Not sure if this is what Casanova had in mind...
We woke up and went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast; as it was included in our price, and Venice is VERY expensive, we weren't about to turn it down!
After filling ourselves with enough coffee, bread, fruit and cheese, we headed out for our day. First, it was our chance to view Saint Mark's Square in the daylight. Our hotel was directly off from the square, so we didn't have far to go.
It was stunning in the fog. So beautiful, I had never seen anything like it. We spent some time just walking around it, took some pictures, and then headed into St. Mark's Cathedral to walk around. It was really lovely. It's funny... I guess I thought maybe in a big, old cathedral like that, I would have more of a sense of worship; and while it was very pretty, I didn't feel anything else.
Anyway, we left the Cathedral and that's when we learned about the clock in the square - it is a 24 hour clock, and at midnight will ring out 24 times, as opposed to the more typical 12. The mystery of the night before was solved.
We proceeded to wander the streets, beginning by heading out behind the left side of the Cathedral away from the square, and then choosing the alleys and paths that struck our fancy. Neither of us could get over how empty the streets were; time after time we would turn down a path, and be the only people on it; it was like we rented out Venice for our own private exploration.
We found an internet cafe to quickly write home. I got a call from Dario in Rome, to make final plans for the day we would see him in Rome.
Finally, we made our way around to Grand Canal, and the Bridge of Sighs, which had been my big goal for Venice - to take a good, up close look at the Bridge of Sighs. It was lovely, and ancient, and all the romance of all the old stories seemed so close at that instant; like you could almost still see the ghosts of the past crossing it.
We headed away from the Grand Canal and started wandering towards the Rialto, although we didn't know it at the time. We found more un-populated squares, and then had our first real Venetian meal at a small restaurant we found on a side street.
After lunch we began to head back towards the hotel and were stopped by a gondolier who offered us a boat ride for 70 Euros. This was on the lower end of what our research had said they were, and we had been interested to see Venice from a gondola, since people say you see a completely different view of Venice on them - so we said yes.
He lead us to the gondola, and we got in. The ride began really well, and I was glad we did it. He had a lot of information about the city and it's history, and was great at pointing out special buildings, bridges, etc. Then at some point, he showed us the house that the famous Casanova had lived in, and right after that there was "Casanova's Bridge".
Shortly after that the tour was over. We headed back to the room and I took a quick nap (I think Michelle read, but she could have napped) and then got up to head out to dinner.
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When choosing a hotel in Venice, my friend and I asked these questions to each other; we knew it was especially important here, because hotel rooms are NOT cheap; and we were headed during a holiday, arriving the day after Christmas and leaving on December 29th. It was the first stop of the first trip to Italy for both of us; so we wanted to be clear on what mattered and what didn't.
We decided the first thing that mattered was location; while most of the time, I actually prefer to stay a bit outside of the cities I visit, Venice seemed different. Getting in and out is a bit more of an issue, and we just wanted to focus on the island proper while we were there. Second in line came cost; we had limited funds, although we knew we'd have to pay a certain amount to get a place right in the center of Venice.
Enter Priceline, of which I am an enormous fan. Yes, you need to really understand the rules; but once you do, this can be a huge help sometimes. After exhausting all the other websites first to be sure of what was the lowest price we could find (again, rates were higher for that week) we then went to Priceline, low-balled that amount, and said we only wanted a hotel in the center of Venice.
The result? Ambassador Tre Rose Hotel, in San Marco Square, for $125.00 US a night. Not cheap, but better than we'd found elsewhere; and the location couldn't get more central than that.
It's rated as a three star hotel, and by European standards (lower for hotels than American or Asian) I'd say that's about right. Call it a 2 for USA.
Was our room a little small? Yes, a little, but not bad... and the bathroom was fine. Moreover, we had our own private balcony!!! Bliss! Yes, it looked out over an alley, but it was a fantastic alley, and I loved it.
Really we only used it for sleeping, and it was quiet, clean, and comfortable.
The only hitch was at the end when we went to check out; we had a 6:00am train to catch to Rome, and needed to depart on time that morning, and the people behind the desk didn't understand Priceline, and wanted us to pay - A SECOND TIME. I showed them our receipt, I remained calm and polite... but to no avail. I finally had to call the US - on my cell phone - for 40 minutes while the Priceline Customer Service Folks (Bless them) forced the hotel to understand. We very nearly missed our train, and the whole time they kept insisting they didn't understand what the issue was with us paying a second time, and when it got sorted out, they were sure that it would "probably" get credited back to my card. Nope! Not doing it...
So watch out for that; otherwise, perfect location, nice room, good price - far better than what you get quoted on the website, so don't go direct.
Finally, make sure that when it's time to eat, you walk a bit; this is the tourist area - there are good places to be had, but it's YOU that will be had if you eat too close to San Marco Square! Take a stroll and get some food elsewhere... prices go down and quality goes up.
