Italy is full of American Tourists (and French, Canadians, Japanese, British, German, Dutch, you name it) who love the Italian lifestyle, the culture, the sightseeing and the art. It seems nobody can ever get enough of it. Including of course myself. I have been to Italy many times over the years and always loved it and especially Venice has always been one of my dream vacation spots. There is nothing like it in the world.

Venice

This time around I am spending a week in Venice, my absolute favorite city in Italy. Its unique, crowded,
even at this time of the year, yet it has a special place in my heart.

We are walking a lot, which is fun in Venice, walking through the tiny alleys, and getting lost is part of the adventure  and the charm of this city, built on water. And of course, we are taking the waterbuses (vaporettos) which run just like  a subway system, except they are ships mostly packed with locals and tourists alike. The views in Venice are best taken in from the canals. The Grand Canal is extremely busy, Gondolas, Waterbuses, Watertaxis, boats transporting goods, private yachts.
Even ferries and larger ships. And then of course, there are the large cruise ships docked along the piers bringing loads of more tourists into the city.

Venice is expensive and the Euro exchange against the Dollar makes things worse. So we rented an apartment for the week which gives us a much better value than staying in a small hotel room so typical for Italy. Our apartment is a newly renovated 2 bedroom with kitchen/living area in the Castello District, about 7 minute walk to Saint Mark’s Square, a quiet neigborhood, mostly residential it seems. There is no elevator in the building, so be prepared to walk stairs or ask for an apartment on the lower floors.

We stayed at the  CorteNovaResidences. There are 11 apartments accomodating parties of 2-5, all nicely decorated and recently updated.  TV’s (only in english) WiFi available. I’d go again in a flash, so that means, I recommend it.

There is a supermarket right around the corner and we have our breakfast “at home” before we embark on our daily sightseeing tours around Venice and Murano. A flooded Saint Marks Square and everybody is walking on elevated planks around the square, the tide floods the square nearly every morning this time of year. The crowds are waiting patiently to get into St. Mark’s Church.

Santa Maria della Salute

Of course I’ve been spoiled by living too long in the U.S. where the service in shops and restaurants is so much better than in Europe and especially much better than in Venice, but all in all we try to be a nice as possible to the shopkeepers and mostly that works, even if they are at times a little short with us. I just keep telling myself “how would I be dealing with this on a daily basis?”

Venice is fantastic and if you get the chance to go, please do.

Happy Trails!

P.S. If you are interested in Travel yourself, go check this out

A Birdseye View Of Venice, Italy