Sestière di Castello

I fell in love with Venice in the 1980s, and her charm is still just as strong. This was Allan’s first visit, and a captain, he was impressed by how intrinsically linked the waterways are to life here.

When we arrived on Monday, we splurged on a water taxi. Partly because the vaporettos were expected to be on strike (they weren’t), and partly because we’re pushing three rollaboards and carrying three smaller bags, which is a handful to get on and off a vaporetto.

Motoring past gondolas wending their way through the canals was a fun way to start our short time here. We were happy to get settled in at our AirBnB off of Campo do Pozzi, have an early dinner at a nearby restaurant and then walk to Piazza San Marco, where musicians were playing classical music at one of the cafes.

The next day, we hopped onto a vaporetto to Lido for a 90-minute small boat tour of the lagoon and Venice. Paolo, our guide, grew up in Venice and his passion for her history runs deep. We learned how the Venetians built up their city on so many small islands, and how they assigned different purposes to adjacent islands, such as being a quarantine island, or a hospital island, and so on. He sparked our interest in visiting Murano and Burano, about which I’ll post in our next footprint. We thoroughly enjoyed our brief time together!

Afterward, we walked to the Rialto and spent some time exploring that part of the city.Read more