We finished our RS Sicily and took a much-too-early flight to Venice, where the tours starts. We were fortunate to be able to book the additional days at the tour hotel, so we didn’t have to pack and unpack (and get lost) again. We checked bags since ITA has a fairly low weight allowance for carry-on. I carried a change of clothes for both of us, just in case. Rain greeted us on arriving in Venice. My husband grabbed the bags while I got a 72 hour ACTV pass from the ticket machine. The ACTV bus was out the door and we were on our way.
Snippet 1: The ticket kiosks for both ACTV and Alilaguna next to the baggage claim were mobbed, but the one by an empty carousel had no line.
Snippet 2: Consider carefully whether you want to do Alilaguna or ACTV bus & vaparetto, and follow the RS recommendation for the vaparetto line to your hotel you decide on that. In our case, the ACTV #5 stopped MANY times between the airport and the bus terminal and our hotel recommended vaparetto #1 which also stops MANY times before it gets to San Zaccaria. My husband was NOT happy with this choice.
Wet and tired, we found the very centrally- located hotel and our room was ready. I had booked an afternoon tour with Walks of Italy to do St. Mark’s and the Doges Palace. In light of the rain, it was a good choice. The lines for entry into both were very long. The guide was cheery and informative and it wasn’t difficult to find the meeting spot. We’ve done 3 tours where meeting the guides was in a central location that meant it was a really busy spot, but we’ve never had trouble finding them. We were impressed with how crowded Piazza San Marco was, but it cleared out every evening. After the tour we arranged to meet friends for dinner at a place known for their fish, and when I find the name, I’ll edit the post.
Snippet: The restaurant seemed a bit miffed that we didn’t have reservations but found us a table. There is a preference for reservations that we don’t have in the US.
My husband is a glass-blower, so Saturday meant a trip to Murano. We went early, trying to follow Map Quest directions and a map. Eventually we made it to Fondamente Nove and Vaparetto 4.1 We got off at the first Murano stop, which was a good idea because early in the day the guys trying to reel you into their stores/ furnace are not out yet. We had a quiet walk to the Glass Museum and a nearly-empty museum. My husband was very careful to find shops that had unique glass and ended up buying one of his favorites and chatting up the owner, who enjoyed sharing techniques and actually took us to his son’s restaurant and bought us an aperetivo. From noon on, the town was thick with people. We had booked the cicchetti tour with Alessandro (mentioned in RS guide) that night and that turned out to be such fun. The 7 of us were all on our way to different RS tours. The 2 hours flew and the food was enough for dinner. One of the bars was Cantina Do Mori, which has been in operation since 1462.
Snippet: We were not very successful with paper maps in Venice. We relied on I-phone map app and Map Quest step-by-step directions. The app is great as long as you make sure to put in the destination correctly and not abbreviate. Putting in “Rialto” will take you to something other than the Rialto Bridge. You will see many people glued to their phone diligently following directions.
The weather finally started to clear on Sunday. We got in line for the Campinele in Piazza San Marco and took the elevator to the top for the view. The tower did not open until 9:30. After the view, we took the vaparetto to San Giorgio and rode to the top for more views. Then we found our way to Fondamente Nove and made the mistake of taking the 4.1 instead of the 12, planning to see Burano & Torcello. Big mistake- the line for the # 12 to Burano from Murano was so long and because it takes between 35 and 40 min.to get there, the boats aren’t as frequent.