Italy – Venice

(written by Bill)

This is the third and last of a three part series on a trip made back in 2007 when we visited three gorgeous cities in Italy – Rome, Florence, and Venice.

Venice – As we did going from Rome to Florence, we hopped on a train and headed to the last stop of our 3 city holiday, the wonderfully romantic city of Venice.

How different each of these cities (Rome, Florence, and Venice) are from one another. I am really amazed at Venice, which is a city built on water with no traffic, at least not on the dry parts, but plenty of people and so many restaurants and shops. What a great place to be a tourist.

We stayed at the Al Ponte Antico Hotel, which is more of a boutique hotel, with only 9 rooms (I believe). I’m betting if you ever stay there, you will be greeted by name when you arrive! It is a beautiful place situated in a perfect location near the Rialto Bridge, and the BEST staff you could ever ask for (take a look at the reviews)!

Each morning we would leave the hotel and enjoy the day walking around the city, taking in the sights, shopping, eating, and of course, shooting photos.  When we returned to the hotel at night we would sit on the patio with the other hotel guests and compare notes about what each of us had done and seen during the day.

On our last day we caught a water taxi to the island of Murano, where they are famous for their glass blowing.  It was a thrill watching them skillfully work their magic, taking a molten blob and making it into a beautiful glass sculpture.  Next, we caught another water taxi and went to the island of Giudecca where we enjoyed a wonderful and peaceful lunch on the beach.  A great way to spend our last day in Italy.

This ends the three part series covering the Italian cities of Rome, Florence, and Venice.  I know we were brief, but hopefully the photos presented will either bring back good memories, or make you want to go and visit, (or both).

Thanks to all that visited our blog for this series.

Our first view of Venice as we exit the train station

View of our hotel balcony, Al Ponte Antico, taken from the Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge, taken from our Hotel.

Lots of people shopping on the Rialto Bridge

Gondola’s parked on one of the many canals

Trattoria, (Restaurant) on one of the canals

Procuratie Vecchie and Nuove in St. Mark’s Square

Columns of San Marco and San Teodoro

Pigeons mingling with the tourist in St. Marks Square

Campanile di San Marco

Murano is just a short boat ride from Venice

One of the many glass blowers on the island of Murano

Click here to see more photo’s of Venice, Italy.

Hope you enjoy…