Friday, September 12th, 2025

This morning we had tickets to visit St. Mark’s Campanile (Bell Tower of St. Mark’s Basilica).

The first campanile was built in the 9th century. The campanile was where Galileo Galilei showcased his improved telescope in August, 1609. He demonstrated it to Venetian lawmakers from the top.

It suddenly collapsed in 1902 because of weakened cracks and water seepage. Its reconstruction was completed in 1912. It was 323 feet high and the tallest structure in Venice.

An elevator took us up or one could climb the 323 steps. Lucky for us the steps were not an option! We had unobstructed views of Venice.

After our visit up St. Mark’s Campanile we went on a gondola ride. Our gondolier was Alvese. He had only been driving for a few months.

The gondolas and gondoliers had been around since the 11th century. Two hundred years ago there were 10,000 gondolas in Venice and now that number had dwindled to a little over 400. Single oars were used both to propel and to steer the boats. A gondola was built with a curved bit on one side so that the oar thrusting from that side allowed the gondola in a straight line.

The gondola was 35 feet long and about 5 feet wide. They were always painted black and each was unique in its inside trim.

It was a great experience and a different perspective of Venice from the canals. Below was a slideshow of some of our highlights from our ride.

This afternoon we took the ferry to the island of Lido. Lido sat between the Adriatic Sea and the Venetian lagoon and it was a 7 mile island.

It was a beautiful day to walk around the island. We had to be careful when we walked around the town because it had cars and buses. We walked along the main street called Gran Viale Santa Maria Elisabetta.

We passed the Grande Albergo Ausonia & Hungaria hotel. It was built in 1905 and was a 5-star luxury hotel.

The Grand Hotel des Bains was built in 1900 to attract wealthy tourists. It was a luxury hotel that many movie stars would stay at during the Venice Film Festival. It closed in 2010 for a planned conversion into luxury condominium apartment complex. As we walked by we could see that it was still awaiting renovation.

The Venice Film Festival ended two days before we arrived in Venice. This prestigious film festival was held in Lido. The Venice Film Festival was started in 1932 and it was the oldest film festival!

We walked to the Des Bains 1900 Beach Club which was a luxurious huge beach. It had two entrances and five different sections. You can rent a lounge chair or a cabana that was a private thatched roof with loungers, a table, and chairs. We also offered two restaurants and a bar/cafe.

We also stopped by the Bluemoon The Beach of Venice. It was another popular beach.

The Lighthouse of San Nicolò was a red lighthouse at the edge of the Venetian Lagoon. It was built in the late 19th century.

We stopped for a late lunch at Al Cavaliere Restaurant in Lido before heading back to Venice. We sat out on the patio and had a delicious meal.

Cheers to a great Italy vacation!

Saturday, September 13th, 2005

This morning we checked out of our Venice hotel and took a water taxi to the airport.

Taking off from the Marco Polo airport and flying over the island of Venice and its surrounding islands.

Our flight from Venice to Atlanta, Georgia was on time. We went through Customs in Atlanta and a few hours later we had a flight to Columbus.

We arrived home around 10:30 PM. It was a long day but a fantastic vacation!