Venice faces 4th highest tide in 136 years
Venice has just gone through the fourth highest high tide in the past 136 years. Aqua alta, as the Venetians call these high tides, are a normal occurrence. The town has a series of signal sirens that warn the population of the impending flooding and walkways are set up to allow residents to move throughout the city.
Venice’s Chorus Pass — a path to revelation
A perfect way to uncover the back canals and secret campos of Venice is to buy a Chorus Pass and use it as a tool to create a random visit to this unique city. This pass provides just enough structure and a collection of specific destinations to facilitate discovery or Venice.
Historic Venetian flourmill becomes the new Hilton Molino Stucky
At the end of the Giudecca island a massive brick structure, looking almost Germanic, presides over the wide canal looking north towards the tourist heart of Venice. In these remains of one of Europe’s largest flourmills, electricity was introduced to Italy, the first Italian elevators began operation and Venice’s largest hotel and convention venue stands.
The best ice cream in Venice
Venice is a tourist town and ice cream stands seem to be on every corner, but after visiting this unique city for years and staying here for extended periods of time, I have come up with my two favorite spots to enjoy what I consider the best gelato in Venice — Gelateria Il Doge and Gelateria Alaska. Both are worth going out of your way to experience.
Americans are few and far between in Venice this August
Last year I spent the entire month of August in Venice. I’m back again this year, but only for two weeks. I take this time as an opportunity to step off the everyday world. Venice is different to say the least — no cars, no buses, lots of church bells, canals everywhere. No place else on this planet is quite the same.
Gelato banned from the Spanish Steps, no picnics at St. Mark’s
Airlines are raising prices of on-board snacks. Passengers already can’t bring their own liquids from home and tighter enforcement of carry-on rules may make bringing food on the plane more difficult. Now Rome is banning snacks on the Spanish Steps. What’s next?
Venice guidebook reviews
Whenever we travel, we hope to find the perfect guidebook that fits our interests and speaks to us. Unfortunately, those guidebooks are hard to find and rarely exist. In the case of Venice, with literally centuries of guidebooks to choose from, decisions are harder. My advice is to take more than one.