"Thank you Attila the Hun!" a Venice Travel Page by skywalkerbeth

Mom and I visited Venice in May, just last month as a matter of fact. I have so many new photos to put up, so bear with me!

Venice was founded by desperate Roman citizens fleeing Attila in the 5th century AD. Out of these acts of desperation one of the most beautiful cities in the world was founded.

My first trip to Venice was for New Years, 2000/2001 - the REAL Millennium! I went alone as I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go, as it was so last minute (as I usually travel).

The water taxi docked on the Riva del... and I trundled my pull suitcase and pack over the uneven pavement, taking the rabbit warren of back alleys to my hotel.

I came across this scene tout de suite, dropped everything, and started rooting through my luggage to find my camera - through the underwear and all. I found the camera and took my triumphant picture. Bear in mind the scanner I used just cannot do the photo justice, as much as the photo cannot do the real thing justice. This is one of my favorite photos - and enlarged and framed it is magnificent.

one of my favorite spots in the city - as it was the first photo I ever took. and here it is again 5 years later. not much changes in Venice. everything is exactly where I left it.

When I landed in Venice I couldn't believe I had really waited five years since the last visit! What is wrong with me??

The Wildner is a great little hotel and a wonderful value. There are a few photos in the links above which are called “the view from my room” and the view was certainly grand. I only paid 220E if I recall correctly. It's a few doors down from the Danieli, right on St. Mark's Basin, so you can get the same view for about a quarter of the price! I did walk into the Danieli - it's quite an elegant hotel but I'd prefer to stay at the Wildner unless I was on my honeymoon or something.

My best meal in Venice was at Osteria San Marco. Don't be put off by the name, proximity to St. Mark's in this case does NOT mean mediocre quality. It was fabulous and in fact my stomach hurt after I left; I ate so much. (Well, it was that and the full BIG bottle of San Pellegrino that I drank.) There I had a 1/4 carafe of prosecco, the above devil-drink (gassy water) and a big caprese salad (big enough for a meal) and also ravioli filled with ricotta and drenched in butter and topped with lightly sauteed asparagus. In order to find it on Frezzeria, you need to head west while in St. Mark's square. When you are about two-thirds of the way down the square, look off to your right and you will see a little sotoportego. Once you go through this, you will see the gondola ranch (I call it this because there must be 10-20 gondolas all lined up there, ar ar ar). Turn left and keep walking. You will shortly intersect with Calle Frezzeria.

I also met up with a friend Monica on this trip. She was ending her Italy trip in Venice; I was beginning it. So we met for dinner each night and my first full morning in Venice (after sleeping off the jetlag) I was up quite early and walked from my hotel to La Calcina where she stayed and had breakfast with her at La Calcina's outdoor terrace. I must say early mornings are the best time – you have the city to yourself (and a few locals walking their dogs, and the odd storekeeper and restaurateur).

I must say here that three days is simply not enough, not enough by far, for this city. It takes me that long to settle down. I think I had Stendhal Syndrome (not Stockholm syndrome! although I suppose I was held captive by the city so maybe that isn't far off the mark either. heh heh).

I will catch major grief in some quarters but I only went to one museum - Ca Rezzonico. I went on a guided tour that had me inside St. Mark's for all of 5 minutes. I went into a few smaller churches but most of this trip was walking, walking, walking, walking, walking, and of course photo taking. And walking. My last trip 5 yrs ago saw me going in to several museums and churches and since it was SO nice out (and my last trip was in winter so I didn't cover as much city ground) I decided to spend more time outdoors). I did very much enjoy the boat tour we took one evening.

A few observations:

Pigeons + kids = cute cute cute. pigeons - kids = damn ***ting birds.

Gondoliers on the Grand Canal are either brave, or lost. I watched a few navigate their gondolas as we passed in the vaporetto. Maybe the best word for them is “deft” (at handling the waves).

Peggy Guggenheim's dogs all seemed to die very young! Out of something like 12 dogs only a few made it past age 10 and the rest lived 1 or 2 years it seemed like. She buried them all in her garden and she is buried next to them.

The best time to wander around is very early or late if you don't want to feel like you're at a crowded rock concert.

You can find any famous Italian designer you can imagine, in Venice. It was far more interesting in that regard than say, Fifth Avenue.