Venice
Venice has around 150 canals weaving through the city, turning its 100-plus islands into a connected maze. The Grand Canal is the largest and most famous, stretching about 26 miles in a giant S shape, and many smaller canals called rìos branch off to reach the quieter corners. The city also features more than 400 bridges and a mix of natural and enhanced waterways, giving the whole area its unique floating character.
Bellagio to Venice
Thursday, Sept 11
We left Bellagio by rapid ferry around 11am, took a train via Milan and reached Venice around 4pm. Pretty easy trip, just a lot of people along every leg.
Milan Area
The route we took passed mostly through rural areas with fields of corn and occasional vineyards dotted with old villas. Green rolling foothills were visible in the near distance, and sometimes tall mountain peaks rose further beyond. The max speed I saw on the overhead was 112MPH, but most of the time, somewhat slower.
Arrived in Venice
The train arrives just a five-minute walk from the Grand Canal. As you exit the station, you are greeted with an amazing view of the buildings and people along the water.
We took a water taxi to the dock nearest our lodging, at Rialto. The area was crowded with people. On the way, we passed the Rialto Bridge (reconstructed with Istrian stone), which was also packed. Our room is a cozy apartment close to everything. Shortly after arriving, we headed out and started walking the streets.
We soon found our way to St. Mark's Square. Some construction, street vendors selling their wares and a sea of people taking selfies detracted from the beauty a little, but it's still an impressive site.
Walked a lot more after dinner and enjoyed a beautiful evening scene from the Rialto bridge. 15k steps today.
Cooking Class & Concert
Friday, Sept 12
Wonderful day in Venice. Started by hopping on the water taxi and riding the entire length of the Grand Canal. The people are interesting, the process is interesting and the views are interesting. I realized a lot of our photos don't show any crowds, I think we subconsciously frame them that way. That is a gross misrepresentation. Going forward, I'll shoot more realist scenes.
Hopped off at St. Mark's Square and started looking for a place for lunch. Stumbled on a wonderful place called Serafina. It had a rooftop area that was above the crowds and noise. The food was awesome. Our first of many Spritz Hugo.
Afterwards, we downloaded an audio tour and walked the city more learning about the history and details of the city.
Some of the streets around St. Mark's Square started flooding around noon due to high tide. It didn't smell very good. 😦 Also, crowds, crowds and more crowds.
Next up... a cooking class at 4pm. We met our guide, Paulo in front of a nearby department store, then we walked together to the cooking location... right back to the same restaurant where we had lunch! What are the odds? There were 5 of us in total, three lovely ladies from the UK. We made tiramisu, tagliatelle and bruschetta. The restaurant added their sauce, Ronnie had the bolognese, Kelley the pesto. Paulo was awesome and we had a great time. The class was advertised as 1.5 hours, but we ended up staying until almost 8pm.
At 8pm, we walked to the nearby Scuola Grande di San Teodoro (Concert Hall) where we saw the Vivaldi's Four Seasons, performed by the professional musicians of I Musici Veneziani orchestra. Amazing performance!
Another awesome day, great weather and interesting sites.
Headed to Florence
Saturday, Sept 13
Up and out early (10am, ha). Quick croissant (and pistachio cannoli) , then took the ferry to the train station and headed to Florence. Will try to find one of the three wine windows our friends Gerry and Katie told us about.
Sadly, we had to sit near the most annoying Italian family for most of the journey. Loud, confused about where to sit (yes, they sat in the wrongs seats causing a huge kerfuffle later), they played loud kid videos, smelled of BO (even though they looked middle class), then they sprayed perfume(??) which made it had to breathe for 30 minutes. Did I mention loud? 185MPH max speed on this one. Zipping! Most of the trip was somewhat boring, long sections in tunnels, but as we approached Florence, it looked more Tuscan with rolling hills, villas and vineyards.
Ronnie