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Report 67: Gelato,Truffle & Porcini Tour--A Family's Month in Italy Exploring Venice, Tuscany, and Umbria

By Liz from Canada, Summer 2003

Trip Description: Family Vacation August 1 -24, 2003

Destinations: Countries - Italy; Regions/Cities - Cinque Terre, Florence, Lake Region, Liguria, Rome, Tuscany, Umbria, Venice

Categories: Hotels/B&Bs; Vacation Rentals; Art Trip; Foodie Trip; Shopping; Sightseeing; Independent Travel; 3-4 people; Adults and Teens

Page 1 of 25: Venice

Warning this trip report is very, very long, it is taken from my daily journal, so please forgive all personal ramblings. I have also written reviews on all hotels and restaurants mentioned so check on those pages if you'd like more details.

Arrived in Venice after a long flight of which none of us slept more than an hour or so on, but hey, we were happy to have finally arrived and we were set to go. We took the private water taxi to our hotel, this was a wonderful way to arrive in Venice and we thought it was well worth the expense of 85 Euro.

We arrived at Pensione Accademia and loved our little canal facing room that we all shared. Thank heavens for air conditioning since we were apparently experiencing the heat wave of the century! After a quick baggage drop we decided to explore our new neighbourhood and visited S.Maria D. Salute. After onto I Gesuati which we loved, beautiful frescoes by Tiepolo, went back later in the week to enjoy it again. At this point in the afternoon the troops were starting to wind down so we split up as I was not ready for a siesta and just too excited to sleep, not while there was exploring to be done! I headed out on my own to find a small local gallery that I had discovered on the net Bac Art Studio. Luckily it was not far at all from our hotel, and I was able to find it quickly.

They carried quite a few good artists, also lots of prints as well. Unfortunatley I couldn't find any painting that was screaming at me to take them home (well I actually did but it was far too pricey for a souvenir purchase) so I carried on my way.

This time I headed over the Accademia Bridge towards San Marco. I stopped in the Venetian Stadium store and admired all their silk fabrics etc, this a a fabulous shop that I have ordered lamps from directly at home, but once again nothing was screaming at me loud enough. I managed to find a little gallery with some charming paintings that I thought my girls might like so I grabbed their card and headed back to the Dorsoduro to see if anyone was even close to getting up.

Sure enough, Chloe was looking out the window waiting for Mom to appear so she could explore with me. She just couldn't get to sleep so off we went back to the gallery (Antichita'S. Maurizio in Campo S. Maurizio ) While she also liked them, none were screaming at her either so we continued on.

I asked Chloe to lead me back to Pensione Accademia and she had no problem, so far navigation seemed pretty easy here! When we arrived back Frank was out on the terrace with a glass of wine enjoying the moment.

This was to be our first dinner in Venice so we brought out our Chow! Venice and made a choice. Given that we were all pretty beat and wanted to stay close by, we decided on Pizzeria Accademia. When we arrived to discover it's wonderful location Grande Canal side, I was about to have my Most Embarrassing Moment of the Trip -