TRAVEL
TRAVEL Venice, Featuring Hotel Excelsior, Venice Lido Venice, Italy (not the one in Florida!), regularly comes in the top 10 most romantic cities in the world, and tops the polls as being the most romantic in Italy, which says so much when Rome is displaced to number two! Gondola rides down the narrow waterways, balmy nights sipping wonderful wines, pink-hued skies at sun set, and the wonderful Italian cuisine, all contribute to making Venice number one. But Venice is not just for lovers, it is an all-year-round destination catering for everyone as it is steeped in history and truly unique. It has been dubbed with many names including, The City of Water, The City of Masks and The Floating City (although unfortunately if the scientists are to be believed it may be more apt to call it the Sinking City), and much of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Venice was also well known for the arts including several important artistic movements, especially during the Renaissance period as well as being the birthplace of the Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi. Venice is to be found in the north-eastern part of Italy and is the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on 118 small islands separated by canals, and boasts over 400 bridges and an eye watering 77 churches. Its location at the mouths of the River Po and WWW.THEAMERICANHOUR.COM
the Plave Rivers has made it strategically important for much of its life, and made its rulers, or Doges as they were known, very influential throughout Italy and beyond. The actual origins of Venice are unknown, but the city as we know it started around 421BC, and over the following years it became an important centre of commerce, especially in silk, grain and spices, and from that wealth many of its buildings were born. My last visit to Venice was 14 years ago with my then girlfriend, now wife, and so this trip had a lot to live up to as our last trip was magical, and I am pleased to say it didn’t disappoint in any way. Flights from the UK are frequent (albeit a little disrupted at the moment!) and take around 2 hours. The airport is approximately 10km from Venice and you can get there either by land or sea. If you prefer the land route you can take the bus, but in my view, there is only one way to reach the ‘Floating City’ and that is by water. The choices here are either a private water taxi or via the Alilaguna water bus, or vaporetto as it is better known. The Vaporettos do take approximately 1hr 20 mins to reach St Mark’s Square as they stop a number of times on the way, and although slightly pricey I would use a private taxi boat, as what better way to reach Venice than in style. We opted for the
private taxi that was organised by our hotel, and as you leave the dock you do feel extra special, and once you have left the slightly ugly initial waterway near to the airport you start to reap the benefit of the water route as you wend your way past a number of the 118 islands, with a grandstand view. One of the islands that you actually drive through is Murano, but more about that island later. Our destination was Hotel Excelsior, on Venice Lido, which is one of the larger island’s not far from the island housing the main city, and having left the main lagoon and cruised our way down one of the narrow canals we turned a corner and a couple of minutes later saw the magnificent Hotel Excelsior with its large and colourful dock. On leaving the boat we were welcomed by the concierge who whisked away our luggage and directed us down the red carpeted hallway adorned with pictures of famous film stars enjoying Venice, to their reception desk. Hotel Excelsior is the only purpose-built hotel in Venice and was built in 1908, and quickly became the ultimate destination for the world’s rich and famous, and indeed this remains to this day, as it hosts Venice’s world-famous film festival and welcomes many A list celebrities who appreciate the finer things in life. WWW.AMERICANINBRITAIN.CO.UK
23
