Venice , in Italy it is called Venezia

 

 

When one thinks of Venice, this is where the imagination goes,

but there is so much more to Venice than a gondola ride.

However, please do take a gondola ride!

Venice is the amazing floating city. It was built from swampy land that contained over a hundred small islands. These islands were difficult to reach and easy to defend.  The settlers drove thousands of larch, alder and oak wood piles into the silt, until they hit clay and built platforms over the swamp. Over time the salt water and lack of oxygen underwater caused the wooden stakes to harden and formed a base for building structures. The small islands became connected by canals and Venice was born. 

 

 

There are no cars in Venice, everyone relies on the canals for transportation. You will see building supplies, food deliveries and packages being carried in by boat.

 

 There are a few ways to get to Venice. You may be taking the train from another Italian City- if so, you will arrive at Venice’s Santa Lucia Station (your train may stop at the Venezia Mestre station- this is NOT where you get off the train- don’t get confused!!) The train arrives right on the Grand Canal. From there you can walk 20 minutes to get to the Rialto Bridge or 27 minutes to St Mark's square (aka San Marco). Or if not walking, you will pass through the train station, out to the Grand Canal and catch a water bus (vaporetto)- the cheapest way to get around.  Your hotel will inform you which vaporetto to take and which stop to get off.  There are also water taxis and gondolas available to take you to your hotel- these are quite expensive, but both are a private way to arrive at your hotel.

 

There are so many reasons to love Venice, but sometimes Venice gets “bad press” about being overcrowded and that bad press is true during the summer months (end of May, June, July, August and first week of September)  San Marco Square, during the day in the summer, is a total madhouse when there are multiple cruise ships in the port and tons of families on vacation.

-My advice is to go to Venice in  mid March, April, the beginning of May, mid to end of September, and the beginning of October   

-I suggest being on the opposite side of the island from San Marco Square during the day, then return to the square for the evening when it isn’t as crowded.

-Plan on 2 -3 nights in Venice if possible

This is San Marco square the third week of March. At this time of year there were not orchestras playing in the evening, but there were no crowds. We had a really great time. 

Here are some pics from my second trip to Venice. These pictures were taken in  San Marco Square the last week of September. It was fun sitting in the piazza sipping wine, or an Aperol Spritz and people watching. Orchestras played in the evening. It was really romantic.

However, Venice does flood. This is also San Marco's Square. You may want to look at a tide chart and a moon phase chart before choosing Venice.  Full moon and high tide, can lead to flooding. Flooding is most likely to occur in November, December and October in that order...but flooding has also occurred from October until March.

*Here are some pictures of what you will see in Venice.

This is the Rialto Bridge, it spans the Grand Canal

Be sure to visit the market near the Rialto Bridge.  You can buy beautiful snacks, cheese and wine for a picnic lunch in Venice or for the train ride to your next destination.

If this were your hotel, you could be dropped off at the dock.

Little back canal streets are charming

Go out for an evening pub crawl

                Dine in small inexpensive restaurants where you can make friends with the locals

Dine in fancy restaurants where other travelers may lend you their reading glasses.

Corte Sconta was our favorite restaurant.

Find the back alleys with the laundry hanging out.

Cross over the wooden Accademia  Bridge

Visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Museum

The Doge's Palace is not to be missed

Saint Mark's (San Marco) Basilica - must buy advance tickets

Libreria Acqua Alta ..a super cool- Insta-worthy, bookstore. Don't just take pics, buy something... from notecards to prints to a small book- 

this is the definition of a "small independent business"

You can take an elevator to the top of the Campanile di San Marco- great view

*If you aren't worn out yet, consider day boat trip to see a few of the outlying islands

Murano is famous for its glass.

Burano is famous for its brightly colored houses and shops

Torcello, the origins of Venice- a quiet respite to walk around

The Lido-  is an island close to Venice where you can swim during the summer


I hope that this blog motivates you to visit Venice.  It has so much charm.

Belgium -October, 2022 with Sarah (my daughter)

Belgium and Amsterdam 2022

 Sarah and I had been wanting to travel together, mother-daughter trip, to Europe for years now. Finally the time in her schedule appeared and we booked a trip.  The hardest part of this trip was we wanted to include Amsterdam  - but COVID travel restrictions, at the the time,  did not not allow train travel between Belgium and The Netherlands. So I tentatively booked a hotel in Amsterdam knowing that I might need to cancel and figure out more to do in Belgium- which would have been easy- but not knowing expectations is hard- so glad COVID restrictions have mostly ended.

We were flying to Brussels via London Heathrow -LHR-(my most hated airport). We had  no choice- again due to COVID we just couldn't get a direct flight to Amsterdam and back!! 

Every week is the wrong week to be at Heathrow. YES,  my liquids were searched at LHR and needed further testing and re-bagging, even though I have brought the same liquids to 20 other  countries in the last 20 years and haven't had a problem...can you tell I hate Heathrow??

We arrived in Belgium after an unplanned 5 hour grueling layover  (It was supposed to be a 2 hour layover- thanks British Airways). We picked up a taxi at the Brussels airport and were dropped off at our cool Airbnb in the town Mechelen- a great little non- touristy suburb of Brussels.

I picked Mechelen because it is small, and on the way to Amsterdam - which DID lift COVID restrictions before our travel- hooray!

Here is why you need to go to Mechelen:

Mother/daughter beers in the town square (first of many beers- because wine isn't a thing in Belgium)

taking the raised walkway along the canal to earn beer calories

we would climb this tower in the morning

you will make your daughter do things like this and you both will laugh so hard

not sure where this sign was pointing to, but it was folk art to me

Mechelen had great street art- we just googled the locations and walked around the town

We saw a long line out front of this sandwich shop, so we waited and after pantomiming for about 3 minutes, we got a great sandwich on the best seeded bread!! We ate it canal side!

                                                                    We made shadow pictures

                                                            

                                                          We posed with statues

                                                        We wandered into churches

Basically we caught our breath from flying from DFW to LHR to BRU...  we headed back to our neat bnb- private bathroom down a flight of stairs. Really great place with a fab owner -cooked breakfast

After breakfast we headed out to do some more wandering and climb the Mechelen bell tower

We found a wine bar- so we didn't have to drink beer this evening

                            And we ate at a meatball restaurant that was surprising good

                       We went to bed early so we could catch the morning train to Amsterdam

Oh Amsterdam, how I love you... this is my third trip to Amsterdam, first with my husband, then with my travel girl friends and now with my daughter. I really feel like I have a grasp of this big city.

We rolled into the Amsterdam train station and dragged our luggage (much too far in my daughter's opinion :-) and then headed to the De Pijp neighborhood for the local market and street food

It is pretty crowded here everyday- but fun

poffertjes 

stroopwaffles

  

wandering the streets back to our hotel

love the pedestrian streets

the beer here is great as well, served canal side it is so much better

yes there is a waiting line with a line monitor for FRENCH FRIES

yes they were that good- loved them with traditional Dutch mayo

When I say don't bring too much luggage this is why- third floor no elevator, no headroom going up the steps- I am not kidding- most places  (with charm and free breakfast) are like this



Outside The  van Gogh Museum (pronounced van-hoghf)
One of the best Museums in the world- get the headsets for a guided tour- WELL WORTH IT

Wandering the streets of Amsterdam- notice the un-level of the buildings

beautiful gallery across from the train station - unexpected beauty

sipping gin (jenever)- As tradition dictates, they pour it to the rim so you must lean over - hands behind your back and sip it before picking it up and moving to your table

Sarah and I were in search of the oldest gin bar that her dad and I visited years ago. We didn't find it ,but we managed to sample a lot of gin that afternoon and the next day.

The next day brought a train trip out to Zaanse Schans- very touristy but fun. We arrived super early and were out before noon- so it was a fun morning without throngs of tourists.

.We visited the Anne Frank House in the afternoon. It is so well done....a must visit.

and then after a nap, we headed out again to search for the oldest gin bar.

we met some interesting people in our search

and found a brewery under a windmill

we found a bar that might have been the oldest, but wasn't

and streets covered with leaves the same color as Sarah's rain coat

I could tell that our search for the oldest gin bar was over!!


So it was goodnight and goodbye in the the morning to Amsterdam'

The next day it was hurry up and wait at the train station for our train back to Belgium. Our destination was  Ghent.  We were staying for 2 nights. 

gotta have wine with a train ride

In Ghent our goal was to see the Ghent altarpiece at St Bavo's Church (made famous by the film Monuments Men- fab film). When I was here with my travel girls years ago it was, walk into the cathedral, pay money and see the altarpiece. NOW it is a high tech VR goggle experience that was worth every penny!! We learned the history of the area and all about each panel of the altarpiece and we did it in a fun and painless way!

Also in Ghent is Gravensteen Castle with a really funny headset tour- like really funny

But I have to say that the day was beautiful and we kind of rushed through the castle so we could sit canal side and enjoy the day.

Delerium beer in an elephant glass

usually beer is served in a brand specific glass- but the place was so busy they ran out of glasses

some new friends at the end of the day

After 2 nights we were up to catch another quick train to Bruges (spelled differently everywhere). It was a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to just wander around the town. It is a very touristy town, but it is so enchanting, I understand why!

Our hotel was located on the main square. When I stayed here with my travel girls, we stayed at Duke's Palace- but I was not splitting the bill on this trip, so no palace for us- but this was a great place to stay 

In our wanderings we found an old pharmacy. Sarah, as a Doctor of Pharmacy, got to sign the book of who's who in pharmacy and got a tour of the place. The front was a regular pharmacy but the back held all the old apothecary jars, it was truly a magical hour for her.

Also that day we got a huge BELGIAN WAFFLE that was scrumptious

and dodged the rain by hanging out in a covered cafe

And finally we ended the night in the oldest pub in Bruges. We played backgammon as a French man next to Sarah grimaced at the moves she was choosing..it was great fun !

Our last stop was Brussels for one night. We caught an early train so we could make the most of our day.  Brussels was overwhelming and not quaint, but we found some cool stuff to do.

The Magritte Museum was at the top of my list and it didn't diappoint!

some palace or government building

A park with great yellow leaves that fell into our  beer- it was pretty awesome!

We had a great trip and can't wait to travel again together.

Here are some more great moments that didn't fit into my storyline - too much to explain!

self explanatory

cookie ferris wheel

best i can do hair

our canal

yes the stairwell ceiling is low- she is 5'4"

there was an old lady...

lunch after Zaanse Schans- really good food

why yes, you do need to validate your metro ticket

mom, honestly, we are here at the train station an hour early

this castle is okay, but let's hurry through it

pizza, way too much pizza- we thought they would be smaller

really, sweet cherry beer

it's in the bag

i am really hangry- says Sarah- yes we will eat this Tai food again says mom

yay I'm so happy- Tai food again

I got lost on the scooter in Brussels and my phone died and I don't want to talk about it 

The beer wagon- mobile beer bar

The girl in the pink dress would be little Sarah

concrete feet

fries fabulous FREIT fries- second go round

beautiful snack at the van Gogh Museum with a view of Museumsplein

one pancake to share!!- we got there just in time

 

Bruges tower - our next to last night

one of the many canal bridges that we crossed

walk a mile in these shoes- no thanks

another canal shot

never bad weather if you are traveling with good rain gear

if you loved this blog, then Belgium or the Netherlands is for YOU
Contact me at jackiebarnes217@hotmail.com