travel italy Archives

Corinna B February 18, 2015

Planning Your International Trip ~ Renting Cars In Europe

I recently had a blog reader contact me about her upcoming trip to Venice, and the ins and outs of renting a car to drive to Croatia. Which brings up a great travel blog subject ~ should I rent a car when traveling in Europe?

this little pink Fiat was parked down the street from me in Rome for days

In the last few years I have only been renting cars in Italy, so my information is more Italy-centric, but the concepts really do apply to all of Europe (although if I were planning to drive on the autobahn I would rent something sleek and fast.)

Before you commit to renting cars look at where you are planning on going. Europe has the most brilliant train systems, with a network of fast trains that run from country to country and city to city, and then smaller trains that run within the cities and their out lying areas. If you are planning on just hitting big cities I wouldn’t even think about renting a car.
On last year’s Corinna B’s World Glam Italia Tour we rented cars in Sicily, the Amalfi Coast and for a couple of days of running around in Tuscany. Otherwise it was all trains.

Driving in Italy is great fun, so long as you don’t have to drive inside Rome or Naples! I have literally driven the length and breadth of Italy many times over in the past few years, and as such have made a list

Re: question about Veni

* I definitely always recommend picking up your rental car at the airport. You have easier access to the freeways, and the non airport locations often close for the day if they don’t have many bookings, which can leave you stranded! (which happened to us once in Florence)

My rental Fiat 500 in San Gimignano

* Rent a diesel – they cost so much less to run! Cars over there get far better gas mileage too.

tiny rental car in Sorrento

* Rent a small vehicle, not a U.S. sized bigger one. Cities, towns and villages over there have smaller, narrower roads and tiny parking spaces. On my last trip we rented Fiat 500 XLs, Fiat 500s and little Citroens which were so fun to drive and you can park them anywhere! The year before I had an Alpha Romeo that was faster than the devil.

I loved this Alpha Romeo I rented in 2013

* Buy the maximum insurance. I’ve read about people having their passports withheld until they come up with €3000 deductibles! The locals aren’t necessarily likely to crash into you, but other travelers are!

* Don’t rely on Siri for GPS. She is relatively good, but misses some big stuff. The highway exits over there are miles apart, so missing your exit can take an hour out of your trip.

If you do use Siri read the next instruction ahead of time – they have shorter distances and more cars, so you need to know which direction you are turning a while before you get there, or it can be a mess!

* Keep lots of coins on hand. You go through many toll booths on the highways there, and they sometimes only take change not cards. Also the exchange rate fees and international fees on your credit cards make it totally not worth while.

* If you want to rent scooters make sure you have them indicated on your international drivers liscence. If it doesn’t specify that you have a scooter permit many places won’t rent you one.

make sure you know the rules for renting scooters in Europe

* Driving over there is great fun! I always rent a stick shift, just because it’s fun :))

Corinna B January 19, 2015

Traveling To Venice ~ The Lagoon Islands

If you have a few days in Venice

take the time to explore the northern lagoon islands for a completely different Venetian experience.

Murano via charmingitaly.com

“That a silk robed, clove scented princess named Venice could be sprung from a swamp was a mad fancy…”
~ Marlena di Blasi

Start with a trip to the glass blowing island of Murano.
Don’t take a “free” boat trip from the city center – these are paid for by the glass factories and you will be under significant pressure to buy glass. Also this is often a one way free ticket so you may have to find your own way home.
Instead take a vaporetto across, bypass the Colonna and Faro stops, and get off at either Museo or Venier.

Murano has been the home of Venetian glass blowing since1291. when the wooden buildings of central Venice were considered to be at too great of a fire risk so the furnaces were moved across the water. The population of 5000 swells by day with glass factory workers coming over from the mainland. In a centuries old tradition apprentices learn flamework, twisting and blowing from master craftsmen.

Glass-Blowing-Demonstartion-Murano-Italy

Take in a glass blowing demonstration in Murano
image courtesy of missglamdan.com

Take a factory tour and watch a glass blowing demonstration and find out more about the history of Venetian glass at the Museo dell’ Arte Vetraria.

Make sure you allow yourself time to walk around Murano’s town center and get a feel for this wonderful place. Explore it’s canal system (including it’s own Grand Canal), the floating market, and the mosaic floor of the 12th century Basilica dei Santi Maria e Donato. Another must see is the parish church San Pietro Martire with its two beautiful Giovanni Bellini paintings.

Murano is lovely to stroll around. If you are buying glass avoid the cheapie tourist glass – it’s unlikely to have been made here. Choose a reputable showroom and get the real thing.

Burano

From Murano take a vaporetto to Burano, the lace island.

Beautiful Burano
image courtesy of www.trekearth.com

For centuries Burano has thrived as a fishing community. While the men would be out at sea fishing their women would stay home making lace. The men would paint their house bright shades of blue or red or gold so that they could spot their home from the sea when they were fishing. Consequently the island is a riot of color with canals full of fishing boats and nets.

Burano
image courtesy of www.gnixus.wordpress.com

Lace making started here in the 15th century. The Burano-point and the Venetian-point evolved and the lace grew in demand all over Europe. A lace school was established in 1870 to keep the lace making skills passing on to younger generations. It still exists, you can go there to see lace being made, and it also houses the lace museum.

Burano is conntected to the smaller neighboring island of Mazzorbo by a bridge. Its lovely to stroll around, and from the bridge you have a wonderful view of Venice.

A word to the wise: Burano lace is very expensive. You can find it in the more expensive stores on the island. The endless stalls and vendors on the streets selling cheap lace import it all from China, so it’s not legit.

Torcello

Torcello, the ancient mother of Venice
image courtesy of www.locandacipriani.com

“Across the marshes (…) and with their reeds bent by the heavy north wind, he saw the squared tower of the church at Torcello and the high campanile of Burano beyond it. “
(Ernest Hemingway “Across the River and into the Trees”)

Quiet, sparcely populated Torcello is Venice’s oldest continously populated region, was Venice’s earliest settlement, settled in the 5th century and at one point in the 1300s housing a population of more than 20 000.

In the 1200s the lagoon around Torcello slowly became a swamp, attracting malaria carrying mosquitos. As the Rialto area developed Torcello’s inhabitants fled to Venice leaving behind an 11th century church, a great basilica, palaces and houses that decayed, and canals that silted up. Today there is only one muddy canal running from the pontile to the piazza.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta was first built in 638 and is famous for it’s remarkable mosaics which date back to the 12th and 13th centuries.

The spectacular mosaic of Mary in the apse of Basilica Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello

The superbly detailed Last Judgement on the back wall is well worth visiting. (Make sure you check out the devils pushing the damned into hell.)

While you are there go next door to the 11th century Byzantine church Santa Fosca, and also go sit in the (strangely comfortable) “Attila’s Throne” concrete chair in the piazza. Legend dates it to the 5th century leader of the Huns, and it is said to be good luck to sit in it.

Attila’s Throne, Torcello.

Check out my other travel posts about Venice here
Read aboout the Dorsoduro here
Read about Ca’ d’ Oro here

If you have enjoyed this blogpost, please share it on your social media! I would love to hear about your Venice travels in the comment section.

Corinna B January 19, 2015

Venice ~ Ca’ D’Oro

One of my dearest friends is getting ready to go on her first ever trip to Italy.
I wanted to share with her some of the wealth of information I have on Italy, from years of traveling there and from being completely in love with the country. I started writing down ideas and notes for her so that she wouldn’t forget any of it, and then other people started asking for copies.
In the end I decided to put some of my notes into blogposts so that I can hopefully share the magic of Italy with more people.
This post is part of a larger story on Venice. If you landed here independently of that post, click here to read it – you’ll find some great tips for traveling in and experiencing the absolute magnificence of beautiful Venice.

Ca’ D’Oro

the exquisite Ca’ D’Oro, Venice

Everytime I’m in Venice I end up making my way to the fabulous Ca’ D’Oro in Cannaregio.
Literally translated it means house of gold.

The Grand Canal is lined with spectacular buildings, each with an intriguing story, and to me, this is one of the best.
Ca’ d’ Oro is one of the canal’s most flamboyant examples of Venetian Gothic. In 1420, during an era when Venice was the trade capital of the world, perhaps the richest city in the world, merchant Marino Contarini commissioned the renovation of this grand palazzo, with it’s pinnacles, marble and gothic tracery, influenced by the Doge’s Palace. (as only the Doge could have a “palace” the other palazzi or palaces are referred to as a casa, or house, which is then abbreviated to Ca’)
The home’s original name is Santa Sophia, and came to him via marriage.
Renovation is thought to have started around 1421 and completed around 1431. In an egoist display of affluence the facade was decorated with the most expensive pigments available – ultramarine, vermillion and gold leaf.
When the sun would hit the facade there would be an explosion of gold radiating across the canal.
If you look at Ca’ D’Oro from the opposite bank (near the Rialto) you can only imagine how sensational this must have been!

Contadini died in 1441, after which St Sophia/Ca’ D’Oro began slipping into decline.
Stripped of it’s golden facade the palazzo changed hands many times, eventually becoming semi derelict.

Ca’ D’Oro, via www.trekearth.com

It’s worst moment came at the hands of a Russian in 1847. Prince Troubetskoy bought the house for his mistress Maria Taglioni, and then promptly ripped off the marble facade, tore out the open staircase, sold the original wellhead, and otherwise desecrated this incredible property.
Art critic John Ruskin watched in horror, and tried to sketch as much of it as possible before it was too late.
Rescue came in the form of Baron Franchetti, an avid art collector, who bought and restored the property, including the staircase and the well, and then filled it with his treasures.
In 1916 he donated it to the state, full of his collections of paintings, sculptures, rare coins, and now it is an art museum.

View of the facade of Ca’D’Oro from the Vaporetto stop

From the ground floor you can look inside and see how these palazzi functioned. The bottom level was used for warehousing, but also had a lovely courtyard from which the staircase lead to the 2nd and 3rd floors where the living happened.

The well in the courtyard at Ca’D’oro

Mosaic floors and tiled walls in the courtyard of Ca’ D’Oro. These floors get flooded every year.

Both of these upper floors have covered loggias from which you can get a wonderful view of the canal.
If you go in the morning you can watch the daily business of the canal’s delivery traffic – remember everything gets from point A to point B in Venice by boat.
With 90% of the tourist traffic staying in the vicinity of Piazza san Marco, you can walk freely and unimpeded through Ca D’Oro, at times having a private viewing of the incredible art collection.
The mosaic floors are noteworthy, and art buffs should make a point of visiting the painting of San Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna, which was painted toward the end of the artist’s life.

San-Sebastian-Andrea-Mantegna-Ca-D'Oro-Venice

Andrea Mantegna’s Saint Sebastian, Ca’ D’Oro, Venice

Walk up the alleyway beside Ca’ D’Oro you will arrive at Strada Nuova, a charming street full of restaurants and bars, (a great place to stop for a spritz and some cicheti on your way to the train station if you are just spending the day in Venice).

Read about exploring Venice here
Read about the amazing Dorsoduro here
Read about exploring the Lagoon Islands here

If you have enjoyed this post, please give me some feedback in the comments section below, and also share it on your social media.

Planning Your International Trip ~ Renting Cars In Europe

Re: question about Veni

Traveling To Venice ~ The Lagoon Islands

Venice ~ Ca’ D’Oro

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