Venice The City Of Love

Venice The City of Love,  yes I fell in love.  My recent trip to Italy included many firsts, but my visit to Venice was not a first.  Did I fall in love, yes I did all over again.  Arriving by train at St. Lucia station we quickly found our way to the vaporetto station down a large flight of stairs facing the grand canal.  We purchased our tickets and boarded the public water taxi for Venice center.

View of Grand Canal from St. Lucia Station

The first and last time I visited Venice was in the early 70’s!  It has not changed.  The one thing that was different this time is that on day one it rained all day.  We were prepared and had umbrellas to keep us dry, not an ideal situation.  On day two we awoke to sunshine and we were thrilled.  Turned out to be partly cloudy but a bit of blue sky and sunshine gives a whole new look to Venice the city of love.

St. Marks Square

For our overnight to Venice we splurged and lived like royalty in the Presidential Suite at the Ai Reali – a boutique hotel tucked away in a small piazza.  Quintessential luxury served with a complimentary bottle of Prosecco as a welcome!  Ai Reali is a completely refurbished palace that dates back to the 17th century.  Gorgeous Murano chandeliers and wall scones, immaculate antique furniture, impeccable service, all await anyone staying.

Luxury Boutique Hotel Ai Reali

Living quarters at Ai Reali

Dining area at Ai Reali

Murano Sconce

Bedroom fit for royalty at Ai Reali Venice

Beautiful bathroom at Ai Reali and today with the tp shortage due to COVID19 the bidet looks like a pretty smart idea!

As I mentioned it poured down rain on day one but we found a fantastic little restaurant on a tiny street while exploring the city and ducked in out of the rain.  Marco Polo did not disappoint.  We were the only diners, as the city was fairly quiet due to the coronavirus outbreak.  The service was warm and friendly.  The wine selection was amazing and the food was delicious.  We stayed quite a while to escape the cold, grey, rainy day and enjoyed the American music selection playing.

Warm and cozy, Marco Polo was a welcome respite from the rain in Venice.

Wandering and getting lost is a very important part of visiting Venice the city of love.  Finding yourself at a dead end or a tiny piazza can be an unexpected pleasure.  You know I found many doors and a few interesting windows to photograph as we meandered the city in the rain.

Wandering the streets of Venice

Door of Venice

An unexpected dead end but how colorful!

After we tired of the rain we went back to the palace -I mean, our hotel and relaxed for a while.  We decided to go back out to see St. Mark’s Square at night.  We wandered the streets for a while and the rain came down harder and harder.  We ducked into a pub for one cocktail and then headed to St. Mark’s.  We discovered a flooded square!  It turns out that when it rains and the tide comes in from the lagoon, flooding is a very common happenstance.  Venice has risers in place in the most easily flooded areas yet we found ourselves on the opposite end of the square and walked through ankle-deep water to arrive at the risers.  Fortunately we had water -proof boots and survived the flood!  We laughed quite a bit and headed back to Ai Reali for wine in the bar.

Venice in the rain

St. Mark’s Square at night – flooded!

Gondolas at night

I am sure the rain prevented us from seeing as much of Venice as we would have liked, yet we thoroughly loved the capital of Italy’s Veneto region.  Strolling through the city with no real streets, only canals, we passed by many Renaissance and Gothic palaces.  The central square, Piazza San Marco, home of the breathtaking St. Mark’s Basilica and the Campanile bell tower was not crowded on day one, thanks to the rain!

St. Marks – a photo does not do it justice.

Canal sights

How old is this door?

We went on a traditional gondola ride – truthfully I was not impressed.  This was the one mistake we made, deciding too quickly to go with the first gondolier that approached us.  Live and learn.  Venice offers shopping galore.  It seems all cities offer more than enough shopping, one thing I honestly wish there was less of.  Due to our time restraints, COVID19 and the weather we didn’t visit any museums and weren’t able to visit inside any of the exquisite palaces.

Interesting window in Venice

Doors of Venice

Doors of Venice

We were able to stop at the Gritti Palace for cocktails overlooking the grand canal before we headed back to the train station to return to Milan.  Opulent and gorgeous, dating to 1475 the noble palace retains it’s exceptional art and elegance.  We ended our time in Venice Dolce-Vita style relaxing on the deck at Riva, with chilled glasses of chardonnay, taking in the beauty of the Venice’s grand canal.

Riva bar @ Gritti Palace

View from Riva @ Gritti Palace

Inside the Palace Bar

View down the canal from Riva bar @ Gritti Palace

Venice is a true masterpiece of elegance, beauty and exquisite architecture around every corner.  With so much to see and do Venice City of Love will beckon you back time and again.

Riva Bar @ Gritti Palace