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What to do in Venice

Luxury travel blog » Places to Travel » Europe Travel » Italy » What to do in Venice
November 23, 2013 by Carol Perehudoff

This post may contain affiliate links.

Okay, time is running out in Italy. With only one day left, here are my big dilemmas about what to do in Venice:

Dilemma #1: Should we take a cheesy gondola ride in Venice?

I have gondolas coming out of my ears
I have gondola horns

 

This is our honeymoon. We should be doing romantic things like gondola rides. But wait, aren’t Mark and I are too hip and urban for tourist traps like that? But then, if you have to tell yourselves you are hip and urban, you probably aren’t. And if you truly were hip and urban wouldn’t it be the hippest most urban thing ever to transcend the unhip and ride a gondola?

To gondola or not to gondola
To gondola or not to gondola?

 

The question is, will people recognize the irony and notice our deep innately cool factor as we float down the Venice canals? The bigger question is, does it matter? When you’re trying to decide what to do in Venice you need to think of things like that.

This could be you!
This could be you

Dilemma #2: Should we try to get a dinner reservation at Harry’s Bar?

St Mark's Square
I know Harry’s Bar is around here somehwere

 

I’d be all over Harry’s Bar if it wasn’t for the eye flick. Mark and I went to Harry’s Bar on the Grand Canal just off St Mark’s Square – the place that Hemingway made famous and where Bellinis were created (champagne and peach. yum.)

To be truthful, Harry’s Bar is not much to look at, at least not the part we saw, and certainly not compared to the glorious Longhi Bar at the Hotel Gritti Palace, our honeymoon hotel of choice.

Longhi Bar at the Gritti
Longhi Bar at the Gritti

 

Knowing (because of my international sophistication and aforementioned hip and urban-ness) that there is the upstairs part at Harry’s Bar, where ahem, Angelina and Brad are known to hang out, I asked the very intelligent question, “Isn’t there an upstairs?” and the bartender flicked, yes flicked, his eyes at me, that briefest of up and down looks, and, after the tiniest pause, said, “Yes madame, but it’s not open until 7.”

The flick! The flick! Even Mark noticed the flick that in Venice says, you are not worthy. We are a mighty city with a history of wealth and power and you are not of us. 

I am too worthy! I'm in a private speedboat going to Murano to look at chandeliers
I am worthy! Am so! Am so! I’m in a private speedboat going to Murano to look at chandeliers

 

Meanwhile Mark murmurs, “Maybe we should come back when we’ve changed,” even though he’d be far happier sitting in a little trattoria somewhere. And maybe I shouldn’t have worn my hiking boots into Harry’s Bar because this is supposed to be a honeymoon full of luxury travel and I should be looking divine at all times, but it was raining that day and we had to sludge along the streets somehow.

Who's going to look worthy on a day like this?
Who’s going to look worthy on a day like this?

 

(In the end we did have a drink at Harry’s Bar, in the lesser-status bottom part. Mark had a sherry and I had a hot milk, which just goes to show, once again, how truly cosmopolitan I am, because I drank it with irony.)

Dilemma #3: Should we buy a Murano glass chandelier in Venice?

Want, want, want
Want, want, want

 

If you’re wondering what to do in Venice, think about shopping. Oh, how I want a Murano glass chandelier! I’ve coveted these strange amazing objects ever since I saw the ornate chandeliers in the bar of the Danieli Hotel on the Grand Canal a few years ago and thought, Are those for real? Can that crazy confection of colours and flowers hoodwink us into thinking it’s elegant?

The Danieli
The Danieli

 

Murano glass chandeliers look like something the artist Jeff Koons would have done in the 80s (but chandeliers like these go back centuries. There is a stunning original from the 1700s at Ca’Rezonnico, a palace on the Grand Canal that’s been turned into the Museum of 18th century Venice, so if you’re ever wondering what to do in Venice on a cultural level, you should definitely go there.)

And then … and then, after a few seconds of looking at those Danieli chandeliers I fell in love. It was instant, as if the melted glass flowed right into my veins.

I have glass coming out of my brains
The melted glass flowed into my veins and exploded out of my head

 

It’s been 7 years since I first saw those chandeliers and I’ve lusted after one ever since. Wouldn’t it be a symbol of Mark’s and my new life together if we bought one? A precious object that is fragile but, if treated with care, will last forever? And what an incredible souvenir of our honeymoon. Handmade glass from the island of Murano.

Made with care
Made with care

 

Or am I falling into another tourist snare like Alice down the rabbit hole. Murano glass isn’t cheap – we’ve seen the price for chandeliers range from about $800 to gulp, more than $14,000 (of course that was the one I really liked.) And does it matter that we don’t actually have a dining room to put it in? I mean, yet.

While I’m thinking all this, Mark is thinking, Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? Touring Europe through its spas and glass shops? 

IMG_6636

And my response is, “Not just Europe, honey, the world.”

 

You also might enjoy (or not):

Romantic Venice on my own (from a previous trip)

Read more: about the Top Cities to Visit in Italy

For more of the best places in Europe to see: visit Top Destinations in Europe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category: Italy, Romantic TravelTag: Venice

About Carol Perehudoff

A former freelance travel columnist for the Toronto Star, Carol has won more than 30 writing awards and honours. A spa and luxury travel expert, she’s written for top travel publications around the globe.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Carol Perehudoff

    Aw, thanks, Ewan!

  2. Ewan

    A witty and informative article, loved it!

  3. GlobalGrasshopper (@globalgrasshopr)

    Gorgeous photos, I love Venice but we went in July it was so crowded it almost spoilt it. I think out of season is definitely the best time to go!

  4. Carol Perehudoff

    Thanks, Carol and Lesley, yes, we did buy a chandelier. With black and gold flowers. I can’t wait to see it. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece!

  5. Lesley Peterson

    Beautiful photos! I love the traditional chandeliers that look like twisted candy but I can also imagine that vivid blue sculpture as a lamp. Didja get one??

  6. Carol Sutton

    First off love you clear and sharp photos of Venice. I very much like your thought; “And what an incredible souvenir of our honeymoon” – The Murano glass chandelier pictured is perfect. Go for it. So happy for you both.

  7. Rebecca Minton

    So did you get the chandelier? and if so, just where would it be installed?

  8. sherel

    Screw the gondola and the glassware and storm back to Harry’s @7 and don’t forget to flick the waiter:-)

  9. Dee Lowe

    Awesome!

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