Hi all--here is the belated second part of my trip report from our honeymoon last month, this section is our time in Italy!
August 6
We left Brussels and took an easy train to the airport where we flew on Brussels Air to Venice. It was an easy flight but with some turbulence. We were in an exit row which was great for the leg room, but they wouldn't even let us hold a book or our headphones in our laps during takeoff and landing, which I found odd--I know it's a safety thing, but I've never come across that in the States (although I don't often pay extra for an exit row to be fair!)
Once in Venice, we took the Alilaguna water taxi from the airport to the Guglie stop and found our bed & breakfast with no problems. We stayed at a place called Aquavenice which was lovely, very nice room and excellent air conditioning which was a lifesaver! That first night we got dinner at a place called Ai Promessi Sposi: very good, friendly staff who helped us understand the menu. The food was solid and well-priced, if not mind-blowing. Only downside to the dinner was a very obnoxious American couple seated closeby who insisted on yelling at the waiters "Do you speak English?!" I still don't quite understand the point of asking that question in English, but I digress...
After dinner we walked to the Rialto and then to San Marco Square as it was thunderstorming, and it was just stunningly gorgeous--we were treated to a rainbow over the Grand Canal and I nearly cried just from being so happy and overwhelmed to actually be there. Italy has been my number one wishlist destination for as long as I can remember. We ended up going into Harry's Bar because I thought it would be fun to splurge on a fancy bellini, but the vibe was very stuffy and we weren't treated very friendly, so we went next door to the Hotel Monaco where we could sit outside and have a bellini overlooking the Grand Canal for about 10 euro cheaper than at Harry's. Topped the night off with some gelato and headed to bed after a wonderful first evening in Venezia!
August 7
Breakfast at the B&B was bread with different spread and cappuccino: yummy but not super filling, so we ended up stopping at a market nearby and picking up some cheese & salami to add to our breakfast for the next few mornings. Today we had prebooked times for St Mark's Campanile & Basilica. We walked right in with our tickets which was great because the lines were insanely long. Both experiences were lovely, but the bell tower was much faster than I realized--in all of my planning, I somehow missed the fact that you take an elevator rather than climb up the tower, so I definitely left too much time in between that and our time slot for the Basilica. Oh well. The church is beautiful, but it was a bit of a turn-off that you had to pay extra for so many of the spaces.
We had lunch at Trattoria Al Gazzettino next to a table of gondoliers! It was delicious and very friendly service. I ordered lasagna bolognese. They gave us so much free alcohol we were definitely day-drunk, and we also got free cake, a tasting of pasta and a bag of pasta to take home! I know they are after good reviews but it was still charming and we enjoyed it. :) After a mid-afternoon nap, we went to meet our walking tour with a company called La Bussola. This was a free walking tour and although it has excellent reviews on TripAdvisor, this was probably our least favorite tour experience in our entire trip. Our guide was sort of awkward and seemed very nervous and unsure of herself, and frequently made comments about the "official" guides not liking her and that if we saw them start to say anything to her that we should just ignore them, etc. It was just uncomfortable and the tour itself wasn't great enough to make up for the awkwardness. Oh well, lesson learned!