ITALY | RETURN TO VENICE
VENICE JUST AS ROMANTIC ON RETURN TRIP
Anniversary visit offers opportunity to see the city differently – and one place exactly the same
TEN years ago, my first European adventure was a honeymoon trip to Venice. As soon as I arrived, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the floating city and fell in love with this magical place.
When it came time to commemorate a decade of marriage, my husband and I decided to pay another visit to the enchanting site that had so dramatically affected my world view.
Article and photos by Sarah Brubaker. Sarah is a freelance writer, photographer and designer living in upstate New York.
This article was originally published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on January 3, 2016.
Thankfully, a few things about traveling abroad have changed for the better. Here’s a quick list of some of the travel mistakes we made 10 years ago and what experience has taught us.
MAKING A PLAN
When we first traveled to Venice, we booked our flights and hotel through a travel agent because we didn’t have a clue about how to find a good hotel. We ended up staying on the mainland in the nearby town of Mestre, which meant we spent considerable time traveling to and from Venice.
Ten years later, we were able to take advantage of technology and do our own research using websites like kayak.com and tripadvisor.com to find a great hotel on the island of Venice itself at a reasonable price.
Before we left, I found the journal I’d kept during our first visit in 2005. It was amusing to see how bad at traveling we were back then. I’d been so excited about visiting Europe that I didn’t sleep a wink on the plane. That resulted in such a bad case of jet lag that we didn’t get to the center of Venice until well after dark on the second day of our trip.
Looking back on it now, I realize that we wasted so much time sleeping that we barely saw much of the city.
TRAVELING TO AND FRO
We didn’t know much about public transportation the first time around and, at one point, incurred a fine for not getting our bus passes stamped properly. We only learned about the availability of weeklong travel passes toward the end of our trip.
This time, we discovered the convenience of a customizable pass with entry to all of the museums of St. Mark’s Square, including the Doge’s Palace and the Correr Museum. Additionally, we purchased a three-day travel pass that worked on all public transportation.
Our Venezia Unica pass also included entry to several of Venice’s churches. Each has a different and interesting style or history, and all are worth a visit.
SIGHTSEEING VERSUS AIMLESS WANDERING
On our first visit to Venice, we did a lot of wandering around the city with the goal of simply seeing what we might find. We stopped to get coffee at a local cafe and made the mistake of ordering two lattes.
“You just want steamed milk?” asked the owner.
Realizing our mistake, we changed the order to two cafe lattes and it turned out to be some of the best coffee we have ever had. Unfortunately, we never found that cafe again, since we were lost when we came upon it the first time.
While purposely getting lost to see a more authentic part of the city can be a fantastic idea, it’s also a good way to waste time. On our anniversary trip, we took a more purposeful approach and made use of GPS on a smartphone. We planned our days around the pass and mapped out different parts of the city to make the most of our visit. And we even managed to fit in a few hours of leisurely wandering.
We saw the main tourist destinations that were built into our passes and really enjoyed the access to some of the lesser-known churches of Venice. Our favorite was the church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, or Mary of the Miracles, which was built in the 15th century and is a fantastic example of Venetian Renaissance art.
And, visiting a part of Venice that we had missed the first time, we took a water bus from St. Mark’s to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. The massive church has a tower similar to the one in St. Mark’s Square and provides a spectacular view of the majority of Venice.
We discovered another favorite church, Santissimo Redentore, or Church of the Redeemer, on the nearby island of Giudecca. It was built after the plague hit Venice in the late 16th century, and became a place of pilgrimage. Every year, a bridge of boats links Giudecca to the rest of the city on the third Sunday in July.
In a few short days, we were able to see so much more of Venice than we did during the previous seven-day stay. We even made it out to Murano island, famous for its Venetian glass. We visited the Museo del Vetro, or Glass Museum, and learned about the process that Venetians have been using for centuries. It also has a magnificent collection of glass through the ages as well as modern glass sculptures.
DINING OUT AND A DELICIOUS PHOTO OP
I hate to admit it, but on my first trip to Italy, I ate at McDonald’s and Burger King more than the local eateries. Of course, we were on a tight budget, and since it was my first visit outside the States, I clung to the familiar.
On this trip, we dined in local sandwich or pizza shops and at one very significant restaurant: Ten years earlier, we had splurged on a nice dinner at a restaurant right off of St. Mark’s Square. It was a decent meal and we weren’t too adventurous. Upon our return, I was determined to eat at the same table of the same restaurant.
Of course, much has changed since I first ventured out from the United States. I have traveled to many places throughout Europe and now live abroad in central England. Sadly, the prospect of travel in Europe is not as safe as it once was and, as fate would have it, we flew to Italy on the very night of the mid-November Paris attacks. It was horrifying to wake up the next morning to the news of so many tragic deaths in another major European city.
Despite our distress, we chose not to give in to the fear of terrorism and enjoyed our vacation. An increase in security in the most popular areas was immediately noticeable, and that helped us feel safer. We also attended a candlelit memorial service in St. Mark’s Square in Venice to show our support for the people of Paris.
We found that the restaurant had been renovated and was under new ownership, however. It was now Falciani Ristorante Pizzeria. Nonetheless, we requested the same table, which was occupied, so we waited and the waiters served us cocktails. Once “our table” was free, we sat down and had our picture taken the same way we did 10 years ago. And, once our meals came, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the food had greatly improved.
My husband had a delicious penne with grilled vegetables in a red pepper sauce, and I ordered a fabulous ravioli with spinach and ricotta cheese with a bacon, mushroom and cream sauce. It was a perfectly delectable anniversary meal.
THE GLORIES OF A GONDOLA
No visit to Venice feels complete without a ride on the city’s most iconic mode of transportation, the gondola. Sadly, it was rainy and overcast during our anniversary visit and it would’ve been very hard to top the voyage we had the last time, so we decided against a second ride.
However, the memory of our beautiful and romantic gondola ride from years past remains fresh. We set off from St. Mark’sSquare just as the sun was setting and floated gently under the Bridge of Sighs, a place where couples kiss for good luck. It was different gliding along the canal instead of walking next to it. Seeing Venice from the gondola is peaceful and gives you a unique perspective on the architecture of the floating city.
Our gondolier had been guiding his craft for 25 years and was the fourth generation of his family to do so. He easily maneuvered the long, thin boat through the maze of canals. We made our way back to the Grand Canal and docked, ending a perfectly wonderful Venetian experience.
So much has changed in Venice during the past decade, but I found the beauty of the city as overwhelming and amazing as before. Thinking of it always leads to the happy sigh, “Aah, Venice.”
 St. Mark's Square |  Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli |  Gondolas on the Grand Canale |  Glass Museum in Murano |  Bridge of Sighs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 St. Mark's Basilica |
Anniversary dinner at Falciani Ristorante Pizzeria
Our splurge dinner on our honeymoon
Anniversary dinner at Falciani Ristorante Pizzeria
Castle. Museum. Cathedral.
Everyone travels the world their own way. Some like to eat their way through new places, while others shop away. I look for three things first: Castles, museums, and cathedrals. I plan my visit around these treasures and fill in the rest of the trip with local eateries and other significant cultural stops.
ENCHANTING ISTANBUL
SHAKESPEARE'S STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
CMC TRAVEL
