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This is the blog of Steve Burkett of Italy, Our Italy

A Trip to Italy in Your Future? Read On!

Though there are no photos specifically related to the subject of today’s article, I have sprinkled in a few photos from the Lake Como environs to break up the text monotony. Click on an image for a larger view.

Introduction

My wife Ellen and I love Italy. We love to go to Italy. When we are not in Italy, we love talking to each other about Italy. And we often find ourselves talking to others about our love of Italy…sometimes, when prompted, but often just out of the clear blue…like that clear blue sky on a warm Tuscan afternoon, or the clear blue of the waters off the Isle of Capri, or the…sorry, there I go again!

Our reward in talking to others about Italy is the voyeuristic joy of mind-traveling there. After all, we can’t be there all the time, right?

It’s really nice when someone asks me specifically about travel to, and in, Italy, rather than me just rattling on uninvited. A couple of friends did so recently. L asked about pre- and post-cruise visits to Rome and Venice. M asked about travel to the Lake District, specifically Lake Como. As we have been to each on several occasions, I feel comfortable in my responses.

Disclaimer

Besides the mind-traveling voyeuristic joys, I get joy in passing on tips that might help readers get more enjoyment from their visit to Italy. But, I want to make it clear that we have not been to all parts of Italy, and I would not try to wax endlessly about some place that we have not visited. However, where we have visited, I feel compelled to share our experiences, as I can often clarify some otherwise-confusing things, especially where our own experience was a learning experience, sometimes learning the hard way (see Get Lost!!! and Wild Goose Chase, for example).

My Blog Articles

Today’s blog article is number 80. I have to admit that several of those 80 articles were related to my horn-tooting regarding recognition of my photography…I am a bit proud of that. But, by-and-large, most articles concern eating, drinking, lodging, the land, or the people of Italy. So, hopefully wedged in there somewhere is information that may be of benefit to you as you make your way to and within Italy.

As it turns out, I have an index of those 80 articles. And that index is organized in what I hope is a helpful way. That index is called the Index of Blog Articles, and it can be found at the top-right of the more recent blog articles.

This Index of Blog Articles is organized by publication date (the left column) and by subject (the right column). The subject headings are:

Getting To & Around Italy
Go There: Amalfi Coast
Go There: Lake District
Go There: Piemonte
Go There: Tuscany
Go There: Valpolicella Area
Go There: Venice
Go There: Miscellaneous
Adventures & Anecdotes
Eat Here
Stay Here
Italian History Tidbits
Italy-Photo Transformations
Photography Itself
Miscellaneous
Recognition

Articles in the subject column may appear in more than one subject heading. For example, the sections on where to eat and stay (I’ll let you guess under which headings you will find those) are also found in the appropriate Go There:-specific sections, also.

So, back to L who wants to enjoy Italy before and after a cruise…a cruise that ends in our favorite Italian town of Venice. What I provided to L is a reference to my Index of Blog Articles. As they are going to Venice, an obvious set of articles would be found in Go There: Venice. But, as they first need to get to, and then around, Italy (there may be little choice in this matter because of the cruise aspects of the trip, but there may be some leeway) the section titled Getting To & Around Italy should be of interest, also.

And now for M, who is thinking about Lake Como. I directed him to the Go There: Lake District section. As of this writing, only Lake Como is covered in that section, but articles on Lake Maggiore, Lake Garda, and Lake Lugano are in the works. And, as I have suggestions on getting to and around Italy that I think will be helpful to M, I directed him to Getting To & Around Italy, also. Finally, as I’m hoping that M will stay other places in Italy, I suggested that he look at other Go There: articles for places he may enjoy visiting.

OK, I think you can understand the benefit of checking out my blog articles as you plan your trip to Italy — and specifically using the Index of Blog Articles you will find at the top of each blog article. Give it a try, and then let me know how it worked out for you…maybe I can create an articles about your own experiences!

Ciao for now,

Steve

Venice's Sestiere

Index of Blog Articles

First, let me be one of the last to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope this year is filled with joy and hope-realized for you.

I know I’ve been away for a bit, as many of you have reminded me as you asked and wrote, “Where are your articles on Italy?” But, I’m back now. However, I do feel a bit fickle about my absence because of what I was doing when I wasn’t preparing my Italy, Our Italy articles.

“During the next few weeks, I will be going over the various districts, or ‘sestiere’, of the most interesting, beautiful and mysterious city in the world – Venice.”

I hope you don’t think less of me when you find that I was working on photos from our latest trip – a trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. There were fewer vineyards there (actually, we saw none), less pasta and wine (we made up for the wine with ciders), but the people were just as friendly as those of our Italian encounters. I’d have to say that the countryside of the UK environs was a good bit more cultivated and elegant than those of Italy…but maybe simplicity and magic are what continues to draw us to Italy.

At any rate, it took me a good bit of time to get through the photos from our trip. If you would like to see just a few of the photos from our England-Scotland-Ireland trip, you can see them by clicking this button...

See England, Scotland and the Irelands

During the next few weeks, I will be going over the various districts, or ‘sestiere’, of the most interesting, beautiful and mysterious city in the world – Venice. I began this journey with the article on the San Marco sestiere on February 16, 2016 in the article titled ‘The Sestiere of Venice”.

As this new year progresses, I’ll cover the other 5 sestiere of Venice. In each, I will give you a quick overview of the sestiere. Then I will cover where to stay and where to eat in that sestiere. If there is something else that I think you need to know of that sestiere, I’ll include that, too.

Here is the simple map similar to the one I included in the article on the sestiere of San Marco.

This map presents a rather modest view of the six sestiere. I say 'modest' because this map just cannot characterize the world that it represents and that awaits you...you will have to experience it on your own.

You will note that the map includes the Giudecca island, which is not actually one of the six official sestiere. Further, not all maps show the same delineations for the sestiere. For instance, some show the Giudecca to be part of Dorsodouro. While others show that orange, polygonal island at the eastern end of Giudecca (the island on which the church of San Giorgio Maggiore sits) to be part of the sestiere of San Marco. For our purposes, we will use the delineations shown in the map above as we work through the sestiere.

Finally, understand that there are many, many islands in the Venetian lagoon (around 117 it is estimated) that are not considered to be within the districts of Venice – islands like Murano (glass), Burano (lace and colorful homes) and San Michele (dead people).

I'm wondering if you remember what the six sestiere and Giudecca have to do with the accouterments of a Venetian gondola. If not, you can review that in the San Marco sestiere article.

Here is a rather different view of the six sestiere of Venice…this in the form of a Google maps satellite view. I want you to see this to see just how large the municipality of Venice is.

Venice is quite huge. Note just how many buildings there are. From east-to-west, Venice is about 3 miles, while north-to-south, it is just shy of 2 miles. Within these six square miles you will find 409 bridges crossing over the 177 canals that divide Venice into 117 islands.

And in this detail view below, you can see churches, gardens, pozzi, restaurants, boats, canals and bridges.

There are places you will never see as you stroll Venice, as they are kept hidden behind walls and locked doors, like the one of which I wrote here. In Venice, intrigue abounds now as it has for centuries!

You've seen our favorite sestiere of San Marco, so tune in next week when we visit our second most-favorite sestiere, San Polo.

Ciao for now,

Steve

ps: The Berlin Foto Biennale is now over. If you missed the significance of that exhibit this past fall, please see my previous article here.

Your Venice Arrival

Why Go?

In our opinion, Venice is the most excellent destination in Europe. If you haven’t been, I would suggest you get there! For those who haven’t been to Venice, it’s hard for those who have been there to describe the whole experience.

“If you’ve read a lot, nothing is a great as you imagined. Venice is…Venice is better.””

— Fran Lebowitz

Since Venice is an island in the middle of a lagoon, getting to Venice and getting into Venice are two different things. And then getting to your hotel within Venice is another thing. With these tips, I know your grand entrance into Venice will be fun and easy!

Arrival By Air

If you fly to Venice, you will arrive at Marco Polo International Airport, where you will still be 5 miles from the island as the crow flies. From the airport, your choices are to take a bus, a vaporetto (water bus) or a water taxi.

Bus

This would be my least favorite way to enter Venice. The bus takes about 45 minutes and at the end of the ride, after crossing the causeway to the mainland, you will be deposited at the Piazzale Roma. Now you are within the confines of the city, but you still need to get to your hotel, where you most likely need transportation via vaporetto or water taxi, anyway.

There is absolutely no charm in taking the bus – I’ve done it, and if you are looking for romance, look somewhere besides the bus from the airport into Venice.

Vaporetto

A vaporetto is a water bus. Just like the buses back home, they are slow and very often very, very crowded – and don’t forget that you have your luggage to deal with.

The trip from the airport to the closest vaporetto stop for Venice proper is about 40 minutes (but more than likely you will not be staying in this out-of-the-way area) . To get to a vaporetto stop close to your hotel (let’s assume the San Marco stop) will take about 1 ½ hours.

Now you are at the San Marco stop (or some other stop along the Grand Canal) with your luggage. Do you know that there are 409 bridges in Venice? And that nearly all of the bridges have steps? Begin your journey to your hotel from the closest vaporetto stop and you will more than likely have an adventure to tell your grandchildren about. The ACTV website suggests that only one piece of luggage is included with your ticket, though I have never seen anyone make an issue of it – but be aware that you need to get on and off of the vaporetto quickly – and you are lugging around that luggage (does the word ‘lugging’ relate to ‘luggage’ in some way?).

My suggestion: You will have plenty of opportunity to ride a vaporetto while in Venice, but I wouldn’t suggest that this be your inaugural ride.

Water Taxi

This is the way to go. Yes, it will cost a bit more, but there are some definite advantages.

First is the time advantage. Don’ t you want to get going in Venice to see the sites, have a nice lunch, etc.? I’m thinking that the time from airport to Grand Canal is about 20 minutes.

Our Water Taxi Driver on the Grand Canal -- Heading to Our Hotel

Second, the price of the water taxi will cover your group of two to four persons with several pieces of luggage. If you take the bus or vaporetto, don’t forget to multiply the ticket price by the number of people in your party.

The third advantage is that you will be taken more-or-less directly to your hotel. Yes, many of the hotels have water gates where your water taxi will drop you off right at your hotel, where the hotel bellman helps you and your luggage off of the water taxi. Where a hotel does not have its own water gate, there will be a small canal that will provide very close access to most hotels.

Palazzo Reflections in a Water Taxi's Shiny Deck

Our favorite hotel is the Hotel Flora which is not on a canal. But on our second visit there, we found that there was a narrow passage from a close-by canal that we were not aware of. Our water taxi driver said ‘just go down that passage, take a right and then a left and you will be at your hotel in about 50 feet with no steps to climb”. He had called ahead and our hotel bellman was there to greet us at a side gate.

Finally the cost: expect to pay from 100-120 Euros, depending on whether you have 2 or 4 persons in your group.

So, if you fly to Venice, I suggest that a water taxi be your mode of transportation from the airport, directly to your hotel.

Arrival by Train

When taking a train to Venice, but sure to get your ticket all the way to Venice Santa Lucia station and not just the Venice Maestre station, which is the station just before crossing the causeway to the island of Venice.

After departing the train and exiting the station, you will be in the bustling Campo Ferrovia. What a sight! The Grand Canal is right before you, along with the pretty church of San Simeone Piccolo. Now what!?

Vaporetto

To your left as you come out of the station is the vaporetto stop and ticket kiosk. As previously discussed, there are issues with getting your luggage onto and off of the vaporetto.

And the crowd to get tickets and then get onto the vaporetto? I’d say, “forget it!”. Unless you are arriving in Venice in the off-season, there could be a hundred people waiting on the vaporetto transport experience. And, as none of you will have the benefit of already having your ACTV tickets, plan to stand in line at the ticket kiosk (as you ride the vaporetto later, you can have the advantage of carrying a multi-day or multi-ride ticket so you can bypass the ticket kiosks).

But, depending on your arrival time and the season, you may find very few people awaiting the vaporetto. But again, you will now need to get to your hotel, so the vaporetto information in the ‘Arrival by Air” discussion applies.

Water Taxi

Directly in front of you as your come out of the train station is the water taxi loading area. There is always a taxi or two waiting there to whisk you away to your hotel – luggage included. And as discussed previously, you will more-than-likely be dropped off right at your hotel’s water gate.

Does this water taxi cost more than the vaporetto? Most definitely. Think about spending 60 Euros. Is it worth it? That’s up to you based on your travel style.

Arrival by Rental Car

Hmmmm. Why would you want to do that? You are going to have to park your car in the large parking structure at Piazzale Roma and leave it there for the duration of your time in Venice. You do know that you can’t drive in Venice, right? You walk or take a boat – period. But if you must drive to Venice, just read the ‘Arrival by Air’ ‘Bus’ discussion since you will be at Piazzale Roma. Because of Venice’s location in Italy (kind of at the end-of-the-line, so to speak), we usually begin or end our Italy trips in Venice. So, if we were driving in Italy, we would drop off or pick up our rental car in Milan, Florence, Verona or some other city along the rail system, and then use the train.

Alternate Transport

Now, if you know a guy with a boat...

Summary

Go to Venice by bus, vaporetto, water taxi, or rental car. But go.

Ciao for now!

Steve