We are arriving in Venice on November 21st at approx. 9:30 in the morning for 2 nights staying at the Bisanzio hotel. We have never been to Venice before and have been reading many posts to get suggestions on how best to spend our time. We want to really absorb the culture and ambiance of Venice not necessarily hitting every tourist spot. We love to wander around and find small interesting things. We will be traveling to Florence by train on Sunday. 3 adults in our party. We are trying to plan some sort of itinerary for our stay as a guideline but don't plan on scheduling everything to the minute. Also, we are on somewhat of a budget as traveling to Florence for 3 nights and then to Rome for 5 nights. Any suggestions on things to do, places to see and restaurants from those of you who have enjoyed this city would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!! (Also, we know it might be rainy)

The Festival della Salute takes place in Venice every November 21st.

You can Google it for more info.

Hi TJ - If you're interested in a concert, check out the following links:

http://www.interpretiveneziani.com
http://www.imusiciveneziani.com

http://www.virtuosidivenezia.com/
http://www.ensembleantoniovivaldi.com/

http://www.collegiumducale.com
http://www.veniceopera.it

http://www.musicapalazzo.com
http://www.musicainmaschera.it

You may find this link helpful for events, etc.

www.aguestinvenice.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

We arrived in Venice on November 21 last year and enjoyed the Festival of Salute which commemorates deliverance from the plague. After many trips to Venice, it was exciting for me to walk the temporary bridge that is set up across the Grand Canal just for the day. There were many, many families out and about, celebrating this local holiday. We followed the throng across the bridge to Dorsoduro. The streets here are narrow and so quite packed in spots. In front of Santa Maria delle Salute, carts were selling candles of many sizes, some almost three feet long.

Most visitors bought candles and brought them into the church, which was teeming with people. Many candles were lit and crowded together in sand-filled bins--the local firefighters were on duty inside the church alert for any problems. Some people chose to place there candles in large boxes for the church to use later I suspect. With all this action going on, a mass was taking place in one chapel.

After visiting the church, the festivities continued down the street and around the corner with a street fair, featuring every kind of sweet confection one could imagine--pastries, marzipan, candies, cotton candy, . . . My friends and I enjoyed watching the candy-makers make candy-dipped fresh fruit, dipping the skewers of fruit in vat of bubbling sugar. We also watch one candy maker work a mass of melted sugar and almonds on a marble slab, folding it together over and over as the sugar cooled.

The final feature of the celebration offered special rewards: most children left the festivities carrying a helium balloon--large mylar ones featuring favorite cartoon characters in a multitude of shapes and colors. For the next few days we would catch glimpses of these balloons all around Venice--turning a corner in a narrow street there was Winnie the Pooh; on the back of a vaporetto a pink mylar dolphin; in the window of an apartment Bugs Bunny.

The next morning the special bridge was totally gone.

I'd been to Venice a number of times, but until this festival I'd never felt that I was really among the local people of Venice and the Veneto.

Thanks for your post, I am really looking forward to this now. Could you tell me how the weather was when you were there?

The first day we arrived was lovely and sunny. The next second, third, and fourth days were cloudy, and one of those days it poured rain. The fifth day was gloriously sunny. We wore coats all days, and even wore gloves when we visited the Doge's Palace on the rainy day--the palace has very cold on all my visits. Even with what some would consider bad weather, my companions, first-timers to Venice, fell in love with the city.