Venice

About a year ago, we planned a cruise through the eastern Mediterranean. Before sailing from Trieste, we spent three days in Venice — the third visit, with previous trips in 1992 and 2011. One advantage of re-visiting is that you have some sense of location and basic logistics. But the upgrade in Google Maps is huge with turn-by-turn directions through the alleys — we never got lost by more than about 5 minutes.

We went through an AirBnB-type service and found a great location about halfway between the Rialto and St. Mark's Square. The direct flight from DC to Venice was nice — outside of being 5 hours late. There are various ways to reach Venice from the airport — bus, train, or boat. We went with the water bus — not the fastest but it worked. We had watched a YouTube video and got some great tips on buying the water bus ticket in the luggage hall because you supposedly couldn't buy the tickets later. After 45 minutes in the waiting line for the water bus we finally got to the front of the line and had the wrong ticket. Luckily we had more waiting time and could walk over to the ticket office and buy the right tickets (i.e. the YouTube video was wrong). The water bus was a tough slog — 4.2 MPH speed limit with very little ventilation — but we arrived at St. Angelo where Silvio greeted us and took us to the apartment. We arrived about 2.5 hours after we landed and the water taxi would have been at least an hour faster — but $50/person more. If you are short on time, it is probably worth it.

We were concerned about August crowds, but Saturday and Sunday weren't too busy; Monday felt more like a theme park. We packed a lot into 3 days — started off with a walking tour on Saturday after we landed with a local to "hidden Venice" which took us around the non-tourist parts of the island. Coincidentally, the guide took us by a church that our apartment agent also recommended as well as the oldest bridge in Venice. We ended the tour on the west side of the island with one of the only places to see the sunset down the canals.

The next morning, we were up early to visit the Doge Palace — we got front of the line tickets and it was fast. The Doge Palace and the history of the heights of Venice and the Doges were impressive.

We did a bit of wandering, joining our friends for some high-end shopping (we didn't participate) and ended up on the other side of the Grand Canal at the Basilica Santa Maria della Salute and out to the far point across from St. Mark's Square near the Punta della Dogana. Beautiful day and bright blue skies.

We finished off the day at the Rialto Bridge — Terry and Tina got a Gondola ride. It is fixed price with a premium for after 5pm for 30 minutes — they got only 20 minutes and the excuse was "the 30 minutes assumes Gondola congestion — there wasn't any congestion so it was faster." Pretty lame. We followed with dinner at Ristorante Florida overlooking the Rialto Bridge — the prices didn't look too bad but by the time you added the cover charge, the service charge, and the mandatory tip — it got pretty expensive. I introduced the group to Grappa — pretty sure it will be the last time that they try it.

One of the days, the ladies took a trip over to Murano Island for some glass blowing demonstrations while we went around to the local Football Club shop to buy a scarf and found that they were selling tickets for the first round of the national cup — and had a good chat with a local. The locals were not fans of the Bezos wedding.

We attempted to finish off the day with a boat ride down the Grand Canal (using the public water bus) like we had 15 years ago, but got on the wrong water bus — it didn't matter anyway as many of the buildings were not illuminated and it would have been a trip in the dark. We ended up at St. Mark's Square and it was partially illuminated.

The transition to Trieste was simple — 10 minute walk to water bus → train station → direct train to Trieste → 15 minute walk to hotel. Venice always a place you should visit if you have a chance.