I am so happy I took this vacation in 2019, a year before the COVID happened when this trip would of been impossible. I'm always saying..."You have to travel now before something happens and you can't", however, I was always thinking if you were ill, or broke a bone. I would of never predicted a pandemic to be the reason we couldn't travel. Also, I am hearing that cruise ships won't be allowed into Venice and they will have to go to a town about 2 miles south of Venice. So as I am missing traveling and vacations, I will use this time to review the one I did last summer, reminiscing about the amazing time I had, worry free and care free.
Day 2 we wake up around 7:00 a.m. after hearing rumbling for while. I thought it might be trash day, but later realized it was thunder. As we would soon find out, thunderstorms would happen randomly in the evening and were common this time of year. We headed out in the morning to look for breakfast and exchanged money on the way. Right next door was a sidewalk cafe that was recommended so we decided to eat there. We both had cappuccinos, vegetable omelet and orange juice. My husband who usually likes his coffee black, liked the cappuccino so much he had 2! Well they were pretty tiny, so I'll give him a break. I think we both could of had like 3!! They aren't Starbucks sized. Then we walked back to our hotel to get ready for our tour of Doge Palace and St. Marks square. We used our passes that we bought at the airport and jumped on the vaporreto, that took us down the Grand Canal, which is the scenic route to get there, and took about 45 minutes. Here is a little video of going down the canal.
I did Walk of Italy tour and chose the V.I.P. secret passage tour. It took about 3.5 hours and is named below.
VIP Doge's Palace Secret Passages Tour & St. Mark's Basilica
- The most complete tour of the Doge’s Palace, we’ll take you to special access areas not usually open to the public – including torture chambers and Casanova’s prison cell!
- After your secret passages tour, you'll skip notoriously long general access lines to get inside the Doge's Palace for a special tour by our local guide
Doge Palace 
Doge Palace and St. Mark Church 
Doge Palace
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| Panoramic view inside |
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| Inside the Prison Chambers |
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| More Prison Chambers |
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| Panoramic view of ceiling at St. Doge Palace |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| Bridge of Sighs |
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| Doge Palace |
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| Doge Palace |
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| Trying not to look hot. |
It was a little more expensive than the other ones, but I knew it was peak season and didn't want to waste what little time I had waiting in line in the hot sun of summer. And boy was I glad I did that. She took us through mazes, dungeons, and secret rooms with lots of history. About halfway through the Palace we came out of a secret doorway with the regular people who were doing the normal visit. Our tour guide took us to the rest of the palace with our headsets on as she explained the history and art work. The last 45 minutes was "St. Marks Cathedral" which also was skip the line. You are told to have your shoulders and knees covered prior, but being hot and muggy many people had shorts and sleeveless top on. I wore over the knee capris and a spaghetti strap top, but had a light windbreaker wrapped around my waist, so just put that over and I was fine. For all the others that weren't prepared, that had to buy a sheer shawl like thin material covering for 2.00 € before they entered. You aren't allowed to take photos, which sucks, so you will just have to use your memory. : ) It is an amazing, beautiful church and there were long lines inside.
This is not my photo, but one from the internet.
This is not my photo, but one from the internet.
After that we stopped by a little cafe/bar to have a beer for my husband, and a gingerino drink for me.
Number #1 tip.
When you are traveling, you need to stay hydrated. Everyone carries around hydro-flasks. I would carry a plastic water bottle and always leave them someplace. So guess what I got for Christmas? And I ordered a holder with strap that goes on crossbody so I would not leave it anywhere! I tried it on a day at California Adventure/Disneyland and it worked great. It looks like this. Then your H2O stays cold!!
#Lovetotravel #Travelingtheworld #venice #Italy #vacationtravel
