Venice: A City of Love, Sweat, and Gelato

venice italy travel blog

Basalt, Colorado USA

39.3582° N, 107.0186° W

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written.  I gave up my computer to my mom and dad in Florence to have the touch screen repaired.

Since I said goodbye to the old HP, we visited Croatia and Iceland before returning home to the states.

Once back in the USA, we visited family in Denver and Mount Vernon.

Along the way, I picked up a job in Aspen, CO so Tom and I are now Rocky Mountain Residents.  We’d love you to come visit!
20150901_190531Anyways, back to the blog… After saying goodbye to my mom and dad in Florence, our next stop was Venice. IMG_4494
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We specifically booked 4 days in Venice to end our trip with visions of Tom writing in a cute cafe over looking a canal to catch up on work after 2 weeks slacking off enjoying our time with my mom and dad.

This did not happen.

After our first week in Naples we could have predicted that Venice wouldn’t have cute coffee shops. Sure there was amazing coffee, but coffee culture in Italy doesn’t equal coffee shop. It equals slamming down an espresso shot before moving onto the next thing.
IMG_4411What we couldn’t have predicted was how much we wouldn’t enjoy Venice. Sure I had a blast wandering the streets taking a million photos of the picturesque city, but when that novelty wore off we were hot, tired of crowds, bewildered by the 2x more expensive prices, and ready to move onto Croatia. IMG_4487
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IMG_4393I hate ending my Italian series with a negative tone, especially when we LOVED the rest of Italy and I had such high hopes for Venice; but it just didn’t quite stack up for us. IMG_4425
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IMG_4347While Venice is obviously by no means our favorite Italian city I will say: 1. We attended mass at one of my 3 favorite churches in Venice. Basilica de San Marco is right up there with The church of St. Francis and St. Peter’s. IMG_4414
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2. The Gelato was tasty and we got our fill each night before leaving Italy. 3. I took advantage of the picturesque canals and took some bomb #stopdropandyoga shots. IMG_4472
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While I have no regrets about our time in Venice here are some tips I have to make sure you have a better time than we did.

1. Splurge for air con. Seriously if you are going in the summer just get it! This was the only place in Italy we rented that had a fan and it still didn’t help us sleep on the hot Venice nights.

2. Expect high prices. They can’t be avoided so just know ahead and accept it.

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3. Think about splurging for porters. Knowing that we could have gotten them I know we still wouldn’t have, but if you don’t want to be a sweaty mess when you arrive plan ahead to have porter’s meet you at the train so you don’t have to be on of the people trudging your luggage through town.

4. If you don’t get aircon spend your days shopping. All the shoe and clothing stores have A-MAZ-ING air con.

Long story it was hot! I know Venice is supposed to be the city of Love, but I personally don’t find it romantic at all to be a sweaty mess and if you visit Venice in July that is what’s going to happen.
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Moral of the story… Maybe Venice is better any other time of year?

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