05/28/2018
Things to do:
Hotel: We stayed at the Carnival Palace Hotel. It’s about a 20 minute walk from the center of the city and it’s in a quiet neighborhood. The staff was very friendly. They have a nice bar with cheaper cocktails (6-8 euros) and breakfast is included 🙂
Sites/Activities: Bridge of Sighs (take a gondola ride under it, better view and there is a tradition to kiss under the bridge… well under any bridge 😉 ), Rialto bridge, Saint Marks Basilica, gondola ride (I booked in advance but the day we were supposed to go, it was going to rain. On our first day we had beautiful weather and were walking past a gondolier and decided it was worth it to be able to take one now than risk not being able to go on one. And of course the next day it didn’t rain and we couldn’t cancel so we ended up going on 2 gondola rides. The first one was on a busier canal. We did go under the bridge of sighs which was cool but Chase and I both enjoyed our second one more which was on the left bank and it was a lot quieter. On the second one we also went down the grand canal for a little bit which I think is a must, you get to see how busy the canal can get and how crazy it is that this is their “main highway”. I would advise that you don’t book before and figure out which gondola ride you want once you get there… It’s cheaper too! I looked at every place and it was 80 euros and I think I paid $140. Taxi ride (Chase’s parents said that taking a taxi from the airport was an amazing experience.. and they were right. You feel like a movie star. It is expensive ($100) but worth it!! You don’t have to haul your suitcase through the tiny streets… which let me tell you is very exhausting because there is so many stairs. The taxi is also private and if your hotel is in the center of Venice, you get to cruise through the Grand Canal)
Food: Harry’s bar (This is where bellini’s were invented and Hemingway spent a lot of time here. A bellini is 21 euros.. super over priced but worth the experience). We ate at 2 random restaurants and I really didn’t care too much about the food, so I’m not going to mention them.
Overall Venice is very picturesque, it honestly doesn’t even feel real at times. It is very small and charming which makes it enjoyable to walk around.
Get lost in the small walk pathways/canals and make sure to take gelato breaks along they way.
Part 1 Italy VLOG (Venice and Florence)
xxxx- Mo
