VENICE
The next destination on our tour was Venice. We stopped for lunch at Egna, a north Italian village, also known by its German name of Neumarkt. We stopped for pizza in this picturesque old market town, marked by its arched arcade.
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At Venice, took all of our luggage from the bus, (it was for this moment that we were told to only bring one bag), and boarded a vaporetto, the waterborne equivalent of a city bus, for St. Mark's square. Venice blew us away. It's an understatement to say it is like no place else on earth. Magical! Our hotel was in a great location just a few steps from the very heart of Venice. We ate dinner together and tried many Venetian specialties. Then, courtesy of Donald's magical organizational skills, we all took a moonlight gondola ride, featuring champagne and a serenade by the gondoliers.
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Got up at 5 am to get some photos. Later, our local guide, who was right out of central casting--loud, brassy, flirty, opinionated, knowledgeable and a lot of fun--showed us Venice highlights, including a shop where they make masks for Carnival. We had the rest of the day on our own and explored Venice.
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Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. Truman Capote
At its peak, Venice was among the wealthiest and most powerful cities in the world and its leaders--the Doges--wanted to make sure everyone knew it. They built the monumental Doge's Palace, filled it with art, and showed it off to all their important visitors, including us!
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We were told the bells rang at 2, 4, and 6, so we went to the top of the Campanile at 5 to take in the view. We were misinformed. We were trapped in the bell tower as four huge bells pealed for about five minutes. There were about fifty people in the tower, all of us holding our hands to our ears.
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Donald recommended Trattoria da Giorgio,a restaurant near our hotel that was mentioned in Rick Steves' Venice guide book. Rick talked about the restaurant's lovely location on a canal, its fresh seafood, and its friendly owners, Giorgio, and his sons David and "the chatty Roberto." When we arrived, we were greeted warmly and shown to a canalside table. When our host saw our Rick Steves book, he said, proudly, "I am the chatty Roberto."
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The next morning we loaded aboard a vaporetto, scrambling to get seats in the front so we could get good photos, and traveled up the Grand Canal, to meet our bus and travel to Tuscany.