Venice

Venice, one of the most romantic cities in the world is not traditional with streets and automobile traffic, but rather an archipelago of 117 islands glued together by 400 bridges. Venice’s many narrow waterways are crisscrossed by storybook bridges and shadowed by majestic palaces whose soft hues reflect warmly in the shimmering water. Black gondolas quietly glide through the narrow canals as the gondolier in his red-and-white-striped shirt softly serenades his passengers with an operatic selection.The vaporetti are the most popular means of transportation and are a very inexpensive means of getting about the city. They are like boat buses that constantly shuttle back and forth from the train station to St. Mark’s Square. If you have a lot of luggage you might want to consider a watertaxi. The motoscafi (watertaxis) cost about € 50 but deliver you right to the door of your hotel, provided there is a motorboat dock (noted in the hotel description). The third choice of transportation is the gondola, but these are much slower and very expensive, so save your gondola ride for a romantic interlude rather than a train connection. Venice has many hotels in every price range. In our description we give the closest boat stop to each hotel so that you know where to disembark if you come by canal from the train station. For a few of the hotels, you need to change boats at the San Marco boat stop.Venice has so many sights—marvelous restaurants, beautiful boutiques, and fascinating little alleyways to explore—that you could happily stay for weeks.Of course, you must savor the incomparable ambiance of Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square). Late afternoon is especially romantic as music wafts across the enormous square, courtesy of the tiny orchestras entertaining visitors as they enjoy an aperitif. A colonnaded walkway encloses the square on three sides, forming a protected path for window-shoppers at the beautiful boutiques and fancy cafés. The fourth side of the square is dominated by the Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark’s Cathedral), richly endowed with gold and mosaics. The church dates back to the 12^th century when it was built to house the remains of St. Mark. Next to the church rises the 99-meter-tall campanile (bell tower) where in the 15^th century priests were suspended in a cage to repent their sins. If you are in the plaza on the hour, watch the two Moors strike the hour with their huge bronze hammers as they have for 500 years. To the right of the basilica is the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace), a sumptuous fantasy of pink and white marble—open now as a museum. The Palazzo Ducale faces on to the Piazzetta, a wide square opening onto the Grand Canal. The square’s nickname used to be the Piazzetta Il Broglio (Intrigue) because in days of yore, only nobles were allowed in the square between 10 am and noon, at which time the area buzzed with plots of intrigue. Adorning the center of the square are two granite columns, one topped by the Lion of St. Mark and the other by a statue of St. Theodore. There is no better way to get into the mood of Venice than to join the crowd at St. Mark’s pier as they climb aboard one of the ferries that ply the city’s waterways. It is a real bargain to board the vaporetto and enjoy the many wonderful palaces bordering the Grand Canal. In addition to exploring the canals that lace Venice, you can take ferries to the outlying islands. Go either on your own or on a tour to the three islands: Murano (famous for its hand-blown glass), Burano (famous for its colorfully painted fishermen’s cottages and lace making), and Torcello (once an important city but now just a small village with only its lovely large church to remind you of its past glories). Glass Blowing, Island of MuranoAnother all-day outing by boat is to take the Il Burchiello, named for a famous 17^th-century Venetian boat. From March to November, this boat departs Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 8:45 am from the Pontile Giardinetti pier near St. Mark’s Square and travels the network of rivers and canals linking Venice and Padova. (The schedule might change, so verify dates and times.) This little boat, with an English-speaking guide on board, stops at several of the exquisite palaces en route. Lunch is served and there is time for sightseeing in Padova before returning to Venice by bus. Reservation office: Siamic Express, Via Trieste 42, 35121 Padova, Italy, tel: (049) 66 09 44, fax: (049) 66 28 30. A favorite pastime in Venice is wandering—just anywhere—exploring the maze of twisting canals and crisscrossing back and forth over some of the 400 whimsical bridges. One of the most famous, the Rialto Bridge, arching high over the canal, is especially colorful because it is lined by shops. Also much photographed is the Bridge of Sighs, so named because this was the bridge prisoners passed over before their execution.Although all of Venice is virtually an open-air museum, it also has many indoor museums. Two excellent ones are both easy to find near the Accademia boat stop. The Galleria dell’Accademia abounds with 14^th- to 18^th-century Venetian paintings. Within walking distance of the Galleria dell’Accademia is the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, featuring 20th-century art. The paintings and statues were the gift of the now-deceased wealthy American heiress, Peggy Guggenheim. The lovely museum was her canal-front home.