May 23, 2025 Rick Steve’s tour Day 5

”VENICE, THE MOST TOURISTY PLACE IN THE WORLD, IS STILL JUST COMPLETELY MAGIC TO ME.” – FRANCES MAYES

PROPOSED PLAN:

We’ll take a scenic drive to Venice today, stopping for lunch along the way. At the edge of the lagoon, we’ll board a vaporetto boat for an “am-I-really-here?” Grand Canal ride to our hotel in the historic heart of this seductive city. Tonight we’ll take an alleys-and-canals orientation stroll to St. Mark’s Square and enjoy dinner together. Later, your guide will organize an optional gondola ride for this romantic, uniquely Venetian experience. If the moon is out, it will hit your eye like a big pizza pie.

Light walking: 2–4 miles throughout the day on mostly level terrain. Boat: ½ hour. Bus: 4 hours. Sleep in Venice.

ACTUAL EVENTS:

Before leaving our agriturismo near Florence, Nick and I explored a couple of nice paths in the area. Then loaded up and got on the bus to head towards Venice. We made a stop at Ferrara to check out the historic area and have lunch. Nick and I wandered into a small little restaurant that was off the main drag. We were seated next to a man, who we struck up a conversation with. The man informed us that he was from Switzerland and we told him we were planning on going to a small town on Lake Constance after we completed the tour. He asked us why?? And we told him we planned on visiting the Bernina sewing machine factory. He got a funny look on his face and told us that is where he apprenticed 60 years ago. He then insisted on buying me dessert and coffee (he only offered to buy Nick’s coffee). It was such a delightful lunch and good food too!

Then we headed on down the road towards Venice. We got checked into our rooms then met up again with the group to do a gondola ride. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed the ride. Then the group went to dinner together. Great day! Good food! And good company!

May 24, 2025 Rick Steves Tour Day 6 Seductive Venice

“”“I love to get out and see real life and to walk, which is why I love Venice so much – it’s such a great walking city.” – Limahl

PROPOSED PLAN:

This morning our local guide will take us on a winding walking tour through Venice, blending historic and modern-day stories of this one-of-a-kind treasure, and giving us a local’s perspective on Venice’s fascinating past…and its uncertain future. We’ll finish our morning walk in St. Mark’s Square. The rest of your day is free to visit St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doge’s Palace, or the Titian- and Tintoretto-packed Accademia art gallery. Better yet, get lost (remember, it’s an island) exploring the alleys, cruising the canals, and “crawling” the pubs.

Moderate walking: 2–6 miles throughout the day with some hills and stairs. No bus (too much water). Sleep in Venice.

ACTUAL EVENTS:

After a wonderful breakfast at our hotel we met up with our guide for the morning, Diana. She did a wonderful job navigating us through the city and pointing out several sights and explaining the complicated history of Venice. It was interesting to see some of the ways Venice is handling the issues regarding flooding. Then our guide took us to the workshop of a Venetian mask maker. The craftsman gave us demonstration of the process of a making masks out of leather, lace and paper mache.

The Jewish population of Venice was quite large before World War II but after the war only eight returned from the concentration camps. There are several plaques around the city in front of houses to commemorate the Jewish families that lost their lives. The architecture of the city shows distinctive examples of medieval gothic pointed arches and rounded renaissance arches and our guide pointed to examples of these buildings sitting side-by-side. We were turned loose to wander the streets of Venice about 11:30.

We chose to visit the Sanctuary of Santa Lucia near the train station. We had heard so much about the body of Santa Lucia visiting Sicily this year , that we were intrigued to visit this ancient relic in its home church. We wandered into Campo San Geremia next to the church and found a free museum exhibit called “The Lens of Time” which profiled the history and the art of eyeglasses. It was a fascinating display sponsored by the Italian Association of Optical Goods Manufacturers. Another exhibit that we found in our hotel and in stores throughout Venice is Murano glass. It is something that the Venetians are very proud of. Our group gathered at 6 PM for a drink to celebrate the birthday of one of our fellow travellers. We then found a place for a pizza and salad dinner, topped off by a gelato on the way back to our hotel.