Originally Posted by
mgilat
Hi everybody,
I've been a longtime lurker here on FT and on the Italy forum. It's helped me a lot on previous trips to Rome and Florence, especially the tips about restaurants in Rome. The Venice restaurant thread has given me a lot of ideas for my upcoming trip (fritelle at Pasticceria Tonolo
)
I'm going to Venice this week with a friend. We're flying on different days, so I need to make my own arrangements for travel to and from VCE airport. We'll both be staying at Pensione La Calcina right next to the Zattere vaporetto stop in Dorsoduro, which my travel companion chose before I decided to join. The hotel seems nice, and the location is great for sightseeing and views of the Giudecca canal, and it's far enough from the hordes on Piazza San Marco, but it's on the far side of the city from the airport. The Alilaguna Blue line goes from the hotel to the airport, but it takes 1.5 hours. My return flight on Sunday leaves at 10 AM, and I would have to take the 6:40 boat to get to VCE at 8:09. As I'm not a morning person (bad enough that my outbound flight on Tuesday leaves at 5:50 AM
), I'm pretty sure that I'll bite the bullet and take a water taxi. The website of the Consorzio Motoscafi gave a quote of 107 euros. Presumably this cheaper than booking through the hotel? If I want to be at the airport at 8 AM, is half an hour enough from Zattere?
Going in the opposite direction, I arrive at VCE on Tuesday around 9 AM. While the Blue line is definitely an option I'm considering, I've read about the option of taking a shared water taxi service (e.g. the "shuttle" option on venicelink.com). This sounds like a good compromise between the water bus and a private water taxi. Does anyone have any experience using such services? The few reviews I could find online were generally positive, but some mentioned longish wait times for departure and last-minute substitutions for a van to Piazzale Roma + water taxi from there, especially on bad weather days, which would kinda defeat the purpose, since I could take a bus + vaporetto for a lot less, although I'd rather avoid the Piazzale Roma transfer with luggage.
This is my first time using VCE (last time I flew to and from Milan and took the train). I saw that there is an option to buy a fast track pass with entry to the Marco Polo lounge for 40 euros. How bad are security and exit immigration lines in the morning this time of year? Is the lounge in the Schengen area or is it ex-Schengen?
Lastly, I'd like to go on a day trip to Padova to see the Scrovegni Chapel, take the afternoon university tour, visit the church of St. Anthony and the Palazzo della Ragione. Thanks to the recent thread here about the Gambero Rosso awards for best pastry shops in Italy, I want to visit Pasticceria Biasetto, winner of Tre Torte. But before stuffing myself with pastries, does anyone have any recommendations for lunch in Padova? It doesn't necessarily have to be fancy, or even a big meal, just typical local food. Any local specialties to look for? Is Caffe Pedrocchi a good place to eat, or is it a tourist trap?
Thanks for your help!
You pretty much made this such a perfect trip that there is little more to add. No travel agent could do better than what you have done.
I completely get it about the morning person thing. My profession of 35 years is not divided into days and nights. I just woke up and saw that it was 5:15 on the stove, and I said to myself "great!." I waited for the sun to come up, and after a few hours when the sun didn't show up, I checked my computer, and realized it was 5:30 PM yesterday that I was living in. Now I have to wait for 5:30 AM, today. It probably makes no sense.
Zattere iis not my first choice in Venice, but it is my second choice. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that area. I studied at a school in the area that will be right behind you, and I rented an apartment there for the semester. The only mistake you could make would be to not eat cichetti at Cantina dei Schiavi. It will be almost right around the corner from you. They once held an international cichetti competition (I know it's not like everybody makes chiccetti, it's like the NY Yankees calling themselves the world champions, when almost nobody in the world plays baseball, they play soccer.), and this place won. I agree with it. The father passed away, but his wife survives, and his two sons are carrying on. Just walk out of your hotel's front door and turn right. You will get to a canal where you either turn right, or walk on the water. Turn right. Two minutes after that right, you will be at this place. I never, ever go to Venice without going there, even though I almost always stay on the polar opposite side of the city. I don't know your age, but also a fairly short walk away is Campo Santa Margherita. If there is a "happening" place in Venice, this is it. It is the only place with nightlife, although it is good all the time. Sometimes too much night life.
The exact name escapes me because most Italian cities have a street called lunga, but from Santa Magrherita is Calle Lunga San Barnaba, a street practically to and from your hotel and Margherita. There are a lot of restaurants on that street. All of them are great.
As for Padova, I just got off the phone (Skype) with a close friend in Padova, before I saw this. Although he is born and raised in Padova, his business is actually located in Japan, because the nightmare of the bureaucracy in Italy makes it too hard for him to start a business there, so he works out of Tokyo, but spends his summers and holidays back in Padova. I don't know the place that well. I can say that like all areas around a train station in Italy, it is very creepy. I do not have the appearance of an easy target, still I feel like it is "armor on" around that train station. Nothing has ever happened, that's just a feeling: don't stay near train stations in italy, and Padova is particularly creepy.
If you can walk a mile resolutely, you can get to any of the places on your list by foot. When you are done, to get from Scrovigni back to the train station you are probably going to need to activate your GPS, or just keep walking, or stop bar-to-bar asking for help. They will always help you, and even offer to call a taxi.
The boat services in Venice are what they are, nothing can be done about it except for obtaining a card that frequent visitors get, that doesn't seem to be up your alley.
Other than storms and unforeseen things, I don't know how anybody could have planned better than you have.
You cannot go to Pedrocchi and also have lunch. It's a great place, but you cannot eat the pastry and then have lunch. Hsve lunch and split a pastry, or vice versa.