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Venice

Venice Italy in July

Near the Olimpia HotelMore Photos

by zax1

A July 2001 travel journal

Last Updated: August 2, 2004

Journal Usefulness Rating 3 out of 5
Journal Usefulness Rating
9
Reviews
2
Photos

This journal will describe the stay my wife and I had in Venice, Italy in the summer of 2001

Venice is extremely crowded in the summer. It is worth the trip to visit the islands of Murano (where glass items are made) and Burano where you can find lace and other fabric items for sale. Burano is a photographers paradise with the brightly painted houses and shops along with the colorful markets you have fantastic photos

Quick Tips:

Be careful picking restuarants. As all visitors to Venice know the prices are high and the quality is often low. My experience in ordering from the "set" menu is to avoid it, the offerings may sound good, but the quality was quite poor. Even highly recommended restaurants tend to be overpriced and not nearly as good as some tour books, such as Cheap Eats in Venice proclaim.

Best Way To Get Around:

Skip the gondola, unless you really must do it because it is your honeymoon... if you must you can take the cheap gondola ride from Zaccaria. The city is seen best by walking and of course transportation on the vaparato is inexpensive, especially if you by the multi-day pass.
The Olimpia hotel is quite near the train station, one stop on the Vaporato. The hotel rooms and public areas are newly remodeled and is top quality, our room was quite beautiful with Venetian furniture and silk wallpaper.. the bathroom was very nicely appointed. Breakfast was included, which was typical, and very good. They can make you an American type breakfast if you require that. The only drawback was that the main Venice bus terminal is right across the canal. From about 7:00 AM until 6:00 PM there are hundreds of buses and people there, making it quite noisy. We were gone during those hours for the most part, but in the morning it was less than ideal. Gondolas pass right beneath your window. Restaurant in the same building was OK, but expected better.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by zax1 on April 16, 2002

Hotel Olimpia
S CROCE 395 Venice, Italy 30135
39 041 711041

Al Piave

Hotel

The Al Piave is nice, for the money. Like most Venice hotels, the rooms are small, although it was clean and very convenient to San Marco and the Rialto areas. Breakfast was typical, and sufficient. The staff was pleasant. During our stay, there were some people yelling and screaming obscenities all of one evening and into the early morning. I don't think there was staff during the night to deal with this.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by zax1 on July 23, 2004

Al Piave
4838-4840 Ruga Giuffa Venice, Italy
041-528-5174

Al Piave

Hotel

The Hotel Piave was as in an excellent location, halfway between San Marco and the Rialto. The room was quite small, but this is normal for Venice. The staff was pleasant and breakfast adequate. The only complaint is that there is no staff after midnight, and a group of loud, swearing Americans were yelling obcenities at the top of their voices all, and I mean all, night. The snack bar right across the street is very convenient, but the restaurant next door, although it looks good, has lousy food, but then again, most restaurants in Venice are way overpriced and the food is usually barely edible.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by zax1 on August 2, 2004

Al Piave
4838-4840 Ruga Giuffa Venice, Italy
041-528-5174

Near the Olimpia Hotel
This restaurant was highly recommended in the Venice Cheap Eats book, which doesn't only recommend "cheap" places. I was very surprised to find it was actually in the same building that my hotel was, the Olimpia. This restaurant has been in continuous operation since the 1500's. The outdoor dining was nice right along side an busy canal. The service and food were lacking. The ordered water came in a dirty carafe, the sea bass I ordered was not sea bass at all, and the shrimp appetizer was so small it was ridiculous. The waitress was also distracted and seemed like she couldn't care less about her customers, which was surprising since the recommendation I read said that it was all familiy owned and operated. Very disappointing considering the glowing review I had read, and the fairly high cost.
  • Member Rating 1 out of 5 by zax1 on April 16, 2002

Restaurante Bruchinelli
Fondemente Bruchinelli Venice, Italy

Sevarino

Restaurant

The restaurant is located a few blocks toward San Marco from the Al Piave. We enjoyed one of the best meals we had during our several stays in Venice. The food was fairly good and the prices were in the normal Venice range, which nowadays is about $45 for a simple decent meal.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by zax1 on August 2, 2004

Sevarino
close to Al Piave Venice, Italy

Florian's

Activity

Although some think the price is high and the location over blown, we very much enjoyed having a coffee and soda at Florian's listening to the beautiful music. Although it was $7 for a sprite, the waiter is dressed in a tux and gloves, the bottle is served on a silver platter, and is accompanied by a water. Next year we will order wine or drinks. I don't know what we were thinking ... don't miss it, the atmosphere is so romantic - even if you are not usually the romantic type.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by zax1 on April 16, 2002

Caffè Florian
Piazza San Marco Venice, Italy 30124
+39 0415205641

Murano Island

Activity

Many hotels in Venice will offer you a free trip to Murano. Murano is the island where all the glass makers reside. The glass business was set on Murano hundreds of years ago to assure that all of Venice would not burn down in a glass making accident.

You do not have to feel compelled to buy something at the glass factory just because you accpeted the free transportation there. We went with the intention of buying a special glass souvenir of our trip and the selection of beautiful pieces is amazing. If you do buy, ask for a private boat ride to where ever you are headed next, you will be accomodated.

  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by zax1 on April 16, 2002

Murano
Glass-blowing island Venice, Italy

Burano Island

Activity

Beautiful Burano is a Photographer
Burano Island is a very plesant trip on the large public boats you can catch at Zaccharia (San Marco). Burano is different than the other islands in that all the houses and business are very colorfully painted. Legend has it that the owners painted their house colorfully so they could see them easily when returning from the sea.

The island has one main street and several offshoots. The businesses mostly sell beautiful lace and other fabric clothing, table cloths, etc. The inhabitants at one time made all these items, but now most come from the far east. Italians are too well paid ... and the fantastic lace creations, already very expensive, would be astronomical if actually still made on Burano. Bring your camera, if you are a serious photographer you will be in heaven.

  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by zax1 on April 16, 2002

Burano
Island of Burano, off Venice Venice, Italy

About the Writer

zax1
zax1
clinton townshio, Michigan

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