Venice Journals

Venice - Everything Italy Should Be

An April 2002 trip to Venice by KerrBerr

Piazza San Marco Photo - St. Marks Square/Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy More Photos
Quote: It's easy to fall in love with Venice, even without a special someone to share it with. I'd live there in a heartbeat if I could stop myself from buying up the entire island. Three days of shopping and eating mixed with a little sight-seeing made me never want to leave.

Venice - Everything Italy Should Be

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Overview

Bridge of Sighs - View Photo - Venice, Italy
Quote:
Shopping. . .glass, Venetian masks, cameos, porcelain dolls. Of course, a gondola ride is a necessity. Make sure you negotiate a price up front. The scenery is breathtaking. Despite what I’ve read in other reviews, we had some of our favorite meals in all of Italy in Venice. Our favorite restaurant was just three blocks from Piazza San Marco. Quick Tips: The island sways a little, similar to what I would expect on a cruise ship. It took us a day or so to realize it wasn’t our delirium causing the feeling of movement. I found it very soothing, but if you get motion sickness, you may want to be prepared. We got to spend an extra day in Venice because there was a train str...Read More

Best Western Hotel Montecarlo

Hotel | "Hotel Montecarlo"

Quote:
The hotel was nice enough. It's a Best Western hotel, and the Best Western chain has a better reputation in Europe than here in the US. It was clean and comfortable enough. The decor was old Venetian, of course, and very cute. We enjoyed the convenient location, only about a block (I think the web site said 50 meters) from Piazza San Marco. The service was very friendly and helpful. The concierge arranged for us to tour the glass factory on San Murano. He also helped me send a package home (since I couldn't fit all my purchases in my luggage). While in Italy, we always shared a bottle of wine with dinner. Sometimes this made us very thirsty throughout the night. Our first night i...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on September 19, 2003

Best Western Hotel Montecarlo
Calle Specchiere 463
Venice, Italy
+39 (041) 5207144

Murano

Attraction | "Marano Glass Blowing tour"

Quote:
Take a water taxi from the island of Venice to the island of Murano. We watched the workers creating a beautiful Venetian glass chandelier that would sell for thousands of dollars when finished. It takes hours for the team of three men to create the roses for the chandelier. We learned all sorts of neat facts about glass. One of my favorites was why red glass is always more expensive than any other color. If you see various colors of the same glass item, the red will always be more expensive, because the formula to make the red glass contains gold. The tour ends in the gift shop, giving you a chance to purchase virtually anything imaginable made of glass.

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on August 29, 2003

Murano
Glass-blowing island
Venice, Italy

St. Mark's Square/Piazza San Marco

Attraction | "Piazza San Marco"

Piazza San Marco Photo - St. Mark's Square/Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy
Quote:
Every visitor to Venice needs to see this square. About the most famous piazza in Italy, and the only real one in Venice, it is the most crowded (and touristy) area of the city. It is also home to an enormous number of pigeons. You can hear the cries of the children whose parents buy them food to give to the pigeons, but don’t prepare for when the child runs out of food and the pigeons keep pecking their hands hoping for more. At one side of the square is the Basilica di San Marco – a beautiful building with pillars made of different kinds of Italian marble. On the other 3 sides are various business – shops, restaurants, a gelateria or two, and various tourist offices.

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on August 29, 2003

St. Mark's Square/Piazza San Marco

Venice, Italy 30124