We stayed at the Hilton at the Paris Orly Airport because our flight for Venice left at 7:30 am. Since the hotel was right next to the airport, I figured it would be an easy walk to the terminal. What we found was that the area wasn't really set up for walking. After dropping off our rental car at the airport last night, we had to take a fairly circuitous route through the parking lot (dragging suitcases) to get to the hotel just across the parking lot.
Flights within Europe are relatively cheap...our flight to Venice was about $40 each plus extra fees for baggage. Even so, it was cheaper to rent a hotel room and pay for flights than to take the overnight train from Paris to Venice and was a lot more comfortable! In the end, we arrived in Venice at about the same time as the train would have arrived.
With our flight leaving at 7:30 am, that meant we had to be to the airport check-in counter around 5:30 am. The hotel's regular shuttle wasn't scheduled to start yet, so we inquired about a taxi (but they refuse to taxi people for such short distances). The hotel called their shuttle driver and he agreed to drive us over. We flew on EasyJet, and while their fares are inexpensive, their service is almost non-existent. They take the back corners of the airport for their check-in counters and save costs by having NO signage. We walked back and forth across the airport trying to find it. (We also found that directional and information signs were very rare in France, and in Italy, they were almost non-existent!). I think the airport employees get tired of tourists asking questions and we couldn't find anyone that could (or was willing) to give us directions. Eventually we found the check-in counter in the basement, and got checked in. (Of course, there are no assigned seats on the flight so its a cattle rush to get in and find space.)
Our flight from Paris to Venice took us over the Swiss Alps. I took these photos with my phone as we flew over. I'm 90% certain we flew within viewing distance of the Matterhorn, but I just wasn't sure where to look.
A glacier in the Swiss Alps.
When we arrived in Venice, one thing was obvious: It was hot! We picked up our bags and made our way to the tourist information booth to pick up our vaporetti and museum passes. But after standing in a long line to get to the window, we were informed we had to go somewhere else to pick them up (of course, there were no signs!) And after going to the line where we were directed, they couldn't help us either, and we were directed to some automated ticket vending machines outside the building. We then walked the 1/4 mile or so to the Alilaguna water bus dock at the end of the airport. As I stood in line to get our ticket, the women inside was talking to friends on the phone and it took her 3 or 4 minutes to actually help us and the people in front of us get our tickets. We missed the boat by about 2 minutes and had to wait another 30 minutes for the next boat. (Our first introduction to Italian customer service.)
When we finally got on the water bus, the passenger section was HOT with very little ventilation (only some small windows at the top that wasn't ideal for air circulation--a design that seems to be ubiquitous around Italy and provides little ventilation. The Italians seem to be fine with it, or at least they are used to it.) The water bus took about 45 min to an hour to make the 2-3 mile trip from the airport to the island of Venice. If I were to do it again, I think I would consider a water taxi, which while more expensive, would be a much more comfortable and faster ride.
When I started looking at hotels in Venice, there were a number of options (all expensive!) and since this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, I didn't want to waste time riding from the Lido or the mainland to get into Venice. After some research, I found a rent-by-owner suite in a Palazzo on the Grand Canal that was cheaper than a hotel. The owner is a writer from England who owns homes in Venice, Paris, London, New York and Nicaragua. They spend their time moving from place to place depending on their mood. They rent out rooms in the house to cover costs of the house.
The water bus dropped us off at the Sant'Angelo stop and we called Romel, the caretaker, who said he would walk over and meet us at the restaurant on the street just outside the building. I had a map of the streets, but when you are there, its a completely different experience and is so easy to get turned around. The alleys are so narrow, and twist and turn everywhere, that it is very easy to get lost. We started walking to our suite and dragged our luggage along the way....not an easy task when you are wheeling them along cobblestone streets and over bridges and steps. Despite the challenges, we made it easily to the Bacareto restaurant and waited a few minutes for Romel to arrive.
The palazzo was built in the 1500s, but I later learned that in the mid-1800's, the front of the building fell into the canal and they rebuilt it about a meter higher than it was before. (Because they built it higher, they don't have the "acqua alta" flooding problems that occur throughout Venice.) We arrived at the house by walking down a LONG alley with apartments tucked in occasionally here and there. You could see the laundry hanging from lines above the street, and you could hear a TV playing an Italian television show. It was a slice of Venetian life away from the tourist areas.
Standing at our gate looking back down the Alley (il Bacareto Restaurant is at the end)
Arriving at the courtyard of the palazzo after passing through a HEAVY iron gate (I realized later I didn't get a picture of it). Originally, this was all one palazzo, but it has since been subdivided into smaller units. The door to our unit was just to the right of these stairs.
Walking down another short alley, we arrived at the gate into our portion of the building.
Passing through the gate and turning around to look back out to the alley
We walked down a long hallway and came to the interior entrance doors to our unit (I LOVED the glass work and details in all of the windows and the decorative ironwork on all of the doors.
There were three apartments in the owner's portion of the building....a small suite (ours), a second floor apartment with several bedrooms and a kitchen, and his apartment on the third floor with a roof terrazo.
Entering through into the owners unit and into the sitting area. The stairs to the upstairs units is just to the left. They had a bookshelf with copies of the owner's books and some other history books on Venice. The doors at the back open up onto the dock and the Grand Canal.
Our bedroom suite. There was a bed, an air-conditioning unit, a television and a microwave (we never used either of those). The windows look directly out onto the Grand Canal.
There was an ensuite bathroom just to right of this picture.
Standing on the dock looking up the Grand Canal toward the Rialto Bridge.
Looking across the Grand Canal toward the palazzos on the opposite side. You can see the water level in relation to the doors on the different palazzos...some have sunk below water and the main floors have been abandoned and people live on the upper levels.
On our dock looking South
This gondola is called a Traghetto and carries people back and forth across the canal in the absence of a bridge. It costs about 50c and most Italians will stand up in the boat. The poor guys running the Traghetto did it ALL day long....just back and forth constantly.
It was very hot and humid, and we had gotten up very early to catch our flight, so Becky stayed at the suite and took a nap and I ventured out to see some of the City. As part of our package of vaporetto and museum passes, we were given a voucher for using the public bathrooms. I decided I would walk up to the tourist info office at the train station and pick up the bathroom vouchers. As I headed out, I was pretty sure I was headed in the right direction, but I became mesmerized by all of the beautiful sites along the way. While most of Venice is comprised of small alleys connecting the buildings, you are constantly crossing over or walking along canals as you get from area to area.
And then I walked into this: St. Mark's Square. A surprising site....especially since the train station is in the complete OPPOSITE direction and on the other side of the island. So much for my sense of direction! But it was still fun to see St. Marks. It was really a dream come true. I had always wanted to see Venice and have always been fascinated by it. (I wrote a paper and gave a presentation on Venice in my Art History class.)
St. Mark's Square. Not as many pigeons as I was expecting
Campanile on St. Mark's Square. Rebuilt in the 1910's after it collapsed.
The Bronze Horses of St. Marks and the mosaic detailing on the exterior of St. Mark's Basilica
Doge's Palace
It was so hot that people tried take cover in any shade they could find.
The Bridge of Sighs passing from the Doge's Palace (left) to the prisons (right) and the window openings gave prisoners their last view of Venice (hence, they sighed).
Looking across the harbor and the Grand Canal to the other side of the island. I loved the look of the Gondolas tied up.
Since I got so lost walking to the "train station", I decided to take the vaporetto back to the suite so I would know where I was. Walking up the Calle (street) to our suite.
I picked up a pizza at the Bacareto restaurant outside of our palazzo and took it to our suite where we ate lunch. We decided to head down to St. Marks Square to go through the Doge's palace since it closed late afternoon. On the way, we were looking for a hat for Becky to try and keep the sun off her face, neck and back (she burns easily). I also bought some sunglasses to replace the ones that were knocked off my head and broke in Doune Castle (Scotland) by a low ceiling on a circular staircase.
Becky shopping for hats from street vendors
Hat purchase successful
On our way, we saw the signs to Scala Contarini del Bovolo (snail stairs), circular stairs built into a palazzo. I had seen pictures of them in guidebooks and wanted to see them. They were in a very small courtyard and down a narrow (no more than 24 inch) alley. Unfortunately, they were being refurbished and were closed to the public.
Becky on St. Mark's Square
We entered the Doge's Palace in the late afternoon and there were virtually no lines to get inside.
Inside the courtyard of the Doge's Palace
Staircase into the second level of the Doge's Palace
Looking out the openings on the Bridge of Sighs
Courtyard of the Palace
Staircase in the Palazzo courtyard with Mars and Neptune at the top (signifying Venice's dominance over land and sea).
From St. Mark's we caught the Vaporetto dell'Arte and rode it up and down the Grand Canal.
We found the Vaporetto dell'Arte to be a very relaxing way to get around. It's a new experiment from the City of Venice and is geared toward tourists. The seats were more comfortable, they were less crowded than the regular vaporetti, there was an audio guide that told about the landmarks we passed, and most importantly, there was air-conditioning!
Riding up the Grand Canal
Academia Bridge
Our palazzo and dock from the Vaporetto dell'Arte. Our windows were the two lower right on the main level
Rialto Bridge
The hat in action
As we were riding along, Becky said, "I just know there is a jewel heist going right under our noses!" (in reference to the movie, The Italian Job). Just then, this police boat (equivalent of the Italian FBI in charge of jewel heists) came speeding by with their siren blaring.
We came back to our suite and just enjoyed sitting on the dock and watching the boats and gondolas go by. The only disconcerting part of that was that as the public vaporetti went by (filled with tourists), they would snap pictures of us (as if we were some kind of tourist oddity). I prefer to think they were just jealous. (We considered mooning them, as we were in Paris, but thought better).
We watched the sun set over the Grand Canal, and went to bed exhausted. It was kind of nice to not have a lot of plans in Venice. Our primary goal was just to experience the City and walk around at whatever pace we felt like.
As we lay in bed, the electric breaker tripped and left us with no air conditioning. The residents of the second floor unit (Americans) had arrived that evening and the wife was freaking out. (We found her to be kind of annoyingly condescending about the palazzo and Italy in general.) They didn't know where anything was and could hear them talking and trying to make their way around. She had been using the washing machine and the a/c and cause the breaker to trip. I called Romel on our cell phone and while he was working as a night security guard at a hotel elsewhere on the island, he called someone else who came over and reset the breaker. We slept cool for the rest of the night, and the soft whirring sound of the a/c drowned out the complaints of the lady on the second floor.
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