Venice–May 1-3, 2014

 

 

Venice–May 1–3, 2014

Arrival in Venice was 1:00 PM so we were treated to an amazing “sail-in”.   Venice is one of the most romantic cities in the world.   It offers picturesque scenery, stunning architecture and classic artwork at every turn.  What once was a major center for trade and commerce during the Middle Ages has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, making tourism Venice’s primary industry.   One of the most well known spectacles in the world is the Grand Canal.  

We decided to make our way into Venice via the People Mover, followed by a Vaporetto to St. Marks Square.   At that point we would take Venice by foot!   Although it can be very confusing finding your way around Venice, we managed to wander around for hours, enjoying every minute. 

After a break for some vino rosso and pasta, we decided we would take a gondola ride!   An awesome, yet tourist trap, experience!  

We walked back to the ship where we would stay overnight and then we hoped to go back into Venice the next day.   We had reservations at the Best Western Hotel Bologna in Mestre, located right next to the train station.     Unfortunately, we had heavy rain with thunder and lightning the entire second day, so we didn’t go back into Venice.    The hotel recommended a local restaurant for lunch, so off we went when the rain subsided a little.

Lunch was fantastic!  This was certainly a “local” restaurant and there were no tourists to be found!   Afterwards, we stopped at the supermarket to pick up our usual evening picnic snack for our hotel room!   So although we didn’t go back into Venice, we had a good day and were happy that we did our Gondola ride the night before.  Now we’re off to Varenna, from the Mestre station to Milan Central high speed train (2 1/2 hours) and then from Milan Central to Varenna (local train – 1 hour).