Venice Florence 1

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Dec 11th, 2002 | 10:49 AM

scubatv

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Venice Florence 1

Venice Trip November 27 - December 2, 2002 2 nights Venice, 2x Florence, 1x Venice Alitalia - Chicago/Milan/Venice RT - $390.00 Including tax. Train - Venice/Florence RT - $37.50 In November there was a special 10Euro fare For train travel to/from anywhere in Italy, on Saturdays. Except for huge long lunches, we were on our feet all day, everyday. Venice was again a spectacular place. It's absolutely breathtaking walking out of the train station to a view of the Grand Canal. It's impossible to get over that sight. We had fun bringing photos back to friends we made on our last trip. Also, presents of postcards from home (Chicago) are appreciated. Venice hotels were empty and offered good discounts. Hotel Airone Venice ** Room no. 22 Canal View 1x 90 Euro 1x 75 Euro Later, we found better deals were available at other hotels. Hotel Canal Venice *** Room 118, Canal View 1x 50 Euro These hotels were next to each other and had the same view of the Grand Canal. The three star hotel - Hotel Canal Venice - had cloth walls, mini bar, CNN, BBC, soap and a phone. But, both hotels were clean and had showers with an ample supply of hot water. You'd think, that after the number of years tourist have been coming to Venice, especially in recent times, Venice would be saturated with touristy "things" Unfortunately, that's not the case. In the two years since our last trip to Venice, we've seen a significant growth in tourist shops. You'll find that once quite back streets now host many mask and glass shops.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 10:58 AM

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Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:50 pm Message: We like staying near the business end of Venice (train station and Piazza Roma). Easy to arrange travel and gives us the excuse to take long walks through some of most interesting residential areas in Venice. One of our favorite locations in Venice is Campo S. Giacomo Dell 'Orio. This is a wonderful local spot not know for any major attraction. This campo, previously a stadium, is framed by a church, old fat trees and a few benches The main route passes around this campo. That seems funny to say, "main route". After 12 days in Venice we still have difficulty taking the same streets twice, even when we do follow the signs. There are restaurants in Campo S. Giacomo Dell 'Orio , including the popular restaurant La Zucca, that is nearby - only eat there when the owner is cooking. Recently, two bars and a trendy pizza/restaurant with a cool looking USA highway theme, have opened up in S. Giacomo and young people are starting to hang around in the campo at night.. After being turned away from three multi language menu restaurants, because it was, "too close to closing", we came upon the pizza/restaurant mentioned above. Ae Oche Santa Croce, 1552 a/b 041. 524. 1161 Camop S. Giacomo Dell 'Orio The restaurant side of Ae Oche had been closed for 30 minutes, but seeing we were hungry, having just arrived on the night train from Florence and been turned away from three restaurants, they offer to sit us if we ordered only one plate each. Instead we ate their delicious pizza and the enjoyed the complimentary drink they served us at the end of our meal. The depth and widespread hospitality of the Italians is constantly amazing.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 10:59 AM

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Trying to keep this as a single thread... Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:51 pm Message: Venice Di Tony, once a popular place to eat, has changed owners. The previous owners were from Venice - he now drives a water taxi - and the food was totally different. Sorry to say, gone are the Venetian treats. Take a pass on the new Di Tony. I bought five nice bottles of wine in Venice at Cantinone Dorsoduro Fdm. S Trovaso 922 Between Campo S. Trovasio and Accadema. I also took seven bottles of Prosecco from the airplane. The wine prices and selection at Cantinone were better than several places I checked out in Florence. Cantinone is filled with locals and walls of wine. It's also one of the few lower priced Venetian style Cicchetti places left. They close for lunch. From our hotel, it's a good walk to Rialto bridge and longer to San Marco. Not a problem for us, we love to walk and one trip during the day into the tourist zone is more than enough. At night, Venice is empty. Walk where you like and window shop to you hearts content. Parts of San Croci have narrow streets and hidden unnamed passes that make walking an adventure. Unlike other older areas of Venice, that have so many shops and restaurants, San Croci is mostly residential, the streets are not full of shops and restaurants, which, for us, makes walking fun and relaxing.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 11:01 AM

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Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:52 pm Message: Karen's goal was shopping for fake bags, mine was food and wine. Between Venice and Florence, she bought seven bags, ten pairs of earrings, 2 pair of sunglasses and some colorful tights. Bag sellers are everywhere in Florence. In Venice, it's much quieter at night, you'll find them on 22 of March Street - Viale 22 Marzo. A large street west of Piazza S. Marco. Bargain hard in Venice and enjoy. Show commitment, but never purchase a bag without first walking away. Ask for some sympathy and mention how wonderful Senegalese people are. Don't bother to play one against the other, it's like an extended family. Half price at least, you could get more. After we purchased two bags for a great price of 15 Euro, we were later offered 10 and 5 Euro. Maybe, when the sellers see you have one bag the prices go lower. Volume sales. The bags are of better quality and selection in Florence and much hard to get 50% off. All we did was walk, eat, shop and watch people. A perfect trip for the both of us. We did buy one history and art book about Florence and after reading that book - Boy, did we miss seeing a lot of good stuff. Florence They're so many hotels in Florence. I've never seen a town with this many hotels. Around the train station is the best center choice. Be sure to check out Piazza Santo Spirito and eat at these places. Lunch Café Cabiria Unbelievably inexpensive and well prepared local dishes, a great find. Only for lunch, drinks at night. Family run, eclectic design. Dinner Eat at Osteria Santo Spirito $50 USD for two with wine and extras. Delicious, ate here twice. A comfortable, romantic place. La Casalinga Wild, extremely popular local place Piazza Santo Spirito has a landmark church, but is more locally known for the daily and larger weekend flea market. At night Café Cabiria is a popular bar and the restaurants are busy.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 11:01 AM

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Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:53 pm Message: Florence Hotels Hotel Visconti 1x 75 Euro Very low water pressure in the morning. Booked at the train station, this hotel would not be my choice again. We moved out the next night. The staff was friendly and helpful. The owner was a type of designer, but some of his improvement clutter up the halls and make it difficult to get around. There are signs all over making it clear that if you destroy any of the clutter, you will pay. There is too much noise at night to keep your windows open, even in the back rooms. Hotel Bella Vista Florence 5th floor panoramic view of Florence 1x 90 E If you can get one of the two panoramic view rooms, they are the best in Florence. Florence is a beautiful small town in the mountains, easy to get around with short walking distances to everywhere. We understood the town in 5 minutes. Florence is full of good restaurants, unique shops, street vendors, markets and loaded with a bunch of fancy building and art stuff.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 11:03 AM

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Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:56 pm Message: At a restaurant in Florence, Karen and I waited 1st in line watching, while the locals walked in, bypassed the cue, took all the empty seats and then quickly grabbed the tables that were just cleared - La Casalinga. We kept trying to make eye contact with the owner, hoping he would feel sorry for us. Finally it worked. We were told to go in the back and take a seat. When Karen and I got in the back, his brother flipped out and tried to send us back into the line. After the two brothers yelled across the restaurant for a time, we were allowed to be seated. We were allowed to be seated in a restaurant that was a quarter full. Unbelievable, with a line of customers, the owners were saving seats for the locals, who later filled out the remaining tables at 9 PM. Once seated though, we were treated like family, with the brothers, mother and son all taking a part in helping us understand the menu. The place was a bit of a mad house, with the family often yelling franticly to each other tying to organize the restaurant and get the food to the correct tables. Florence, which is in the Tuscany region of Italy, is not a pasta area. There is pasta, but the regional food is meat. This restaurant had huge sides of cow and your only job was to pick your desired thickness. Karen's pasta was on the menu as an afterthought, but the garbanzo beans and liver pate was marvelous. Our ordering style of pointing at the locals plates and signaling for, "one of that", created a table full of good food. We really have to learn Italian or go out to dinner with more people. Yes, we ate all the food. Unlike the Italians, our plates are always wiped clear, giving up all of the delicious sauces they hold. Karen came back strong at another restaurant. Gnocchi with truffle oil - Osteria Santo Spirito. There is no way to describe this dish. Only the constant desire to eat this again is left in our minds. We've had Gnocchi in four parts of Italy and each time it's been totally different. The menu was drawn out by children, the walls were adorned by works from local artist and our 22 year old Italian waitress, lived with a 31 year old American artist, who has lived in Florence for 8 years. As customary, we chose a bottle of wine that was on another customers table. Sometimes a dangerous thing to do, we were lucky this time. A 16 Euro Chianti was so huge, not like the cheap Chianti here in the states, that little sips would fill our mouths with wild flavors. Really a strong argument to pay more for wine.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 11:04 AM

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Author: scubatv ([email protected]) Date: 12/11/2002, 02:57 pm Message: Alitalia was a decent airlines. The food was good, but lacking in entertainment. Four small TV monitors per cabin with one movie. Without any individual TV monitors to fool around with, the flight was LONG. The passengers were a mix of every ethnicity you could imagine and there were babies crying in what seemed like every row in the plane. How can a baby cry for two hours? After a while the situation became hilarious. Crying babies in ever part of the plane were sounding off in a constant random fashion, like church bells on Sunday. To Alitalia's credit, the flight back had every seat taken and even with a 30 minuets hold over Chicago, the crew never ran out of any item of food, drinks or snacks

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Dec 11th, 2002 | 11:07 AM

scubatv

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Thanks Helper. I was surprised at the file limit, but after writing all this stuff, I was determined to get it up. Your clever, thanks

Dec 11th, 2002 | 12:53 PM

JBX

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scubatv, Appreciate the trip report. Thanx for detailed information.

Dec 11th, 2002 | 06:13 PM

#10

Ted

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long read but i read it, thanks

Dec 12th, 2002 | 07:06 AM

#11

Khy

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is this email corredct

Dec 12th, 2002 | 09:27 AM

#12

Pasquale

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We are going to be staying in Venice at the Plaza-Mestre. Can you tell me anything about it? In Florence we will stay at either the Corona D'italia or Gabriele D'Annunzio. We're planning to take the Grand European Tour.

Dec 12th, 2002 | 11:03 AM

#13

lkdjf

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Missed this one from the long thread Serendipity is a trusted tool in our travels. The "right" place is important to Karen and I. Sometimes we would walk around starving looking for that elusive place to eat. Lighting, table height, personality, who knows what will work. After being seated at one restaurant that Karen and I had waited a day to get into, we got up and left. The chef was late. We were told that the sous chefs were present, but why pay the big bucks for the 2nd string team? The seating was tight, really tight. Why was the hostess Irish and what would normally be a good sign, why was the wine menu so long? Wine is an essential part of every Italian's meal. Unheard of in the states, factory workers are given a small bottle of wine to drink with their lunch. We like restaurants that carry local regional wines, finding French wine on a menu is scary. You'll also find that Italians will have one bottle of red and white wine on the table with their meals and when the food is gone, they'll leave what wine is left. We never did that. Why all that for food? Well, frankly we need to get a life. In Italy, many people do not want to do restaurant work. Some of our favorite Venetian owned restaurants have sold out and opened up other business. Busy restaurants are staffed with foreign workers. Chefs often come from Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Croatia. Food, yes even seafood, could be frozen and for quick preparation, béchamel could be in a mix. This stuff makes a difference in taste and with a limited number of meals, you want the best. Many people would not care to wander around looking for something they might not even find. Over time, Karen and I have built a trust in serendipity and an outlook that things will workout just fine. As hopeless as the situation may seem, missing a plane, a lost wallet or no vacant hotels. Events will work out in a wonderful and special manner if allowed to run their course. Of course, you could also eventually get so hungry that garbage would taste good or a park bench starts to look just fine for the night.

Dec 12th, 2002 | 11:50 AM

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asdf

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Pasquale, It's wonderful you're going to Italy. And especially on a Grand European Tour. That's simply fantastic. Enjoy your trip, all of us here wish we could go with you. << Venice at the Plaza-Mestre >> Don't know that place, but I would never stay in Mestre. Although, if you do, there are many trains to/from Venice all day long for 1 Euro. Just hope you're next to the train station. We stay at the cheap hotels. Lonely Planet medium range or lower. All we desire are clean beds with lot's of hot water. No phone, TV or soap - we like our own. In Venice, $70 - 100 USD, double with shower. Cheaper in other parts of Italy. "Can we get a discount if we don't get the breakfast?" One hotel in Venice served us American style coffee for breakfast. Too much good food on the streets to fill up on that. We do spend time selecting a hotel for the first nights stay. But almost always change for the remainder of the trip. Location and the view are important, so we scout around. If this is your first trip, let me take the liberty - to share my thoughts Please, keep in mind, this is from a person that's been to Venice twice (12 days) and never been inside anything that did not serve food. Oh, we did spend four hours on top of the Campanile once, waiting for the bells to ring. Quite fun. Get out and wander. Leave your hotel in the morning and don't come back. Rest on park benches. Stop and eat small portions of everything you see. Stop at every bakery and buy one thing. Share with your partner. At delis, taste a few items and then buy a small amount of something. Buy Burano cookies. Share them with people your meet. Take many more home. Talk to every local you can. Ask questions, what type of wine they like, children, anything. Just talk, you'll never know what will happen.

Dec 12th, 2002 | 11:52 AM

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For us, we have to take museums in our own time. Sometimes, when we travel and visit many sites, after we get home, there is no feeling that we've been anywhere. Rather than have our photo album filled with picture of places, buildings and artwork, which are beautiful, but for us, unemotional photographs - we buy a photo guide book on the way out. We more enjoy the picture of the time when we were sitting on a park bench chatting and laughing with a Venetian woman, as we place bandages on our feet because we were walking so much. That is a memory that really sticks in our minds. Another time, eating at a restaurant in Venice and asking so many question, the owner invited us up to see his new apartment above the restaurant. Giorgini Alessandro. He's owned the restaurant "alla Fontanella" for 20 years. He gave us two Prosecco glasses that he's had since the place opened and then invited us up to the new 3,000 S.F. apartment he bought last year. We grabbed our video camera and away we went. Alessandro, talked about the his Murano glass sculptures that were a gift from a glass making friend.. He also showed us the glass makers photo. Walking around the apartment, Alessandro told us about the antiques and artwork on the walls. One story, often told by the gondoliers, was about a piece of the Titi bridge. The Doge, just in case the men returning from sea became homosexuals, would place woman on this bridge with their breasts showing. We did not know that story then, it's was delightful. All that cause' we asked so many questions.

Dec 12th, 2002 | 11:54 AM

#16

asdf

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All That cause' we asked so many questions. Giorgini Alessandro Alla Fontanella http://www.allafontanella.com I like the old web site with the menu http://www.heraclea.it/alla_fontanella/ Let's do a check… Website and menu only in Italian Twenty years at the same location - in Venice yet. 5 - 10 Euro for a plate of food. For us, it's perfect. It's possible, that Alla Fontanella has stayed open for so long, simply because the food is so fresh. Last trip, in the kitchen, Alessandro talked about the state of Venetian restaurants. He's the one that refuses to use pre mixed béchamel in his food. Imagine how many people have walked by this place never knowing? We like spending the "big" money eating somewhere other then Venice. For a long list of reasons. Here's another post Our approach into Milan's Malpensa airport was a serpentine route, banking one way only to immediately bank to the opposite side. A random pattern that seemed to have no reason. That was only the prelude to the streets of Venice. If I had to give any advice to traveling in Venice, I'd say get a good map, or you might be destine to traveling the tourist routes along the well marked corridors lined with shop after shop. Some of these streets are so narrow that stopping to window shop will cause people to backup for quite a distance. Not that that would cause much concern. Walking in Italy has always been comfortable. People do not show displeasure if you pause or accidentally bump someone. Unlike Chicago, where I come from, even a pause by the person in front of you would create ugly looks from the people behind. A person should know that they are not allowed to stop or deviate from their route. Just keep moving. In Venice, many people have opted for the free tourist map, only to be quickly disappointed. We've often had to help people find their way with our newsstand map with extra large type and detail. Mark everything on your map and keep it close. I've brought my old taped up map back to Venice. It's a great reference to that almost forgotten restaurant or shop you wanted to see again. Of course wandering around with no course in mind offers wonderful rewards. But trying to actually find an exact location with out a map is very hard. A glance on the streets of Venice will easily tell you how many people are the visitors by the number of map openly displayed in people hands. Everyone in almost every area of Venice will be carrying a map. An accepted and essential travel tool in Venice. An "advanced" walking experience is to ask local people how to get places. Position yourself in an out of the way, quite street and ask directions somewhere. One place would be the Coop, a supermarket. You might discover some interesting routes. If you've read this far you might be interested in our hobby. My wife, Karen and I have been doing a weekly travel show on Public Access TV for seven years. We travel, shoot our adventures and put them on "Free TV". Public Access.. We did three shows on Venice. One episode, includes Giorgini Alessandro's apartment. In another episode, we went into the kitchen of a Venetian restaurant and learned how cook Ragu and Pomodoro sauce. Oh what fun.

Dec 12th, 2002 | 05:22 PM

#17

huh?

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What is all this other stuff?

Dec 13th, 2002 | 03:48 AM

#18

asdf

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Thanks for your comments, Totally agree with you, there is a lot of stuff here. Which "other stuff" do you mean? The first other stuff we added, or the last other stuff? A favorite word of mine, stuff. The stuff in these posts were so much fun to write. Mostly, this post contains people taking advantage of free speech on the internet, asking questions, posting ideals and some "other" stuff..

Dec 13th, 2002 | 08:49 AM

#19

paul

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Hi,scubatv: Could you give us mores insight regarding Hotel Canal in Venice? We will stay there next week. I heard the room is very noise and the bathroom is quite samll. Is these information correct? Please gives suggestions. Thanks,

Dec 13th, 2002 | 10:27 AM

#20

asd

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Not sure about the noise. We arrived late and slept with the windows open. There are sounds from the larger boats moving through the canal and bits of water sloshing about. We liked that. The room was large enough, bathroom was fine except there was no shower curtain. http://www.hotelcanal.com

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