Amazing Venice

Trying to fit in all of the sites on our itinerary was a fun and daunting challenge, but we managed it. I can't believe how many memories we made in only four days...staring from the balcony of the Ca'D'Oro over the canal, kissing while walking down a quiet street. Wow. Walking this city left my legs sore and my eyes in shock - every street is beautiful in a different way. It makes getting lost almost fun. Among my favorite sites was the Scuolo Grande Di San Rocco, which surprised me with its huge and perfect Tintoretto canvases. Also among the special memories was the Palazzo Ducale, in which I could spend an entire day roaming (and then go back the next day). A light lunch at the Caffe Florian on the square with just my husband was truly romantic. Even the water taxi ride from the city was perfect.

Quick Tips:

Check out my planning guide entry to find tons of resources tips and suggestions. Believe me when I say that the opening times change all the time! Even using the most up-to-date resources, we arrived at a couple of buildings and left in dismay. The Basilicas may be open on Sunday according to the books, but they may not be at all when you get there (this happened to us twice)! Trying restaurants can be awesome, but it's expensive. We learned to get recommendations first before spending an arm and a leg. The times when we gave in and chose a restaurant on the tourist route, we were disappointed in the overpriced food.

Best Way To Get Around:

We managed to walk almost everywhere. Water taxis abound, but they are expensive! We didn't even try the buses or water buses while on the island. When you walk, you discover the city's secrets. And you burn all of the calories you're eating. It's the best way to excuse trying a dessert at each restaurant, and the only way to find yourself alone in Venice.

This hotel is located right next to the square, across a quaint stone bridge. The outside is golden yellow, and most rooms are on the canal. Our room was three stories up and overlooked a small street. It was not spacious, but was very romantic with a pretty glass chandelier, rich green curtains, and small cute tables. The shower was American style, though the bathroom was a bit smaller than the average American one. We had a stocked minibar with very reasonably priced items.

The hotel features marble stairways, elevators, gold and glass doors (which are a bit narrow and sometimes difficult to get in and out of!), and an exit on the canal where the hotel will have a water taxi pick up guests. There is a bar that is open late, and they have a list of 20 different drinks in English with descriptions. There are many tables and chairs in the bar area, and there is also a television. Here we watched "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" in Italian and tried to figure out the questions and answers (with the help of the staff who would translate bits and pieces for us). This bar was the perfect place to relax and have a daiquiri with my mom, to reminisce and zone out after long days of walking.

The hotel claims to have a restaurant, but the restaurant only serves breakfast (continental is free, or you can order hot items). The breakfast includes croissants, cereal, juice, coffee, hot tea, yogurt and fruit. This actually happened at both of our hotels. A restaurant was featured on its list of amenities, but the restaurant was never open!

We were very impressed with the service and the style of this hotel. The Italian staff spoke fluent English, and the rooms were cozy and beautiful. Even our view of the street was romantic. In the picture here you can see a little covered hallway between the hotel and another building. Our room overlooked this area, and the street below was always quiet. We could open the windows wide, which is needed in Italian hotels. In the winter, they turn the heat up very high, it felt like 80 degrees. And the individual room controls don’t seem to have any affect on the temperature.

You can get special deals when staying at this hotel if you book your room online at aavacations.com. The published prices are very expensive, but we paid about 2/3 of the price or less. We had a room with a queen size bed for about $150 per night. That’s still very expensive, but this is a world class hotel. If you book more than four nights, you get one night free, and the nightly charge after that night drastically decreases. If traveling alone, book a double room instead of a single. The double room is only $10 more per night, and the room and the shower are twice as large.

Visit their website!

Average Rating – 7

This cafe was full of tourists, there’s no doubt. The walls are covered with paintings that are covered by glass or plastic. At first, they look magnificent, but after sitting down, they begin to look a bit cheap. The chairs and couches have an antique look and feel. The small tables are crowded into tiny tea rooms, where you can order a full lunch or dinner, or you can just have coffee and enjoy the view.

I ordered the English tea for a snack/late lunch, and my husband ordered a club sandwich. We both really enjoy the meal, which came on a huge silver tray that was larger than our small marble table! The English tea came with scones, jam, and four small sandwiches. It was a beautiful lunch, and I really enjoyed it. The sandwich had Italian ham on it, and it was not an American club, that’s for sure. We enjoyed everything here, and would definitely go again. It would have been perfect if it was filled with Italians, and if the waiter was a bit friendlier. I think that the waitstaff here is very busy, and there are just so many people coming in and out in this small caffe. These factors have made the service polite and standard at best.

On a related note, if you are planning on visiting only one café on the square, I would recommend trying the Quadri. We had a chance to look inside, and their restaurant has a much better atmosphere. Of course, I can’t speak for the food and service. As for the other café on the square, Caffe Lavena, I don’t recommend it at all. My mother found herself there for dinner, and the waiter tried to gyp her a large amount of money when giving change. If my mom had been the average tired tourist who was new to lire, she would not have noticed his giving her three thousand lire in change instead of thirty thousand. When she pointed it out to him, he immediately gave her the right amount, and it was apparent to her that he knew exactly what he was doing. She said that the food was average and the atmosphere was "New York City" style.

Visit their website!

Caffe Florian Ratings (Scale of 1-10, ten is "divine", one is "despicable")
Average: Food 9.5, Atmosphere 6, Service 5.5
Jason: Food 10, Atmosphere: 6, Service: 5
Mary: Food 9, Atmosphere 6, Service 6

Average Rating 6.2

This restaurant has a convenient location in between Campo San Polo and the Frari, and at the same time is not touristy at all. When we were there for lunch, we were the only English speakers (including the staff, for the most part). The restaurant is quaint, small, and quiet, with bright sunny yellow walls and fresh flowers on the tables. Unfortunately, our waiter was having a bad day and was not very nice. He had the meanest look on his face! The service was typically slow (they really like you to take your time in Italy!), but the food was very good. My husband and I split the pasta with crab for two, which was creamy and delicious. My mother had a very good salad and soup. The crème caramel dessert was also excellent, definitely try it.

There were a couple of small drawbacks here. The first was that there was a small bug in the water for my tea, which I discovered after drinking two cups. Second, the bathrooms at first appeared to be clean. But with a closer look, it was obvious that they were not maintained very well. I could see that in the crowded summer season they could get really bad. Still, the appeal of this place is its quaint size, filling and yummy food, and Italian atmosphere. I would go there again.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "divine" and 0 is "despicable")
AVERAGE: Food 8.2, Atmosphere 7.3, Service 3.3
Jason: Food 8.5, Atmosphere 7, Service 5
Mom: Food 9, Atmosphere 8, Service 3
Mary: Food 7, Atmosphere 7, Service 2

Average Overall Rating: 4.6

The sign "American Tea Room" gives this very basic tea room with wooden tables and mirrored walls away. It’s not your stop for the Italian experience, but it is the perfect spot to sit down and rest with a cup of hot tea. The waiter was friendly but was not very present – he could be seen chatting with the cook, because we were the only customers here at around 2:00PM. A quick cappuccino here will cost you $7, which is probably average around the square.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "divine" and 0 is "despicable")
AVERAGE: Drink 5.3, Atmosphere 2.5, Service 6
Jason: Atmosphere 3, Service 5
Mom: Drink 7, Atmosphere 3, Service 8
Mary: Drink 6, Atmosphere 1.5, Service 5

Average Rating: 8.5

We had our best meal in Venice here, where there were beautiful paintings on the wall, fresh daisies on the table, native customers (we were the only tourists), and English music playing in the background (Cher, Phil Collins, etc). We finally discovered that authentic restaurants which are frequented by Italians often play American and English music. We couldn’t decide whether they did this for the tourists or not, but a friendly Italian waiter told us that real Italians want to hear American music. Only Americans want to hear those stereotypical Italian songs. LOL! We still have a feeling that Italian music (pop, etc) is enjoyed away from the busy cities.

The lobster soup was a delicious starter here, and Jason and I followed the soup with a main course for two of unbelievable Chateaubriand. It went very well with the Chardonnay we tried, which was also excellent. Here’s a hint, if you plan on getting the steak, skip an appetizer or first course. I wanted to eat every bit of that unbelievable tender meat with all of its special touches (kiwi, grilled tomatoes, fries, green beans), but I could only manage several bites! My mother claimed that the lasagna here was the best she’s ever had. And the tiramisu was good to the last bite. Our hotel staff sent us here, and we are very glad that they did. This restaurant gets our highest ratings in Venice!

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "divine" and 0 is "despicable")
AVERAGE: Food 9.7, Atmosphere 7.7, Service 8
Jason: Food 10, Atmosphere 8, Service 8
Mom: Food 10, Atmosphere 7, Service 9
Mary: Food 10, Atmosphere 8, Service 7

Average Rating: 5.3, Time to Allot: 30 minutes

This was an optional site that we managed to fit in, but we were pretty disappointed with it. It is a small marble church with a relatively simple altar and design. It’s pretty, quiet, and empty, so it’s a nice stop in to get away from the mob. But I would only suggest visiting if you are in the area or have a bit of free time.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 5 Mary 5 Mom 6

Here you will find scrumptious chocolates and cakes that are reasonably priced, a delicious Italian chocolate shop. I purchased a variety of treats to take back to my hotel, and it only cost me about $10. They spoke no English at all, which was nice. I got to try out some very basic Italian and point a lot. Definitely stop by if you’re in the neighborhood and have a sweet spot for chocolates. Oh, and try the white layered cake, out of this world. Most of the little cakes have different types of liqueur or flavorings in them. Yum! We didn’t find a place like this in Florence, so don’t miss your chance at real Italian delights.

Average Rating – 9, Estimated time to allot – 1 hour, Cost $1.50

This church taught us an important lesson. You can be the best planner in the world and use the most up-to-date resource and still find yourself in a predicament in Venice. When they say that the opening times are subject to change, they mean it! We walked a long ways to the Frari, only to discover that it is no longer open on Sundays. Because of this, we avoided anymore church visits on Sundays, even during "Visiting Hours." This is a wise move. Sunday is the first day to find its way off of the schedule for a church.

Even if you have to walk here two different times, this church is worth the trip. The Frari is incredibly large with high ceilings. There are paintings and marble sculptures along the sides. The altar has a beautiful painting with deep reds and blues, and it’s surrounded by old stained glass. On the sides of the altar are marble statues, probably of saints. The floor is worn peach and bone marble. The stones make this basilica very cold!

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 8.5, Mary 9.5, Mom 9

Average Rating 8.7, Estimated time to allot – 40 minutes, cost $6, Open 10AM – 1PM, 3-5PM

A small, well-kept palace with some beautiful paintings and cultural and artistic pieces. What sticks out in my memory is the antique bedroom with beautifully decorated wood furniture and an amazing watercolor ceiling. There are wonderful marble floors, pillars along the walls, glass chandeliers, and busts also. This is a short visit that is well worth the trip and the time. I think it’s underrated!

The great thing about this museum is that it’s open until 10PM on Friday and Saturday nights! There are not many to-do items in Venice that you can check off in the evening, so plan to see it on one of these nights if possible.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 8, Mom 10, Mary 8

Average Rating: 6.3, Estimated time to a lot: 30 minutes to see the church more for the walk

This is the church that is so beautiful from the canal, with its shiny dome that you can see from so many places in Venice. The outside, in my opinion, is its best attribute. Oh, and the walk that you must take to get here from other parts of the island is fantastic. There are so many bridges and back streets to enjoy. The inside of the church was about average, maybe a little above average. When we talked about it, we all agreed that the walk and the view from the church steps were the best part of this little venture.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 6, Mary 6, Mom 7

Average Rating: 10, Estimated Time to allot: 2.5 hours, Cost $9 combined with Museo Correr

This palace stands head and shoulders above the rest of the attractions in Venice. My husband, my mother and I all agreed that it scores a perfect ten. The architecture, art, and history you’ll find here are stunning. Out of all of the things that we saw in Venice and Florence, we spent the most time here (even more than in the Ufizzi). My neck was getting sore from staring at the ceilings. The number and size of the paintings will blow you away – they cover the walls and ceilings. The floors are beautiful, and so is the carved wood of the chairs, benches, etc.

Average Rating: 4.3, Estimated Time to allot: 1.5 hours, Cost $9 combined ticket with Palazzo Ducale

This museum is free if you plan on going to the Palazzo Ducale (and everyone should!). I think that’s why so many people see the Museo Correr. None of the three of us was that impressed with it. There are some nice paintings and random historical pieces here, but overall I would rate this one low on the priority list. If you have a day to spend in San Marco, I strongly suggest going to the Palazzo and Basilica first, then heading to the Museo if you have some time to kill and don't prefer a nap.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 4, Mary 5, Mom 4

Average Rating: 8.7, Estimated time to allot: 30 minutes, Cost: Free plus $2 for the balcony

Even in March, tourists were herded through here like cattle . It was the busiest and loudest basilica that we encountered. One way to get a moment away from the crowd is to head upstairs, where you’ll pay $2 for the lovely view of the frescoes and the square from the balcony. The $2 is definitely worth it to see the frescoes up close. It makes you appreciate the church a lot more. Also, the balcony is a nice photo opportunity. Overall, we did see some nicer basilicas, but this one is one of the few on which the façade and the interior matched in their design and level of beauty. The exterior is simply gorgeous!

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 9 Mary 8 Mom 9

Average Rating 9.1

This was my favorite site in Venice, right up there with the Palazzo Ducale. Although it’s a small building to see, with only two large main rooms, the 50 Tintoretto paintings that cover the walls, ceilings, and stairways are magnificent. Stunning. Wonderful . The ceilings are so amazing that they provide mirrors to use for standing and looking at each piece on the ceiling (your neck gets cramped after a while). This site would be worth most any walk, and it bumps in front of all of the other sites in terms of priority. Definitely make time to stop in here. Jason gave it a lower rating because he thinks in terms of cost/benefit. In his eyes, two rooms aren’t worth $4.50 per person. In my eyes, the rooms were so amazing that I would have paid twice as much to see them.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 7.2 Mary 10 Mom 10

Average rating: 6.2, Estimated time to a lot: 1 hour, cost: $3

We read somewhere that this was a lovely palace that was built by a man for his love, and it was later restored and given as a gift to the city. The palace has a lovely view of the canal, but that’s about all that is stunning about it. It’s rather small, and so is the collection of art. They do have some lovely sculptures of all types and sizes, but it doesn’t boast of any pieces that are breathtaking. For the cost, the Ca’D’Oro is not a bad site to take in, but if it’s way out of your way, try the other major sites first. There are a few nice ceilings, but what can compare with the Ducale? The floors here are noticeably plain and are a rather blah color of spotted marble.

Ratings 1-10 (10 is "see this no matter what!" and 0 is "avoid it!")
Jason: 6.5 Mary 7 Mom 5

We arrived here on a sunny Sunday morning and found, to our delight, that the gallery was not only open, but was free on Sundays. We opted out of purchasing the audio guide, and used our Venice Blue Guide instead. After climbing a large stairway, we entered a beautiful gallery. It was a bit dim inside, but the rooms were lovely. High, exquisitely painted ceilings graced rooms full of huge canvases - some of the largest I'd seen. This collection is all Venetian, and there are many Venice scenes from various time periods. Some were dark and dramatic, others light and romantic.

All three of us rated this gallery 9/10. It is considered a must-see in Venice, and with very good reason. After seeing this gallery along with the Ducale Palace, the art in Florence was surprisingly anticlimactic!

After you leave customs, follow the crowd and look on your left hand side for tickets on the motoscafo to San Marco. For about $9, you can take a scenic water bus ride with all of your luggage. The boat is covered, large, holds lots of people, and it also has lots of windows. The boat ride is about an hour, so with jet lag it gets a bit old, especially in the rain. But the scenery is beautiful. We took a water taxi when we left Venice, and we liked that much better. Of course, it costs a good bit more, but it’s much faster and is still scenic. All of these boats are covered and shielded from the elements. I would definitely recommend this transportation in favor of a land bus!

Note: You can't actually see all of the scenes below on the boat ride. I just wanted to show some pictures that didn't fit elsewhere.

HELPFUL PURCHASES

Venice Fleximap
Great for getting around in the city, it's laminated and detailed enough to lead you anywhere.

Venice Blue Guide
Forget about those annoying museum audioguides that set the pace for you and cost money. Buy a Blue Guide and you will not only know everything that is historically, architecturally, or artistically interesting about the city and its sights, but you'll also have room-by-room tour at the Academic Gallery.

"Destinations" Travel Journal
A beautiful red leather travel journal that has a beautiful classic look. It has labeled pages for hotels, restaurants, sites, and ephemera. It also has a small pocket in the back that held ALL of my recipts, tickets, postcards, etc, from a ten day trip.

Travel umbrella
Yes, it rains a lot. And the tiny travel umbrellas these days will fit anywhere. They're full size too!

WALKING SHOES
Timberland waterproof boots are my favorite; just make sure whatever you buy is comfortable.

Document Wallet
They make "wallets" now that will hold your passports, plane tickets, picture id, change, and a pen. I used mine when we were traveling via plane or between cities. Otherwise, hide your passport somewhere and never keep your money all together in one place.

Hand Sanitizer
This stuff makes traveling so much more pleasant.

HELPFUL INTERNET SITES

Venice for Visitors - This site has specifics, like how to get from the airport to St. Mark's Square. It has a lot of articles and "how-to's" that are interesting and informative.

Fodors - A great website with restaurant recommendations AND customer reviews. I've found this nowhere else, and it's an excellent planning tool. What I did was make a list of the highest recommended restaurants in each city for my itinerary. Oh, and you can sort the restaurants by neighborhood, which is PERFECT! In general, I found that it was worth it to walk a few more blocks to one of Fodors.com restaurants instead of just "trying" one that looks good.

Fodors also has short descriptions of most of the sites in Italian cities. I cut these descriptions and pasted them into our itinerary. We will be able to glance at what the sight is about, and then refer to our Blue Guide for in depth info. Putting the Blue Guide page number beside the sights has been handy.

Learn languages online! Fun.

http://www.italyflash.com/italyflash/longt/rail/njsrail.shtml
A difficult site to use, but it has train schedules in Italy.

http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/db.s98/detect.exe/bin/db.s98/query.exe/e?
Believe it or not, this is a German company that has a website in English and sells train tickets AND seat reservations for Italian trips. Excellent service, even though the tickets arrive in German. We were wondering if the Italians will understand our German tickets, but they did. :) The service cost as much as it does in Italy, so it's just nice to have the tickets and seats in advance. I highly recommend this service. We had reserved seats, and the train was easy to find. The train was suprisingly packed, so those seats were really nice.

Rail Europe - they have everything from railpasses to point-to-point tickets. They also have more navigable train schedules.

Get This! - Order your foreign currency online. The rates are great (much cheaper than change stations and competitive with banks). You get your currency via registered mail in about two days, even without express service. I really liked being able to do this. I was able to charge my currency!

Council Travel - A site to save money if you're under 26 or have a student with you. They have great rates on airline tickets.

Don't look too long on this site, because you will find SO MANY handy traveling doojiggeees.

E-Bags - Find the perfect bag, pack, or luggage. No hassle returns if you don't like it (they pick it up for you!).

HELPFUL VENICE TIPS

Opening times are probably the most difficult thing to count on when you're planning a trip. And you do *have to* have some sort of plan, because each sight is open during certain hours during the day (they all differ) and on certain days. The Frari is no longer open on Sundays (as of March), and neither is the San Sabastiano. So we actually missed the San Sabastiano completely.

TIPPING is not required, because 12% tips are required by law to be included in the bill. A few thousand lire usually does the trick.

In the Spring, attractions are less crowded at around 9AM. We found that this was the perfect time to go to the most popular places.

PLAN your itinerary based on GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION. Venice is an island (actually tons of them), but it is NOT small! There are six different neighborhoods, and walking between them can be long and hard on the legs after a few days.

Get a fleximap from Amazon.com. You'd think you wouldn't want to carry around a full-size map, but you will. Even after months of planning, I could get completely turned around in a heartbeat. Just expect to get lost!

PACK some washcloths. They don't use them there. Really. Getting some cheap ones that you can throw away is a good idea. Bug spray might be a good idea too - if you need to open the windows, there will be mosquitos. NO white socks. This is an American thing to do. Dark clothes make you blend in more.

SECURITY is not really an issue here. Despite what everyone says, most of the time you will feel very safe. Just don't carry all of your money in one place.

TOP FIVE THINGS I PACKED AND SHOULD HAVE LEFT AT HOME

1.Mascara and other makeup that I don't normally wear everyday
2.Medications for every kind of illness
3.Travel Clothes Steamer (you won't have the time or the energy)
4.Romantic bras that aren't comfortable(don't even try to wear one when you're walking 14 hours a day!)
5.A backpack for a day bag. Okay, this worked when I was 20 and traveling alone. Five years later, it seemed to be the most inconvenient way to store things. Nothing was within my reach. And it was heavy. Next time, I'll take a purse and run the small risk of getting mugged.

TOP FIVE THINGS I WOULDN'T DO WITHOUT

1.Plenty of socks - handwashing socks just isn't fun, and they take too long to dry.
2.A pair of jeans for every two days that I was there - no more, no less
3.A couple of extra shirts (say 7 shirts for a 10 day trip). They don't take up much room, and you won't be able to wear many of them twice.
4.A new perfume - it will always remind me of Italy
5.A journal, pens, and a camera with lots of film (in a special film bag) - these are what make the memories last

TOP FOUR MISTAKES WE MADE
1.Didn't plan enough days in Venice!!!
2.Didn't journal enough.
3.Saw a few too many things at first- stayed a bit too busy and burnt out before the trip ended
4. Believed we knew the correct opening times for every sight

TOP FIVE THINGS WE GOT RIGHT

1.Took plenty of pictures.
2.Used packing lists and made a trip itinerary
3.Bought a Venice picture book as a souvenir.
4.Spent all of the rest of our money on food! Tried the desserts and the wines.
5.Had one special romantic night togther (I packed pretty in-room attire).