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2024
Venice, Bologna, Rimini, Lake Garda, Belluno
September 9-22
Planning Notes
-This was a family trip with both sets of parents.
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-We stayed at an Airbnb while the parents stayed at a hotel
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​-Our parents were only with us for Venice and Bologna. We stayed an additional week to visit some new areas and see friends.
Venice - 5 days
Day 1: A very long travel day which was complicated due to Heather's father having his sciatica acting up which slowed things down. Direct flights to Venice are rare, so we decided to take a connection for a much cheaper price out of JFK. Our red eye landed in Copenhagen (which is much larger than expected) from which we had a quick turnaround to catch our flight to Venice. Once we landed, we took a one hour boat ride to the St. Mark's stop in Venice and checked Heather's parents into their hotel. We then checked into our AirBnb, which was only two minutes away. My parents arrived a short bit later, got settled and we had our first dinner at Al Giardeneto, a wonderful restaurant with a great outdoor patio. Seafood, Spritz, Wine and Gelato after to wrap up the day.
Day 2: Unfortunate start to the day as Heather's dad decided to skip the morning tours due to his back. The rest of us went to St. Mark's square and started with a trip to the top of the bell tower for some amazing views. We then did the Secret Itinerary tour at the Doge's Palace where we saw some hidden areas and heard all about Cassanova and is escape. Dinner at Cantina Canaletto was fabulous topped off with complimentary Limoncello. We closed out the night going to I Musici Veneziani concerto of Vivald'is Four Seasons.
Day 3: A forecast of strong thunderstorms and much walking had us cancel plans to visit a glass factory on the island of Murano. Instead we wound up sleeping in due to exhaustion, meeting for a so-so lunch at Rosso Pomodoro and spending a rainy day in our Airbnb playing cards and drinking wine. Dinner was at a unique spot called A Pie De Ponte which is a one person show. The food was mixed (great appsy, not so great squid ink pasta) and verrrrrryy long. A bit of a disappointing day.
Day 4: Big day today as we took the train to Bologna for a food tour. One thing we learned is it is very time consuming to travel in and out of Venice. It necessitates a boat ride to the train station, a train to your destination, then most likely a tax after that, which all needs to repeat to go back. This resulted in a very long travel day but good times as we visited a coffee shop for breakfast, a pasta making shop to make tortellini, a food market to eat it and a meat market for fresh mortadella and prosciutto which we ate unique place where you can bring your own food/drink to eat.
Day 5: This was our favorite day in Venice as we had our cooking class with Rosanna. We started with a tour of the Mercato Del Pesce to see fresh seafood and produce. While she was shopping for our ingredients, we got to try Tramezzini sandwiches. Once we get to her apartment, we each take turns making pasta dough and rolling our shapes. We also each get to individually season and wrap sea bream as well as make our own Tiramisu. Finally we sit for a feast including melon/peppers/cheese, fish, pasta with almond pesto and our dessert. After the class we take a short rest break, then meet up for gondola ride culminating with a pink sunset. We decide to do a light dinner at a hidden gem right by our Airbnb called Osteria Al Pozzo Roverso complete with fantastic pasta bolognese, wine and more limoncello.
Rimini - 3 days
Day 1: We have a half day before leaving Venice and we finally get chicchetti for breakfast at Bacaro Risorto. After packing up, we head to Al Covo for lunch which we saw on Somebody Feed Phil. Spider Crap and Pork Schnitzel was amazing, Sea Bream was decent but overall a bit too expensive. After saying goodbye to the parents, we catch the train heading to Rimini with a connection in Bologna. Once in Rimini we realize not many speak English but are able to find a taxi to Hotel Sporting which was very swanky with an amazing sea view off our balcony. Walked to Lella al Mare and got Piadina and Spritzs for takeaway. Topped it all off with gelato and back to the room to rest up. The parents spend the rest of their final day back in Venice shopping and have dinner at Gigis which had a big gluten free menu.
Day 2: Finally some nice weather as Venice slowly got cooler and cloudy, mostly in the mid to high 60’s. On this beautiful and sunny so we decide to spend the day resting at the pool. After a very active Venice, it was nice to swim, read, eat and have spritzes. We went for a stroll on the beach to collect a few shells and walked to one of our best meals on the trip at i-Fame, a Michelin star restaurant. Afterwards, we meet Heather's friend from her Bali trip, Emma, for drinks at Gineria Illegale.
Day 3: From the best weather day to the worst! Very heavy rain hampers our plans to walk to the old city to explore. We meet Emma for a nice brunch at Pannenostra paid for by another one of Heather's Bali friends, Sara! We spent the afternoon at the hotel lounge chatting over some tea and cookies. To see Emma off, we decide to go to Lella al Mare again for dinner.
Lake Garda - 3 days
Day 1: A tough travel day between the rain, leaving our Piadina in the room, connecting trains through Bologna again. Things got trickier once we arrive in Lake Garda as we realize that taxi’s take too long to show up and we can't handle the bus at this time. We finaly decide to get an expensive uber to our hotel, the Albergo Gardesana. We have a great view, but no terrace and are exhausted, but we shower and rally to have dinner with classmates from my Sicily trip, Mark and Annette along with their daughter Hannah. Mark picks us up and we get to have an amazing dinner at his custom built house overlooking the lake. Dinner was amazing with salad, bread, pasta bolognese, dessert and lots of wine. We get a tour of the house, take some pics and then get a ride back to our hotel.
Day 2: Another cloudy and cool again but we decide to still rent a boat to drive around the lake. We spend 4 hours on the lake, seeing some great sights along with the temperature slowly getting better. After we finished, we enjoyed a spritz overlooking the lake and mountains. Dinner was on the water at Da Carlo, which was recommended by Mark. Great food with filet with tartufo and pasta bolognese again! We finish with a nightcap sitting outside of our hotel and head off to rest before one more travel day.
Belluno - 3 days
Day 1: Another travel day starting with the wild bus ride to the train station. From there we go to Venezia Maestre and connect to a regional train for Belluno. Along the way we are treated to some amazing scenery travelling through the mountains. Decide to give the bus a shot but get on the wrong one as the correct one was late. Belluno is a wonderful small town nestled near the Dolomites and our Airbnb has plenty of space and a very large terrace. We wander a bit looking for a place to buy wine and wind up having a spritz at the Hotel Astor with a great view. We head to La Fenice for a superb dinner with croquetes, swordfish pasta and pizza with anchovy and zucchini.
Day 2: We spend the morning exploring and finally find a market for some essentials. We decide to do La Fenice for lunch an are pleasantly surprised to finally get pasta with lobster and of course another pizza. After that we head to one of the only wine shops to ensure we bring some back home. We get one last gelato and back to rest before dinner. We lucked out with a place right down the street from us called Terracotta, another high end restaurant similar to i-Fame for an amazing dinner including gourmet fried chicken! We finished our last night in Italy with wine on the terrace and off to bed as we had an early departure.
Day 3: Huge travel day starting with walk to the train station at 5:45. 90 minute ride, including a sunrise, to Venezia Maestre. Shuttle bus to the airport. Two hour flight to Copenhagen and no danish butter cookies on way to our next terminal. 8 hour flight back to JFK. Uber to our friend's house to pick up our dog, then 90 minutes back home to complete a 23 hour travel day.
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