We just returned from a trip to Venice. My husband and I are well travelled and have been to Venice previously, and frankly, it wasn’t our favorite city. The glut of visitors and tourist-oriented shops and restaurants diminished this historic city in our eyes. Since our trip ended in Venice I was determined to give the city another try and take a different approach to see it for the city others rave about.
I booked a private tour with Nadia at Friend in Venice, two hours by foot and one hour on a private water taxi, and it made all the difference in the world! Nadia knows the city and it’s history like the back of her hand and within minutes of meeting her we were in tiny alleyways and passages where we had the area to ourselves. Nadia brought the history of the people to life, telling us stories of specific family buildings as we passed them and showing us an illustrated book that explained some of the structural aspects of the city designed to overcome obstacles (like how they built the many community wells to access fresh water). A “two dimensional” city became a vital, technicolor 3D experience. Nadia made sure that all of our senses were engaged.. she even took us to a darling “sandwich” (tramazzino)shop to sample some absolutely delicious local specialties.
While on the water tour, Nadia and her partner, Captain Rafael, still took us behind the scenes. It was beautiful! A surprise was that Nadia took my phone to take some pictures of us. It ended up being a beautiful photo shoot! We didn’t quite realize what she was doing when she had the Captain reposition the boat to have the background scenery that she wanted. But when we looked at the photos after the tour, we were blown away at the beautiful pictures that she took to help us memorialize … the day we fell in love with Venice.
Do yourself a favor…. Contact Nadia to make your trip memorable and to lift your heart because …you now have a friend in Venice.
Nadia Danesin
Nadiadanesin@hotmail.com
https://friendinvenice.com/en/