Venice (TJ's version)

Venice was great -- and exceeded my expectations.

We went for Rachel's birthday in part because she had said before we moved over that Venice was a place she had always wnted to visit. I had always heard that it was too touristy, that the weather was iffy, the food was not that great, and that you should only go for two days (and to watch out for the high waters (acqua alta).

Not true across the board & I've never taken more pictures.

We had perfect weather, primarily stayed away from the touristy areas, had one particularly great meal (and several slices of very good, the kind you cannot find in San Francisco or London, pizza), and just tried to do what the locals do.

When we arrived at the airport I had prearranged a private water taxi to take us directly to our hotel... typically for Italy we then had to wait, with no one really telling us what was going on, for about 20 minutes before we were able to board a taxi, and shared it with a nice older English woman (it was supposed to be just our own - but that was ok... until the taxi driver did not know where our hotel was).
As a result we got a great tour up and back the Grand Canal - and then were let off somewhere in the vicinity of our hotel...

When researching hotels I made a point of trying to find one away from the main tourist spots... one in particular had great reviews - and was fully booked as a result when I first emailed them -- however they were just finishing up an 'annex' that they had purchased - right around the corner - but with a separate entrance. It was great - not overly 'posh' but new (on the inside - see photo at right - it is the two windows above the black door), and quiet, and it felt like we had our own little apartment there.

From there we just explored on foot. We covered all of the neighborhoods of Venice, and ended up knowing the geography fairly well, which is no small feat given the fact that it can take over 20 minutes to walk through the very narrow passageways and up and down the stairs innumerable times to cross the canals for what would take you five or less in a straight line.

The weather really added to the trip - we came upon scenes all day long, each day, that were just absolutely beautiful - and unlike anyplace I had ever been before.

The great meal we had was set up by Rach - she had read about the restaurant, and when we asked the guy at the hotel to book a table he said that you had to do so at least a month in advance because it was one of the 10 best restaurants in all of Italy... but not for lunch. This could not have turned out better, because at lunch it was busy, but not crazy, and we had a phenomenal table at the end of the restaurant right by a canal. The food was really, really good, and we were there for more than two hours, just enjoying each plate as it came out and the scene outside the window (at right) - and there were no 'socks and sandals' tourists at all except for the ones crossing over the bridge outside the window...just far enough away (but close enough to be in many of their pictures -- see the photo page for a couple of good examples of good outfits and the crowds of St Mark's).

While sitting there it dawned on me what was the most significant difference about Venice... it is really quiet. No cars, buses, motorbikes, sirens, etc.... it is all done via boat or foot... and moves at just that same pace.

The rest of the time we just wandered and found squares and ordered what the locals did, then watched to see which restaurants/pizzerias were popular and followed suit --- and risking too many photos / too long a post..... and 80 or so others are on this photo page

just after a wedding -- on the way to the reception

gondolas put away for the evening

venetian laundry

just a corner of san marco square

venice at night

mmmm.. sandwicesys...