VENICE

So much has been written and said about Venice that you all probably know everything about it, but if my experience is any indicator, you've hardly scratched the surface of this wonderful city. From the Rialto Bridge (left) to Murano, Venice offers unique experiences to everyone.. Susan and I spent just two days there in 2005, and I can't think of a single moment where we were disappointed.


Our trip to Venice actually began in Lugano, Switzerland early on a Saturday morning. We were told that there was no room on the train, or at the very least, no reservation available. We changed trains in Milan, and even though we had 1st class train passes, the best we could get were 2nd class seats with our reservation to Venice. The car that our seats were on was at the far end of the train, and we were late , so we jumped on the first car, intending to walk back to our car inside the train. It was a great idea, until we realized that 10 feet inside the first car, the mass of humanity standing in the aisles was not going to part for us.

Only a couple sitting in the wrong compartment who were unceremoniously moved by the harried conductor, allowed us to sit down - an hour and a half into the three hour journey.


Arrival in Venice was an adventure. Fortunately, a friend who has spent a lot of time there over the years, gave us the game plan on getting anywhere in Venice. We bought a two day Vaparetto pass which allowed us unlimited access to Venice's "mass transit" system.



The Grand Canal is Main Street, with as much traffic as any major city, except it's all boats. We traveled most of the length of the Grand Canal to get to our destination - the Academia Bridge. Our hotel, the American Hotel, was on a quiet little canal a few blocks away. The staff was great, the room was reasonable, and the stairs were numerous. The sidewalk cafe at the base of the Academia Bridge was a wonderful first meal in the city. We had a great view of San Marco (St. Mark's Square), across the canal. Walking the neighborhoods was a real learning experience. We found numerous potential customers in areas that probably hadn't seen an American tourist in years.


Sunday morning, Susan found a church that did Gregorian chants. We had to back track all the way around the city to get to it, and while the church was quite beautiful, the chants were remarkably mediocre. We met a pair of sisters, biological, not religious, from Canada who had spent some time in Tuscany at a villa that sounded fantastic. Who knows, maybe on this trip we might be able to find it ourselves.


On the way out of town on Monday, we met with our new friend Matilde Dolcetti at the Scoula Grafica. Matilde and her son run one of the most prestigious graphics workshops in Italy. Our visit was an opportunity to finally connect with a long time customer, and to hopefully cement that relationship.


Next: On to Florence