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Northern Italy by Land & Med Cruise 2011: Venice, Italy
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Venice, Italy
September 21 - 22, 2011 
A gondola on the Grand Canal | We started Wednesday by driving from Lake Como to Venice. The first hour was slow, getting out of the mountains around Lake Como. But then we hit the "autostrata" or "turnpike" across the northern part of Italy. Here the traffic moves right along. Most of the time, we were going about 140 kilometers per hour (about 90 miles per hour), so we reached Venice in about three hours. There is only one bridge onto the islands that make up Venice and once you cross the bridge, you come to a big parting lot... and that's it for driving. The rest of Venice has no cars whatsoever! Everything and everybody is delivered by boat.
| By the way, there is a new people mover near the train station that you find after crossing a bridge, to the right of the water taxi stands, that will take you to the cruise terminals for One Euro, but it makes for quite a hike with luggage. Not too many people were using it, but I think it may not be as well known as the water transportation.
| Our ship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, stayed overnight in Venice, and at night the city is romantic with pink street lanterns, violins playing at the cafes located in the Piazza San Marco, and waiters in white jackets pouring the region's wines into crystal clear glasses. I can't imagine a scene more satisfying to the soul than that. It makes your real world a distant memory, until you go to the famous Rialto Bridge, there modern life makes it s appearance in the from of graffiti. (Strange that it hasn't been cleaned off.) Shopping is great fun. The Italian fashion sense is the best in the world - both the men and the women dress well. There is a wonderful "insider's" tour that takes you through the maze of streets away from Piazza San Marco and right by Marco Polo's home. And don't miss the Doge's Palace and the Basilica at the Piazza. Inside these buildings, built during the Renaissance Age from the late 15th to the 17th century, are stunning collections of art, and they are an excellent example of the show of wealth and power of the Medici family and the Catholic Church.
| A view of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge
Nat & Sass on the Grand Canal
| | St. Marks Square as seen from our ship departing Venice
| The next day after lunch on board, several of us collected on our balcony overlooking the stern of the ship for an impromptu sail-away party. You can see Venice in all of its beauty from a completely different perspective and for at least 30 minutes wear out your camera while clicking happily away. A balcony stateroom overlooking the stern is the very best place to be when leaving a port as amazing as Venice.
| Tonight there was a private cocktail party for our grip and later we went to the Pinnacle Grill for a dinner for eight. Robert, our waiter from Hungary, is in training for management. He couldn't have been more gracious of run. We all loved him. All of our entrees were prepared perfectly to order, and at the end of dinner the maitre d' came to our table to spend some time with us.
| | Gelato shops are everywhere in and around Venice
| A canal in Morano - home to the famous glass blowers
| A glass furnace in Murano
| | Like I said, EVERYTHING in Venice
is delivered by boat
| Lots of boat traffic on the Venice canals
|  | Holiday Cruises & Tours
2522 Capital Cir. NE Ste 14
Tallahassee, FL 32308
800.805.7245850.386.7327
www.FunSeas.com
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Tags: Phil Swartz Holiday Cruises And Tours Venice Italy Gondola St Marks
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