Italian public transportation is rather easy and user friendly. Once you get the knack of it, you will feel like a pro. Most ticket desk operators speak English and you can also purchase tickets from fairly self explanatory machines. The trick to riding a train in Italy or the verparatto in Venice is knowing your own residential stop name. You must also know what line you are supposed to travel on to get home to your stop and always, always validate your ticket in the small machine near the train track or veperatto line. If you are riding an Italian train, like an American train, you should know the train number and the final destination of your particular train. Our experience has been that everyone is very helpful in when you are trying to get around Venice. The local people, the hotel front desk, and the other travelers all gave us great tips and clear instructions.
A chic woman riding the vaporetto in Venice
In Venice the Vaporetto is the water ferry. It’s run very much like a New York City bus. The Ferry goes around and around the canals. Different line numbers stop at different docks with clear signs. You buy your ticket, either in small incremental rides or as a multi day pass. You put your ticket against a machine, much like a grocery scanner to validate it before you get on the ferry. There are very steep fines if you are found on Italian transportation having not validated your ticket because that means you are stealing a free ride, as the ticket could be used again. In Italy you currently have to wear a mask on public transportation and they will not let you get on the Vaporetto without your mask fully on your face. I have seen passengers report riders who partially remove their masks. The ferry officials will also speak to or remove any passenger who has removed or lowered their mask.
All businesses and services travel the Venetian waterways, even the ambulances.
Don and I had great fun riding the Vaporetto around Venice and also traveling across the canal via gondola. Crossing the canal or riding around the canal gives you a gorgeous view of the city and the palaces from the water. There are two types of gondolas in Venice, the private sightseeing gondolas you hire and the canal crossing gondolas. The latter are fabulous. There are signs and little areas periodically along your foot travels where you can get in a multi passenger larger gondola with two gondoliers. These gondolas will take you across one of the larger canals for a few euros. The local Venetians stand and the visitors sit. Stand at your own risk. This is one place I am happy to stand out as a tourist.
We quickly became very comfortable with all forms of Venetian transportation and used it to our advantage. Private water taxis are also available. They can be pricey but are so glamorous. For example, we took a private water taxi from St Marks square to our hotel which was across the canal from the fish market on the other side of the Rialto bridge. It costs 60 euros. It was a really lovely late afternoon ride and we so enjoyed it. We also felt so comfortable on the Vaporetto that we cancelled our private water taxi to the train station and decided instead to take the Vaporetto to the train station when it was time to head to Lucca via train through Florence.
On our third day in Venice we looked at more art both in museums and as part of the Biennale art show that is currently all over Venice. Sometimes when we travel Don and I each pick something to do. On our third day in Venice we each had something in mind we wanted to see. For my husband’s selection we headed over to a museum with a Japanese garden. With vast interests in gardens, Japanese gardens, architecture, and modern design ~ perhaps influenced by his many years at the Cranbrook School in Birmingham, Michigan, my husband found the perfect spot for both of us. After doing a little research he found a museum I had never heard of before and had walked by many, many times over the years completely unaware of it’s existence. The Fondazione Querini Stampalia a former home turned museum and is filled with gorgeous period furnishings and textiles. It was heartbreaking for this rule follower that I could not photograph the gorgeous Italian textiles. Woven through this delightful experience of fading opulence is a vast collection of modern paper lights in various shapes. I never would have imagined that old stone walls, thick rich Italian textiles, antique books, colorful tiles, and modern paper Japanese lanterns would marry so beautifully into a glorious feast for the eyes. A Japanese influenced garden in the back is a small joyful surprise in the middle of Venice.
My choice came from Instagram. I kept seeing an American artist popping up all over Instagram accounts of creatives that I follow. We took a lovely walk to find her powerful Beinniale sculpture exhibit and in doing so explored a part of Venice we had not yet experienced.
About 8 years ago Brooke and I spent a week or so in Venice in a very quiet, wintery November. I will treasure that meaningful and magical time forever. Every day we walked the city and explored. We found a restaurant we just loved and went there almost daily. Some nights we would return, tired art girls who had been scouring the city, for a lovely dinner on the way home. As it began to get dark we loved wandering in to our special favorite cafe as it was joyfully filled with locals and their families. I rediscovered this restaurant on this trip. It took me a couple tries to find it because now it is summer, and I had only seen it at the beginning of Aqua Alta (when the waters were rising.) Now the care had awnings and umbrellas and tons of outdoor dining.. and guess the name...THE CAFE!!! Don and I chose to sit inside at one of my favorite tables. When I opened the menu and saw they had a big crepe selection I laughed, of course Brooke and I loved this place, Crepes are one of our all time favorite foods!
For our third night in Venice I had pre purchased tickets for the Vivaldi concert. They are easily available online from your country of origin. We had had a big walking day exploring museums and the D section of Venice so we were perhaps a little less than enthusiastic about having a commitment that night. We had dinner and arrived