Category Archives: Venice

Day 2 – St. Mark’s Square Walking Tour

Today’s weather was overcast but mild. We started our tour of St. Mark’s Square with a visit to the Doge’s Palace/Prisons. Our local guide gave us a quick overview of the history of Venice and told us about the “snitch mailboxes” (for reporting crimes) located outside the Palace. The interior is filled with statuary and paintings.

One of the “snitch mailboxes”

After touring the palace, we took a gondola ride along the canals of Venice.

After the gondola ride, we returned to the Square to visit St. Mark’s Basilica. One of our tour “extras” was a “skip the line” admission for a walkthrough (although we still had to stand in a shorter line to get in). Gold mosaic tile and beautiful paintings cover the ceilings and walls.

I spent the rest of the afternoon “people watching” while walking around St. Mark’s Square and along the waterfront and then back to the water taxi to our hotel. I had an early dinner at the hotel as we would be leaving by train for Florence early in the morning.

A pigeon enthusiastically digs into a bowl of pretzels at an abandoned sidewalk cafe table

Monument to Victor Emmanuel II

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Day 1 – Grand Canal Walking Tour

Our welcome dinner wasn’t until 6 PM, so I slept in and had a mid-morning breakfast. Afterwards, I visited the hotel’s photo gallery in the lobby.

Molino Stucky Photo Gallery

The weather was beautiful! I took an early afternoon walking tour of the south side of the Grand Canal, moving east away from the hotel, where I took these photos. The walkway is lined with small shops, cafes, restaurants and private apartments and homes. I saw some people fishing off the pier and some artists sketching views of the Canal from the steps of the Il Redentore.

Gesuati

Il Redentore

St. Mark’s

We had our welcome reception and dinner in the Skyline Rooftop Bar. The beef filet was fantastic – so tender it could be cut with a butter knife.

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Day 0 – Arrival in Venice

My flight to Venice was uneventful. I met some of my fellow travelers who, like me, were arriving a day early, and we took a water taxi from the airport to our hotel, the Hilton Molino Stucky, which is located on the Grand Canal. I had a lovely room with a great view of the Grand Canal. After a two-hour “catch-up” nap, I enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel’s Rialto Bar & Restaurant with chardonnay, chicken Caesar salad, tiramisu, and cappuccino.

Views of the Grand Canal