Archive for January, 2007
Monday, Jan 15th, 2007
Categories: Venice
Our third day we were hoping would be a little more straight forward as now we were a bit more familiar with the ways of Venice.
We were to visit five properties including Alloggi La Gondola, Bepi Ciosoto, Hotel Primavera, Locanda Gaffaro, Il Tulipano B&B.
All these properties were pretty scattered which made travelling to them a little tricky. What I will suggest for those choosing accommodation when visiting Venice then make sure they know exactly where about they will be situated, although public transport is terribly easy to use it’s important to understand that you may very well be staying outside of the historical centre of Venice.
All properties were of a magnificent standard. One however stands out in my mind because of their wonderful hospitality when Leandro and I came to visit.
We met with Lucia who is one of the owners of Hotel Primavera. She was truly lovely as was the hotel. It’s situated closer to Mestre but well worth staying there. They too have a brilliant family restaurant which they invited us to visit some time during our stay.
We left her to visit the next few properties as well as to see a few more of the local sights. There is plenty to see in Venice but admittedly my interest in doing so was hindered by the cold weather. We were far more interested in getting some food and getting warm.
Having seen a few more sights and done a little shopping we went for a quick bite in the historic centre before heading back on the bus back to our accommodation.
Monday, Jan 15th, 2007
Categories: Venice
I went to knock on Leandro’s door at seven in the morning for his wake up call. We had to meet downstairs for breakfast at eight. We enjoyed an espresso and a light breakfast with Gianni who is the owner of Al Giardino B+B. He gave us a mountain of useful tips about getting around Venice as well as some ideas of places to potentially visit besides those that are the usual tourist attractions.
We left just before nine and took bus number 19 to the bus terminal in Venice. Arriving in Venice is somewhat surreal. It takes a while to get used to the basic transport system and to get used to the much slower pace of its people. The weather was very gloomy. It couldn’t have been any warmer than a couple of degrees and the sun was no where to be seen through all the thick fog that covered the city. We were lucky though as it wasn’t raining, ordinarily it rains in the winter but luckily it hasn’t done much of that so far.
Our first visit was to Holiday Center Il Lato Azzuro where we were to meet with Emanuele. The appointment was meant to be much earlier on in the day however after much hassle and getting endlessly lost we eventually arrived there at midday after several hours of chopping and changing from boat to boat.
This property is set in the most beautiful surroundings. With an amazing sea view and in the most peaceful of areas, I can imagine that in the summer months it is the ideal place to relax.
The next four properties we saw were much easier to locate. Granted when you first arrive in Venice its all rather a lot to take in but once you have spent a whole day wondering around the place you quickly learn how to get around and you learn the location of all the islands.
In total we saw Residenza del doge, Nuova Locanda Belvedere, Casa Linger Hostel and Holiday House Domus Cavanis.
All properties were beautiful, each with their very own charm. Some of them decorated in typical Venetian style while others took on a more modest minimalist style.
The weather wasn’t particularly pleasant throughout this trip. It was bitterly cold and foggy for the most part and it was particularly cold while on the taxi boats but because Venice is such a cosy wonderful place one didn’t really mind. Leandro and I wondered around the many different little streets and went to see the Piazza San Marco. It is such a beautiful building and the entire square is just majestic with all the hundreds of pigeons and amazing architecture its well worth visiting.
By the end of the day we were exhausted having wondered around none stop, getting to know the area. We sat outside in one of the many square and had some tea and a couple of cigarettes. It was too cold to be handing around outside so we made our way back to our B+B and got an early night not before visiting the restaurant next door to our B+B. A typical Italian family restaurant, after getting many stares when we walked in we were quickly served and forgotten about. The food was fantastic so I can’t complain.
Monday, Jan 15th, 2007
Categories: Venice
Leandro and I were due to meet at Liverpool Street Station at 8:30 on Monday morning. Considering I was running fifteen minutes late he went on to Stansted Airport without me and I met him there at the check in desk. Thankfully the mad rush that had taken place over Christmas had come and gone and the airport was relatively quiet. We boarded our flight to Venice Treviso Airport without a hitch.
We landed at what must be one of the world’s smallest airports and we bought tickets to board a bus service from the airport to the central bus terminal in Venice. We loaded our luggage onto the bus and we were going to get on when Leandro decided he wanted to find something for us to eat at a café across the street. Sadly while he was organising a snack the bus driver decided it was time to leave and he left me stranded there with our luggage while Leandro was away.
Needless to say this wasn’t the start we had been hoping for but we quickly found another route via bus that would eventually get us to the train station where we would then board another train Venice.
We arrived in Venice only to find that the property we were staying in wasn’t in Venice itself but actually in the surrounding area. We ventured onto bus number 4 from the Venice bus terminal and made our way to our B+B. We arrived in the early evening and dropped off our bags and went to find the nearest take out establishment we could. More or less across the road we found a pizza place that would suffice. So we ordered two pizza’s, ate those and headed right to bed. It had really been a long day, considering we had an early rise and only got to Venice in the evening we were pretty exhausted.
