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When I was in Venice, we stayed at
Concordia Hotel just beside the Saint Marco plaza. Our balcony provides an
enticing view of the St. Mark's basilica. It is a pretty cute place to stay
while in Venice. It is pleasant to hear the church bells toll each hour
during the night. The sound of stilettos mixed with the sound of carts
rolling over the cobbled stone streets behind them resonate on the stone
pavement did create an atmosphere of sound and motion.
I usually woke up before the sun set and
walked to the St. Marco water front where the gondolas are docked to watch
the sun set. The masked Venetian carnivalers and photographers also were
there early in the chilly early morning, together with onlookers who gawked
and took photos at the same time.
Venice masquerade festival differs with
Rio Carnival. At one moment I was thinking if you can have a small group of
Rio samba dancers with drummers in St. Marco square it will rock the whole
place. Another thing is the weather. Venice is spring like in February while
Rio dancers are all dressed in summer fun outfits in the Sambadromo.
During our stay we also visited the
blowing glass makers in Murano, took the gondola along the canals that are
within the sights of tourists through the help of our private guide. She
brought us to so many places, sometime walked in dark closed metal fence
alleys towards very spectacular views that have a charm of their own. Ahhh,
every corner of Venice is romantic !!!
Look over your head and it arts and
architecture will surprise you sometime. If you like to walk, Venice is a
place for you. You can stroll hours after hours, no gas pollution on road
(I'm not sure in water) because you can't event see or hear a single engine
scooter. There are lots and lots of bridges that span connecting the lagoon
to the mainland Mestre- the Bridge of Sighs, the Rialto are spectacular
scenery.
Like shopping? don't worry, I just
followed my GF to carry her bags and bags. Since Italy, France etc.. are now
in the European Union, holding an European passport like my GF does (except
UK which is not in the European Union at this moment) your tax free is only
worth 5%. So I passed my Canadian passport to my GF and she got 15 % off.
Before I landed in Venice I had been told
that food is expensive because of the transportation costs but I was quite
surprise that it wasn't that much far from I expected and the quality is
indeed very good.
In Venice people travel by boats most of the time. You would have a weird
feeling of being hustled from the airport to your hotel by boats, a rarity
in most cosmopolitan areas.
In conclusion I was very happy with my trip, except for one thing that I
failed to do.
We landed in Venice on a Monday. I saw an
ad at the Marco Polo airport in Venice about the helicopter ride. I arrived
at the hotel at the front desk and they offered me to get in touch with the
heliport in Lido but we never were able to get in touch with the phone
number provided. We attempted the following days without success until
Thursday morning when I heard the rotor hovered above our head. Since I had
to go to the post office to get some stamps I stopped at the tourist office
near the post office and informed about the helicopter ride.
We were able to touch base with the
heliport and I learned that I have to make a 24- hour reservation which
followed to next day. But that morning I have to get my plane back to Paris.
What a shame, otherwise it would have been a thrilling experience to see
Venice by air as well.
Anyway I will be back in Venice and I will
be able to fly next time.
Arrivederci Venice.
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