We left Toronto at 11:30 p.m. on Thursday October 1 and had a three hour layover in Paris before our flight to Venice. We actually slept on the plane as it was an overnight flight.
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| Céline Dion on posters throughout CDG airport in Paris |
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| Another poster-and some merch in an airport store |
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| Birds inside the Paris airport |
The flight to Venice was a quick one hour and twenty minutes.
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| Outside the men's washroom in Marco Polo Venice airport |
We arrived in Venice at 6:00 p.m. and took a vaporetto to the Ospedale stop where we were meeting our host, Alissa. Luckily, the schedule gave us the exact time of arrival of 7:36 p.m.
It was a real treat to be on the Grand Canal at sunset.
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| Grand Canal at sunset |
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| Great photos and light |
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| Lots of interesting buildings-- our first stop was Murano |
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| Fabulous buildings |
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We passed a number of these structures in the
canal marking the waterways
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| The many bridges of Venice |
Alissa met us at the Vaporetto stop and we walked about 10 minutes to get to her place. She is in the Castello district near the very large Basilica Santi Giovanni e Paolo. It is a quiet area but there are a number of interesting restaurants and small shops.
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| Entrance to our street |
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| Alonso walking down the Calle |
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| The outside of the 400 year old building we are staying in |
We are on the first floor (second in Canada). It is a small studio apartment. Alissa is a lawyer with an interest in artsand culture--definitely has an artistic bent She was very helpful in showing us some of the 'hood.
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| Funky kitchen area with neat tiles |
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| Small table and kitchen area |
We headed to a nearby restaurant that Alissa had recommended as a local place with typical Venetian cuisine. It was down a small calle and had a small open kitchen - it only seats around 30 people-- very friendly service and cozy vibe.
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| We both had Select Spritiz's - the Venetian Spritz- served with an olive-- similar to Aperol and very nice. |
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| Alonso had cod done in three different ways with polenta-- very tasty. |
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| I had a Venetian specialty- bigoli with anchovies and cooked onions |
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| No Pizza! Only Typical Local Food... Osteria alla Staffa- sign on the door! |
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| Outside of the restaurant |
It was a great choice for a local restaurant very close to where we were staying. Good service and good food.
Just as we neared our apartment building a young man came up to us and told us that they were filming at the end of our street and not to go any further. We said we were just going up to our flat and wouldn't be going any further. I managed to get a picture of the actress at the end of our street.
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| Filming at the end of our street |
It was a tiring long haul from Toronto, but the sunset vaporetto ride, and an excellent dinner was a great way to get reintroduced to magical Venice. We're very glad we're staying in a more local neighbourhood..
Lots of adventures planned for Saturday October 3.
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