Venice Travel Guide: Gondolas, Glass-Blowing & the Best Spritz

Venice is one of those places that never gets old—literally, it’s sinking, but that’s a conversation for another day. In this episode, we dive into our many visits to the floating city, from first-time tourist must-dos to hidden gems we’ve discovered over the years. We reminisce about staying at the legendary Gritti Palace, Lisa’s unexpected gondolier friendship (because, of course, that happened), and the time Erin and Dylan experienced an eerily empty Venice during COVID.

We also chat about the best times to visit (spoiler: not summer), why the Select Spritz beats Aperol, and how Venice is fighting back against overtourism. Plus, we share some incredible local eats, glass-blowing on Murano, and why getting lost in Venice is the best plan you can have.

Grab a drink (preferably a spritz) and join us for a lively, personal, and slightly chaotic deep dive into Venice, Italy.

You can read more about Venice here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back. I'm Lisa. And I'm Erin. And this is the Getaways Podcast. Well, the sun's out. The sun's out. It is really lovely outside. We are recording in um the 9th of March, which is a Sunday. And it is like the perfect weather outside. Everyone's back out bike riding. It's not going to last very long. So everyone's enjoying every second of it.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

It's been so beautiful the last few days. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yeah. And things are really starting to bloom. So that is that is a very nice thing to say.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

I want to like start by just saying we had so many new listeners last week for our Easter thing, and we have so many more followers now. It's great. Hi.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

We are very grateful for you. Thank you. And also, you should know that you know we talk about what we want to talk about, but we also want to hear what you want to hear us talk about. So if there's a particular city, country, area that um that you're interested in or that you would like to hear a podcast on, please email us. Let us know.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yeah, and we also we get a lot of um questions about immigrating to Europe. So if there's more stuff you want to know about that, just hit us up. Yeah, because we want we want you to hear what you want to hear.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

So let us know.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Well, so today we're gonna talk about one of both of our favorite cities, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Yeah, we it's definitely on my probably top five list, and that is Venetia, Venice.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Yes. And I say get there now because who knows how much longer it's gonna be there with all the water floods and stuff happening.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah. There is a lot of quirky things about Venice, a lot of amazing things. Like it's got a bit of everything, and and I'll just tell you a quick story about the first time I was there. I don't actually maybe it wasn't the first time, but the but when I was there, I was a nanny um working in Monaco, and I went on a weekend with another nanny, but I was kind of wandering around by myself early in the morning checking out the city, and um and you know, one of the funnest parts to me of Venice is just wandering around and kind of getting lost. And I was doing just that, and the skies opened up and it just started pouring. And so I snuck into this little church that had this amazing fresca on the wall, and I just sat there until the rain stopped. And then I ended up sort of meandering around into San Marcos, and everybody was walking on tables because the whole piazza was flooded and like people were literally walking on tables that were set up by the locals. Like I don't even know. Is it the government that does that?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

I don't even know. I I guess so. I mean, it's crazy because when which I'll talk about us going there during COVID later, but when we went during COVID, uh, the people I went with and our kids, we stayed in this hotel and we got to the hotel, checked in, it was great. We went out. When we got back at 10:30, it was the the lobby, which is in the bottom floor, was completely like probably a foot and a half of water that we had to walk through to get to the stairs. And the guy was like, I'm sorry, I should have told you you need to be back here by 10, because after 10, the tide goes up until like 7:30 in the morning and then it goes down, and then they clean the lobby, which is just crazy to me, but that's just the everyday thing for them now.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

It's life, yeah. And it's just it's so it's crazy to me how many tourists come in and out, and there are no roads, only canals. And then there's this flooding where you just like that's just part of life. You walk on the tables, you walk through water into your hotel. It's but nobody really seems to mind either. Like it's just it's part of the charm and experience of Venice, I guess, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:36

But go in educated because I certainly didn't, and it was it was I would have worn different shoes, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Um so the first time we went, all of us, was in before we moved.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yeah, Dylan was seven, I think. So it was probably 2015.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

And we were there in winter for Christmas, over Christmas break, right? Yeah. And we stayed at the greatest hotel on the earth.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

We splurged. We did a splurge. Well, but remember, it wasn't even as much as it was supposed to be. It wasn't$900 a night, but it's it was still a splurge.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yeah. But the Gritty Palace, which is, you know, iconic luxury history. That was um, isn't that where Clooney stayed? I think so. Yeah. Um, but you when you go in, there's pictures of everybody who stayed there. I mean, it's it's all glamour, all beauty, all luxury. Like it's it's fantastic. And it's right on the Grand Canal.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

I mean, it is top-tier hotel. It was so nice and so luxurious. It was it was crazy. We only stayed one night. Right. But I still carry the wine wine opener from the hotel.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

It was the best wine opener. It's so good. But that was your first trip. So tell us what what struck you about the city.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

I it was just kind of crazy because I I didn't know what to expect. And I'd been to Italy a few times before, but never to Venice. And so just a the no cars and how many bridges and canals there are was crazy to me. And it get it was very crowded at one point in the early evening when we went there. I remember walking down one of the streets and it was like we were just very crowded, right? But it opened up at night. I think people go back to their hotels or whatever. But what I will say, and I've been there several times since, is I can't make sense of that city. I get lost every single time I'm there. Like every time I'm there. But it was really one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

SPEAKER_01 5:32

Yeah. Well, and that's the difference between you and me, because I like getting lost in places like that, and you hate it. And the other thing that people should know is that because the streets are so tiny and because the buildings are quite tall, uh, Google Maps worthless. Like it it just spins and spins and spins and spins and spins and almost never has an idea where you are. Um but let's back up a little bit. There's two ways to get into to Venice. So you can either come by train or by plane. And at the train station is sort of like one, like the far end away from the center of Venice. So you kind of have to walk a little bit and and figure out your luggage and whatever you have. It's it's uh it's a walk.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

They have water taxis though that pick up right outside of the train station.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, so that's what I was gonna say. So, or you can go straight out and get on a boat, a water taxi, and it can take you wherever. Then if you come in by the airport, you have to have a boat to get to Venice. So, either way, you know, you come in, it it is it takes a little bit of work to get to where you're going, but it's it's so worth it in my mind.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

All the most beautiful things take work, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Right. Um, so the other things that um the other sort of highlights of trips after our first trip was, as I mentioned before, San Marcos, which is the big central piazza. And it is got restaurants, it's got the museums, it's got the Grand Canal right there. It's like the perfect place to go grab a um gondola should you want to do that. Um, my favorite thing about San Marco, do you know what I'm gonna say?

SPEAKER_00 7:06

The hot chocolate.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yes. So we um I did it the first time that I was there from Monaco, but then it's like something I always have to do is there is this little cafe in the plaza, in the piazza that has it's just it's literally melted hot chocolate, and then you get like a vat of cream and you fill up as much cream as you want to make it drinkable and the right consistency for you, and it is life-changing.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

And when she says melted hot chocolate, she means melted chocolate. It is thick, it's like hot pudding almost, but thicker. It's so good. And there's no way you could drink it. You would have to use a spoon if you didn't add the cream. Yeah. Um, do you remember what else we did in that St. Marcos Square on that trip that was kind of gross?

SPEAKER_01 7:50

The pigeons? Yeah. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

Dylan loved it. Everybody seems to love it. People love pigeons to come sit on them, they feed them and they want them to come land on them. And I we, Lisa and I think it's disgusting, but Dylan was just a little top. I'll put that on the website.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

And and the funniest part of that picture is Dylan's standing there and he's got pigeons on his arms, his arms are straight out, and then you see me in the background like cringing and running. I'm definitely gonna put that up. They're so weird. I don't get it, but people love it. So if that's your thing, there's plenty of it for you.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

So we gondola ride, so which is you know, cheesy, but also kind of everybody's gotta do it.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

If you go to Venice, you have to do a gondola ride. It's like a little expensive, but if you didn't do the gondola ride, did you go to Venice? Is the question.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

I mean, it's it's just it's the thing. And and yeah, it's cheesy, but you also won't regret it. Um, and I know I didn't. Um, we had a very, very handsome gondola driver?

SPEAKER_00 8:49

What do you call them?

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Which there are some really hot gondoliers.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Yeah. And um, and this was one of them. And he took us around and we had lovely conversation on the boat. And then um if if like we sort of started off saying, There's so there's canals everywhere, there's bridges everywhere, you know, it's that's what Venice is, right? And so at the end we're getting off, and he says, Do you want to meet me for a hot chocolate? And I say, Sure, that would be lovely. And he says, Okay, meet me at the and then he says something with a very strong Italian accent and then bridge. And he goes, Do you know where that is? And I'm like, Oh, I don't want to be the dumb American. Yeah, sure, I know where that is. Well, I have no idea where that is. So we I wandered around for what, like an hour? Yeah. And never, never found it. But he uh we had actually left stuff on the boat and he knew we were staying at the gritty, so he came and left a note, and you know, we got to keep in touch that way and still are in touch 10 years later.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

One other thing about that trip the hotel set us up at a uh restaurant, and so we went to this restaurant, which the food was like like phenomenal, right? Right, it was so good. But at the end, they brought out like a big carafe of lemon cello, and we were just like, this is great. We didn't even order it. So we're drinking lemon cello and having a great time. Well, what you don't realize is they know they measure it and then they charge you for whatever you drink. They didn't tell us that. But it was it was it was one of the most memorable meals I've had in Italy, I think. And I don't know why. Couldn't tell you what I ate, but it was delicious.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Well, it was also like we didn't live there yet, so like then it wasn't the norm to have that kind of meal. Yeah, but you loved the place that my gondolier friends were.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

So Lisa, like she said, she kept in contact with her gondolier friend. And when my brother came, we were like, let's see where the gondoliers go eat, because we don't want to eat at like a restaurant that's made for tourists because the food will still be good, but it's it's you always want to avoid the big tourist eat, right?

unknown 10:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

So her friend gave us two restaurants and said my brother and I decided on one, and it was like down a little alley under a bridge. And so we went in there and it's literally all gondoliers eating there. And and the menu was very simple and and not big, but it was so good. And the and the men were all so welcoming, like we all had the best time. It was so much fun and so good.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Um, which I left. I just came and introduced you guys, right? Or came and said hello to the gondolier and then left.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, and the gondolier didn't even gondolier us that day because the weather was crap, remember? Yeah, but we did find somebody to gondol because you kind of do a gondolier. You have to.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

So one other thing that we did there, which I think is fairly common, but we loved it so much and Dylan loved it so much, was the glass blowing.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Oh yeah, that was that was that was fun.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

So we took a boat to Murana, which is just like a little one of the little tiny islands, and took a tour, and then they let Dylan blow, actually literally blow glass. Um, but it was really fun. And I think, you know, we we I don't know how common it is that they let the kids blow, but like there's nothing cooler than it was very cool.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

I'll put pictures of that up too, but it was very cool and it's something that Dylan remembered. Um, so yeah, I would suggest doing that with kids or without kids. Yeah. Because you've got to go to Murano anyway, because the the Venetian glass is just so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, and I would say, like, in terms of things to take, like that's definitely on the top of the list. And what we talked about before with Carnivali is the masks, which you'll see all over the city. There's, you know, some are a lot more expensive and a lot more intricate than others, but they are a really great souvenir and really something cool to take home.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Now I will say that there's a lot of gift shops that are aimed at tourists and they have glass in there, but it's not Venetian glass.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

So I would suggest going to Murano and going to where the factories are so you're getting actual Venetian glass and not glass that's made in in another country. So during COVID, we were in lockdown the first in 2020 until like May, right? From March to May, March, April, and May. Okay, we weren't allowed to leave our region until June. So in June, the beginning of June, we were allowed to leave our region, but people still weren't allowed to come into Italy. Like there was no- You couldn't leave the country.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

You could just leave the region, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Yeah, and then and there obviously no one was allowed to come in. So myself and my son, and then two other families from his school, we planned a what? We were gone two days?

SPEAKER_01 13:19

No, it's like it was a weekend.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Because we could leave and we could do stuff. So we get to Venice, and that's when we stay at the hotel that flooded every night. But when I tell you the city was empty, the city was empty. Like a lot of things weren't open, but a lot of things were. But there was I've got pictures in St. Marcos Square that there's no one in there. Like no one. We went to Barano, um, because there's this fantastic restaurant there, and um, there was no one there. And it's usually packed. It's it's it's a little island off of uh Venice that has all these colorful houses. It's beautiful, but there was not a not a soul to be seen. And it was just a really different way to experience the city. It was it was a little eerie, but it was so beautiful to just be there alone, basically. So nobody's ever gonna get that opportunity again.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

I was gonna say it's like hopefully it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

So it was it was just a really unique way to see the city, and I haven't been back since. And I don't know if I need to go back now.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

See, I could go there like all the time. I don't I don't love it when it's super crowded.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

But um Did you see the images on social media of during Carnivale, how crowded it was there? Like, yeah, it's just not fun.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Well, and it's crazy because my gondolier friend would tell you to come in early spring, like now. But with Carnivale, obviously that you know, you got to strategically plan between Carnival, the end of Carnivale and the beginning of the summer rush. And then like I started off the podcast saying I was there in fall, um, one of the first times I was there, and the light is so incredibly yellow, golden, beautiful. And it's the weather's still decent. It's starting to get a little chilly, and obviously there's rain, but um, but I think that that's a cool time to be there too, because it's not full of tourists, but um, but you sort of get get all the uh the good aspects of the decent weather and the low crowds and the light. And you know, now they have the um which I don't know how many cruise ships really came in there, but I guess that's banned now, right? That's banned. I think they've banned Airbnbs. I think they limited them. Do they ban them?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

I'm not sure. And I think they're charging like a tour like tourists to come in now, aren't they?

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Well, the the all of them or most of Europe is having that you have to have that pass that starts probably in the next few months. But um, all right, so let's talk about food. We already talked a little bit about be careful when they bring stuff to your table because even though it seems like it's free, it's not free. And it can be more than just lemoncello, too. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:48

Well, do you know where we didn't go? It's it's drink, but we didn't go to Harry's, and that's where the bellini was invented.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

And that is a super fancy bar. There's it's a chain now, I think. I don't know if it always was, but it's not far from the uh Gritty Palace, and it's again right on the Grand Canal, and it's a really cool place, you know, not cheap, but a really cool place to get a drink and like kind of a little historic part of fancy Venice.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

And I don't know why, but every time I think of Harry's bar, I think of George Clooney. Is that is there a reason for that?

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Um I'm sure he's gone there a million times, but I don't know specifically. Um and you like to select spritz.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah, so uh everybody knows the Aperol Spritz. It's famous worldwide, one of our favorites. We we drink it all the time. But so in Venice, they have their own, it's called the Select Spritz. Their liqueur instead of Aperol is select, and it's a it's a deep, deep ruby red. And it's a little more, it's got a little bit more of a medicinal aftertaste, I think, than the apple.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

It's more bitter to me.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

If you're there during a Peritivo, order a select spritz instead of an aparol spritz, and you will not be disappointed.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

And speaking of a Perativo, Venice loves their little bites of food for a Perevo. It's Chiquetti, and they have you know different fried seafoods and meatballs, and um, you know, very common to get that for a Peritivo instead of the traditional just chips and cheese and that. So that's something to look forward to.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

You know what else they like that I just don't get is the sweet and sour sardines.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah. Not sure about that.

SPEAKER_00 17:28

I think it's called sarde and sour. It's uh I I've gotta be honest, I've never tried it. Yeah, it might make me a little sour. Seem like it would float my boat. They love anchovies too. Like it's a very fish heavy.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Yeah, and salt heavy, I guess, because that's you know, you got the salty, salty water right there too.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Yeah, and let's not forget about grappa, which originated in northern Italy. I think because it's gets really cold there because it's at the base of the Alps.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Yeah, so it's you got to have that like fire in your throat to warm you up. It's definitely uh an acquired taste if you can acquire it, but um, but worth trying, you know, try the local goods. But uh, I also think that Venice is sort of an interesting place of just because of where it is, too. So if you plan a trip to Venice, you're not that far from the Dolomiti, from the Alps and the mountains, then you've got the Adriatic right behind you, so you can easily get to Croatia or Montenegro or And have you been to any of the beaches in Venice? No, I haven't either. Oh, that's not true. So, yes, I've been to Leto, which is lovely, and it's big, wide, sandy beach, and you know, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

What's the water like? Is it like we love?

SPEAKER_01 18:38

I was there when it was cold. So I wasn't actually in it. And I and again, I was there before I knew like southern Italian beaches. Oh so I probably wouldn't be a good judge now because looking back, it was like oh, it's way prettier than California, right? You know. Um, but um, but yeah, I mean it's just it's it's kind of a cool place because it's got all of those things around it, but then inside of it, I mean, I just love it. Like I I think my favorite thing is just standing and looking like every direction you look is a picture. Like there's there's no there's no, you know, slow part or bad part, or it's just it's it's so picturesque everywhere you look.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah, no, I will say that. I don't like getting lost, but I do like meandering in Venice, especially because you don't turn a corner and it's not just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. So I I do like that.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

All right. Weirdest thing in Venice is the pigeons for me.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

The weirdest thing in Venice. I don't know. That's a tough one. I guess the flooding, the flooding of buildings is just weird to me.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Is that anything you don't like or anything to avoid?

SPEAKER_00 19:48

I think the only thing I don't like about Venice is the crowds, to be honest. There's nothing I can say that I don't like about Venice other than that.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah, I would agree. I don't think there's there's any downside.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

What's your favorite? Favorite favorite memory from Venice from any of your trips?

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Well, it's weird, but I think it's the first story I told about like ducking into that church because it was like it was so oddly magical and I'm not religious at all. And it felt like a religious experience because the light when when the rain stopped and the light came through and it hit the fresca on the wall, it was just like it was magic. Like I don't know, I don't know what else to how else to describe it.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

I think mine would be I uh the glass blowing just sticks with me for some reason. It's like such a nice day. Yeah. All right, get yourself to Venice, people. And try to stay overnight because the majority of people that come in are coming there for the day. So at night it just it empties out and it just is even more magical.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Oh, and one other tip is oh, and first off, the gelato is really, really good there. Um, but one other tip is that it's all because it's all walking, because it's all canals, make sure that you're in decent shoes because it's also cobblestone the whole way. And it's, you know, if you your feet get tired, there's no car to get into. You're you're it's you and your feet, so be prepared for that.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Yeah. Yes. Good tip, Lisa. Thank you. I will try. I'm gonna put a bunch of pictures and more information and like name some restaurants on the website, thegetaways.com, the getaways with a Z. And thanks for listening. Yes, thank you. And we'll we'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.