Venice

Going mad over the winter, I booked a trip to Venice through Go Today with a package that promised three nights and four days in beautiful Venice for about $800 per person from Salt Lake with accomodations at the Hotel Canaletto. That would have been fine if we were flying from a major city, but two of those four days got pretty much eaten up by travel time, giving us an end ratio of 1:1 for travel time to destination time. Not for the faint of heart … even I'm still feeling the jet lag.

However, Venice was gorgeous once we got past the tourist traps, and our approximately 60 hours there still gave us plenty of time to walk the entire city, plus some islands in the harbor, and take some gorgeous pictures which I've set up in a gallery. Beyond that, our itinerary is listed below.

Itinerary

Day 1: Flying, flying, and more flying.

Day 2: Arrived in Venice mid-afternoon and took the boat into the city. Found our hotel, did some exploring, took a nap, and then get over-charged on dinner at some tourist trap because we were just too tired to find anything else.

Day 3: Walked along the waterfront to Castello district with its public garden and quiet neighborhoods to see how the locals live … quite nicely. Headed over to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum to see how the wealthy expats lived … damn nicely. Enjoyed some gelatto in a lovely square and the shadows of Santo Stefano. Enjoyed a reasonably priced dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the San Polo district.

Day 4: Walked to the Jewish ghetto exploring assorted churches and stores along the way. Made our way to Fondamente Nuovo to catch a ferry to the islands in the harbor. Explored Mazzboro, Burano, and Torcello to take pictures of the views from its tall belltower which had no elevator. Made our way back and visited the Ca D'Oro for the views and the art before picking up a slice and heading back to our hotel for an early night.

Day 5: Awoke at 3:30 to walk across the city to the bus stop at Piazzale Roma. Surprisingly didn't get lost and made it on to the 5:00 bus to get us to airport where we started on the long haul back home. Finally got into bed about 30 hours later at 1:30 in the Utah morning.