Our short trip to Venice, February 1993
Date
Activity
Km
Day 1
Drive to Bavaria
We were living in Holland, near the city of Utrecht. It was half-term for Adam, so we decided that we’d load up our Mitsubishi Space Wagon, and head for Venice. We even threw in the old toboggan. We got as far as Bavaria where we knew of a pleasant guest house in Bad Aibling.
852
Day 2
Drove from Bad Aibling to the Dolomites
Woke up to heavy snow outside the hotel. We had breakfast, and headed south on the A12 autobahn, still in heavy snow. The A12 became the Austrian E60 at the border. This road skirted Innsbruck and turned into the A13. This became the A22 autostrada when we crossed into Italy at the Brenner Pass. We carried on south on the A22 until we saw the SS242 heading east into the heart of the Dolomites… the plan was to cross the Dolomites into Italy, and we were assuming that the high passes would be ploughed, or at least gritted.
We drove through Ortisei where we saw frozen fountains in front of several guest houses. Stopped at Santa Cristina Valgardena for a snack lunch (and Tiramisu for Adam and I, if I recall). Adam and I left Lin with a glass of wine while we did a little sledging near one of the ski slopes.
We continued south and east, gaining altitude as we went, but on a mountain road heading for the Gruppo di Sella range just beyond Plan de Gralba, we suddenly found we were driving on ungritted packed snow without snow chains… and we were losing traction.
We quickly abandoned our plan of crossing the Dolomites, and I gingerly did a three-point turn, and we retraced our steps all the way back to the A22. We continued south until we left the Dolomites behind. We got as far as Trento, and then took the SS47 eastwards. Found a reasonable guest house at Villa Agnedo.
381
Day 3
Drive from Villa Agnedo to Venice, afternoon exploring Venice.
The hotel tried to charge us for our breakfasts, when the rate we were given the previous night was for B & B…. but Lin sorted them out!
Uneventful drive from Villa Agnedo to Venice. As it was February, it hadn’t occurred to us that accommodation might be a problem, but when we were on the causeway Via della Libertà near Venice, we saw a tourist accommodation booth, and stopped to enquire. Turns out that this was one of Venice’s biggest events of the year… the Lent Carnival. They couldn’t find us anything on the main island but found us a family room in Hotel Cristallo on the island Lido di Venizia.
To get there, we’d need to take the car ferry, and for this, we are forever grateful, because it meant that our first view of Venice was of the main waterfront and Piazza San Marco, and from the sea – it was a magical experience. We landed on the Lido island, drove a few hundred meters and checked into our hotel.
It was still early afternoon, and of course we couldn’t wait to explore the real Venice, so we got the vaporetto straight back to Piazza San Marco. Walked along the waterfront past the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), and wandered amongst the crowds in the Piazza. Checked-out the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica di San Marco.
At one point, enquired about the cost of an hour’s ride on a gondola. It may not sound too bad now, but in 1993, £70 was a lot of money. Instead, we continued exploring the canals and back streets, and eventually found a bar and had a couple of beers.
We then took a crowded vaporetto along the Grand Canal to the Ponte di Rialto. Finally back to the hotel, and dinner in a nearby restaurant.
123
Day 4
Venice and the island of San Giorgio
Took the vaporetto back to Piazza San Marco, decided to pay to see inside one of the many grand houses that lined the Grand Canal, but it was grand staircases and empty rooms, and we found it a little disappointing.
We took a vaporetto to the island of San Giorgio, and visited the Chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore. Inside, we paid the lift attendant a few lira to take us up the campanile for the wonderful views of Venice and it’s islands, and as far inland as the snow covered Dolomites.
We explored the grounds before returning to Venice itself… not the main island of San Marco, but the west side of the Grand Canal called Dorsoduro, disembarking at the baroque Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario.
We walked through the Campo San Trovaso and along the Fondamenta Priuli canal, and eventually crossed the Ponte dell’Accademia back onto the main island of San Marco. We then walked via the canals and passageways back to Piazza San Marco, which by this point was heaving with costumed and masked revellers. We decided to bite the bullet and sit at one of the famous cafes, and we had a cup of coffee for the price of a decent meal. We watched some street theatre before returning to our hotel on the Lido.
Adam and I decided to walk across the Lido to the beach, but on a cool February afternoon, there wasn’t much to look at. Dinner in our local restaurant again.
Day 5
Venice to Austria
Picked up the car and took the car ferry back to the port of Venice. Not as exciting as seeing Venice for the first time, but still very nice. Took more pics on the way past Piazza San Marco, the Grand Canal and the Punta della Salute, as well as looking up the canal Rio di San Vio towards the leaning Campanile di Santo Stefano, and then the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Rosario.
At the harbour, we set off heading for somewhere in Austria to spend the night. We travelled via Udine and Villach, eventually finding ourselves travelling in deep snow on empty autobahns, and able to maintain 100 kph quite easily. We ended up at the Gasthof Pension Auzinger in Meggenhofen, where Adam found a grand piano on the first floor, and entertained everyone with his improvising.
527
Day 6
Austria to home (de Meern)
Uneventful drive home
903
Total kilometres driven
2786
