We flew from Paris to Venice. Venice!!! The flight left at 7:30 am so we were headed to the airport by 5:00. Here are some mountain pictures taken by Trey from the plane. The Alps?
Just kidding, I took the pics, figured I could blame him since I’ve seen the pics he took from the plane on his 8th grade trip to DC. 😂
Upon arrival in Venice we took an Alilaguna boat to our hotel, the Gritti Palace. We booked this hotel with points (also booked the Prince de Galles in Paris with points) so we are up to seven nights at great hotels with no cost. The Gritti is fabulous! It’s a 15th century palazzo and has been a luxury hotel since 1895. The terrace is just lovely for sipping a Spritz and watching the boats on the canal. Here are a few shots of our room!
After checking in to the hotel, our first stop was St. Mark’s Square and St. Mark’s Basilica. The groundbreaking for the Basilica was 978 and it was completed in 1092. The square looked just like all of the pictures I’ve seen online. It was full of life with people, pigeons, and music.
After the Basilica we set off in search of lunch walking with our cellphones out trying to follow the walking directions to our lunch spot. Wandering the little streets was very entertaining and only became a little stressful the few times that we were trying make a reservation.
We had lunch at Al Mercà a bacaro (wine bar) with excellent cichetti. We tried several. Tuna w/horseradish, baccalà (salt cod), mortadella, salsiccia w/cheese, prosciutto, salami with truffle cheese, etc. they were yummy washed down with an Italian beer.
After lunch we returned to the hotel for a nap. We were exhausted after our early morning departure from Paris.
We decided to have a pre-dinner drink at the hotel bar overlooking the canal. The view was priceless! Might have sat there all night except dinner was very expensive at the hotel and we had a reservation elsewhere. We each had Aperol Spritz, a popular drink make with Prosecco, Aperol, and soda with an orange slice. It was perfectly refreshing. A nice selection of olives, roasted hazelnuts, and chips was served with our drinks.
We had dinner at Osteria Alla Frasca. It was a nice vaporetto ride and walk from the hotel. The food was delicious and it was a charming little place.
Video of the Grand Canal:
The Grand Canal, Venice
Posted by Traveling TwoGether on Sunday, June 30, 2019
We each ate half of the pastas above then switched plates. They were outstanding.
We shared the main plate of fish. It was simply grilled and so fresh.
We ended the meal with tiramisu. Perfetto!
Swanky hotel. Hard to believe it’s that old and in such good condition. Like everything else over there. I do remember having 6 rolls of film developed and it was all clouds from the airplane. Your trip looks so fun and amazing.
I’ll take a tiramisu to go please