favorite of Venetians for getting married. We were never able to see the inside -- were you? -- but we loved the outside, the canal that ran alongside it, and the opera cafe right across from it.

Enjoying your report, Laurie! I also agree, lyb, that the main word I use to describe Venice is "magical."

Capo, yes we were able to go inside the Miracoli.It was beautiful! Lots of really nice marble. It has recently been renovated. We bought chorus passes and visited 5 different churches. The Frari and the Miracoli were our favorites.

Statia, thank you for your nice comments and encouragement! I'll write more tomorrow! I would be happy to answer any questions. I learned so much on this board! Laurie

Thanks, Laurie. I assumed it would also be quite beautiful inside. Same here on both the Frari and Miracoli. I saw a photo of the Miracoli in a guidebook; it was so different-looking with it's rounded top that I knew we just had to visit it.

Day 3

This morning we went to San Marco Basilica. While we waited in line to get in, Molly fed the pigeons. She had a great time! They landed on her arms, hands and even her head! I think I took some good pictures. She was probably lucky that none of them left a mess on her!

The Basilica was very impressive. We walked up some very steep stairs to the treasury and on to the top for a very nice view of the square.

Next, we took the vaporetto to San Giorgio to see the church. We went up the elevator to the top of the bell tower. Wow! What a wonderful view of the Venice and the lagoon. The bell chimed 11:30 and just about made us jump out of our skin! I would not want to be up there when it chimed noon! Very loud!

We took a short vaporetto ride over to San Giorgio and found a little restaurant on the water front. They did not start serving lunch yet for about 1/2 hour so we grabbed a table and had a couple of beers. The kids had lemonade, which they really liked. It's different from the lemonade at home. Kind of like sprite but sweeter. We all shared some nachos, which were great! I had lasagna and it was very good! I cannot remember the name of this restaurant. The food was very good but the service was really slow. We were here for about 2 hours.

We went back to the apartment to rest and Alex and Molly went back to their favorite little glass shop and bought me a little pitcher I had been admiring.

We ate dinner at the Pizzeria at the foot of the Accademia bridge. Everyone except me had pizza. I had a ham and cheese toast and wished I had ordered pizza. What a beautiful view from this restaurant, which was also very close to our apartment.

Tonight we went back to San Marco square to hear the dueling orchestras again. I just love it here! It is another beautiful night after a nice but very warm day.

Still enjoying your report, Laurie. We never got into the Basilica due to the long lines, but glad you got to see it!

laurie----i'm not sure you will see this, but if you do i would appreciate a response....
we are staying at the same place in march....i find the Madame to be most friendly via e-mail so i thought that she would also end up being that way in person, so i am glad to see your info here....
which apratment did you have---we will have #5, the one with the small loft room...can you give us details about the apartment, etc....how about the neighborhood, re: restaurants, shops, grocery??
thanks in advance....bob in boston

We are certainly not "world travelers" but, my wife and I have been to a few of the "top" cities in Europe and, after having just spent a week in Venice agree with all the good things written. It is certainly "magical" but I would also add that it is "unique". Bravo Venice!

Hello rhkkmk/Bob, You will love this apartment! We rented apartment number 4 and it was very spacious and clean.

The apartment building overlooks a small canal. There are many little shops of all kinds nearby. The largest grocery store is is called Billa and is about a 15 min. walk on the Zattere, but Contessa Da Shio had a cart available for us to carry the groceries. Their are smaller specialty shops in the area where you can buy pastries, fruit, vegetables and wine.

There are many restaurants nearby! We enjoyed the Taverna San Trovasa which is very close to the apartment. Pizza at the restaurant at the foot of the Accademia bridge was also very good. And what a view! A little more of a splurge was the Da Raffaele where gondolas glide by, sometimes with singing gondoliers!

I hope I have answered your questions. I would love to go back to Venice! It was my family's favorite place. I would highly recommend staying at Palazzetto Da Schio.

Have Fun! Laurie

thanks laurie....strangely enough we last stayed in venice about 10 years ago and we ate in two of the 3 restaurants that you mention....i thought the schio apartments were in exactly the same area, and you have now confirmed it for me....we will have a week in early march in #5....we are looking forward to it....she seems to be such a pleasant woman...anxious to meet her.....did you use the boat?? how does she work that?? cost?? too dangerous for a non-mariner?? any other suggestions would be appreciated...did you buy any prepared foods from shops near-by??
thanks
bob

Laurie:
Where is the grocery you mentioned in your post?

Hi Bob, Contessa Da Schio was very pleasant. We saw her and her little dog frequently. My husband helped fix her video camera and installed the air conditioner for her. She stopped by the apartment a couple of times during our 5 day stay. She was interesting to talk to but was not intrusive.

As for prepared foods; do you mean like things you can put in the microwave to heat and have an instant meal? If so, no, we did not see anything like this in Venice. The local shops are fruit and vegetable stands, pastry shops and wine shops. There are also several artists who have shops nearby. The glass shop just down the "street" was a real treat!

It sounds strange, but we had a great time in the Billa grocery store, just looking at all the different brands and trying to decipher what everything said.

Txranger, the Billa grocery store is on the Zattere, probably about half way up, although I'm not sure of this. It was about a 15 min. walk from the apartment. Contessa will leave you a list of various shops and how to reach them.

Oh, Bob, the boat was $50 for a half day at the time of our visit. We did not rent it because my family is not used to driving a boat with so much "traffic". We were a little leary of taking her boat out since we are not experienced boat drivers. It did sound like a fun idea, though!

I hope I have answered your questions. Have a great time in Venice! Laurie

thanks laurie...those were perfect answers....yes the food is prepared food that you would just warm up---yeppie style....i am concerned at the costs i am reading for meals in venice...i remember eating pizza under accademia bridge on our last trip and feeling completely ripped off by the price....i am used to paying lots for dining out but somehow some places make me resent the experience...italy usually falls into that category....i do love it however and return there as often as i can...
we're off to england, germany and the czech rep next week for 20 days...i guess i'll save some money for venice in march....my wife says i'm just plain cheap.....!!
again thanks for your info...can't wait to be in that neighborhood again...

Yes--a lesson learned. Don't eat in places under the Accademia bridge. The heavey tourist areas in any city tend to have a high percentage of ripoff dining establishments--Venice is no exception. Walk away from the Grand Canal and you'll find much better food at lower prices. Keep in mind that just about everything in Venice has to be brought in by boat and hauled around by hand, so it will be somewhat more expensive anyway. But if you use your legs, you'll do yourself, your taste buds, and your wallet a big favor.

laurie---if you happen to see this---WE LOVED IT...THANKS FOR YOUR POSTING..

i have done an extensive posting titled: Venice and Florence Soujourn if you want to look at it...its long...