Venice

Fast, comfortable and the best way to arrive in Venice

When planning, we discovered that the easiest way out of Rovinj to an international airport was to catch a ferry to Venice.  Kate and I had visited Venice in the mid-90s and we did not have a good experience.

Good accommodation and great weather
makes any city better

Aside from the fact that it was in the depths of winter, our accommodation was dreadful.  We had a musty room, the floor of which was at a such a steep angle that we struggled to stay in the bed at night.  The owner looked like one of the witches from Macbeth and she always seemed to be standing at our doorway sweeping and would give us a toothless grin and cackle at us when we left our room.  Not good memories!

Our aspiring Venetians Ada.....

and Lucy (with her rosary beads!)

If it wasn't for Lucy and Ada we would have gladly bypass Venice but it remains a city that someone should see if they have the opportunity so we included a visit for a couple of days.

Venice's spectacular front door

The ferry from Rovinj was three hours and was a pleasant trip.  Arriving into Venice by ferry thta you feel like you are arriving via the front door as opposed to the tradesman's entrance offered by the train and aircraft. As the Venetian were a seafaring city state, everything was orientated to the sea.  As a result, the ferry passed St Marks Square and the entrance to the Grand Canal before berthing.

Empty streets of early morning Venice

We had a short walk to our apartment which was in a the Dorsoduro area.  It was a relatively modern building and was clean, functional and cheap (by Venetian standards) which is the best that you can hope for in a city like Venice. It was also a great base for our runs around the City.

The Doge's Palace was quiet, cool and uncrowded

Our only must see sights were San Marcos and the Doges Palace.  To this Ada added a gondola ride as her main objective while Lucy, like a well worn record, repeated her desire to look at shops and Kate included the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Kate and I were keen to get out for some early morning runs, when the City is quiet and the streets free of tourists like us as this was the highlight from our previous visit.

The view from the balcony at the Doges Palace

St Marks was spectacular but crowded and the Doges Palace was great although it was amazing how many Committee rooms are required to administer a city state with a small empire.  

Lucy pretending not to enjoy the gondola ride

The surprise highlight was the Gondola tour, which Kate, Lucy and I dismissed as an overpriced tourist attraction.  It was so good that at the end Lucy thanked Ada for pushing us all and thanked Kate and I for the opportunity. That alone was worth the price.

The view from the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim was, like everything in Venice, a relatively short walk from our accommodation.  It is fairly small, which is always good when trying to appreciate art with an 8 year old....actually more of an issue with a teen...Ada is quite good with her art appreciation.  The surroundings were amazing, an 18th century palazzo, the Grand Canal as a background through the windows while looking at Picasso, Pollock and Kandinsky.  There is also a wonderful sculpture garden when Ada need to escape.

Doesn't everyone want their daughter
wearing a T shirt with these guys on the front

The highlight for Lucy was buying a T Shirt for a friend of the Morani sculpture of an erect man on an erect horse.  I am not sure how her friend's parents will interpret the gift.

In between we window shopped, admired a fabulous vintage clothing store just off San Marcos Square and ate great Italian food and it served as a great full stop for the Rovinj phase of the family holiday. 

Kate and the girls had a short walk with many bags to get the train to Assisi while I caught the bus to the airport for the return to rainy Mumbai.

The fun part of travel...all the bags and our willing porters