Lovers' Escape to Venice and Verona Tour

In the morning, the Rialto Market returns to life as vendors open their stalls to passersby. The bright produce comes from the island of Sant’Erasmo, which is dedicated to the cultivation of fruit and vegetables for the consumption of the Lagoon islands. Tomatoes shine ruby red and eggplants glow a deep purple. Patrons of the Rialto Market crowd around the fish stalls, which display goods from the lagoon valley ponds, including crabs and gobies. After breakfast, you venture to the edge of the Grand Canal to witness the parade preceding the famous Regata Storica.

The canal erupts with color in the form of parade floats drifting down the water. The entire community gets involved, decorating the windows of shops and houses with balloons. Gondoliers row along the water highlighting colorful seasonal produce. Spectators watch from the around the Rialto Bridge. The lavish 16th-century boats with gondoliers draped in period costumes harken back to the opulence of an empire. The race began in the mid 13th century as part of a different festival, but soon focused on the importance of oarsmen in the maritime power of the Venetian Republic. The most popular race today is the gondolini, when gondoliers compete for the fastest times.

When the race begins, the crowd roars with excitement. You couldn’t have picked a better time to experience the true culture of a Venetian tradition. Each gondola is painted a different color, and the gondoliers wear sashes corresponding with the hue of their boat. The rope drops in front of Sant’Elena Gardens. The gondoliers paddle across the canal, turning around at the post driven into the center of the Grand Canal in front of the railway station. When the leader crosses the elaborately decorated floating platform at Ca’Foscari, the race is over.

The trendy boutique shops of Venice open near the Rialto Bridge along the Mercerie. The shops fill their windows with lavish displays, including decadent bakeries turning pastries into art. At breakfast, you balance the flaky texture and sweet flavor of a fresh brioche with the bittersweet richness of a frothy cappuccino. After the meal, you venture to a historic mask making store to learn about the history of the Venetian tradition, which dates back to the 14th century and the Commedia dell’ Arte. Masks fill the store windows of souvenir shops across the city, but none are as vibrant or indicative of the self-expression of each mask than at the workshop in which you meet your instructor.

The different types of masks represent the various characters of the productions, from comedy to tragedy, each containing a stock character known to the audience by the mask that actor wore. After the history of the artwork, your instructor has you choose your style along with your decorative materials, from Indian ink to gold leaf. By the end of the class, you have crafted a mask representing both Venetian tradition and your personal taste. The unique world of Venice’s Carnivale opens up to you during the mask making. Once your instruction is complete, you board a private vaporetto to reach Lido, the first beach resort in Europe. The art nouveau buildings accentuate the beauty of the white sand beaches.

The 17th-century façade of Ca’ Pesaro glints with marble columns wrapping around the second and third stories. The first floor contains a series of arches adhering to a chiaroscuro motif. The beauty of Venice is inherent in the architectural embellishments as well as its traditions. After breakfast, you search for a deeper connection to the traditions of the Venetian lagoon by making your way across the water to the famous island of Murano. The glass furnaces were moved to the island in the late 13th century to protect the main city of Venice from fires.

The glassmakers gained prominence with their artistic works with some even rising to a noble status. The workshops and stores line the main canal looking out to the water. The smaller canals crisscrossing the inland banks lead to pastel-painted homes and quiet cobblestone streets lined with moored boats. Display windows turn into ornaments of glass, from fine china to trinkets, vases to chandeliers. Step into the Murano Glass Museum, an often-overlooked gem of history and beauty located inside the 17th-century Palazzo Giustinian.

The collection ranges from 20th-century glasswork back to antiquity, including a set of Roman glass that once held perfume. The exhibits take you on a tour, not just through the glassmaking process, but also along the change in artistic styles over time. The 12th century Veneto-Byzantine basilica is located near the museum and contains remarkable mosaics decorating the apse, including a Madonna framed by a gold background. Wander along the side streets and canals away from the main waterway to find hidden workshops with artists happy to show you their glassblowing technique.

In the morning, the gondolas return to the waterways of the city, traversing the narrow canals. The excitement from your first morning of watching them race has waned, replaced by the graceful calm of the gondolier’s gentle paddling. After breakfast, your guide leads you on a tour of the botanical gardens of the city. The first of the public gardens was established in the 14th century and grew to an alleged 500 gardens by the 18th century. The quiet park in the Castello neighborhood contains the paths decorated with gravel and shaded lanes filled with the aroma of oak trees.

The glass greenhouse, known as La Serra del Giardini, was erected in the 19th century and embodies the lavish greenery of the former noble gardens with plants from around the world. You venture outside of Venice for a visit to the Villa Pisani, located on the banks of the Brenta Canal. Noble families once built their estates along the waterway due to its proximity to Venice and how the canal connected the city of Padua to the Venetian lagoon. The grandeur of the villa is apparent immediately. It contains 144 rooms and a national museum specializing in 18th and 19th-century art and furniture.

There are nearly 30 rooms on the first floor, each filled with unforgettable frescoes and the original furniture of the villa’s first inhabitants. The opulence of the ballroom easily enchants you with its rococo trompe l’oeil painting on the ceiling. The fresco depicts the Pisani family in great detail resting on pink clouds. The three-dimensional technique draws the family closer to you as the background of pure blue sky reaches back. In the garden, you can wander along the dense maze, distinctive for its wisteria covered passageways and challenging routes.

In the morning, the cafes along the narrow side canals set out tables and chairs beneath the shade of large umbrellas. The aroma of rich espresso drifts out of the café doors and mingles with the fresh water of the lagoon. After breakfast, you meet your guide on the private dock of your hotel and board the vaporetto, ready to experience the history and opulence of the Grand Canal. The boat takes you to the palace of Ca’ Rezzonico, a marvelous Baroque structure erected in the 17th century under the patronage of the Bon family. The marble façade faces the water with a recessed portico on the ground floor.

Enter the stunning palace to find a marble staircase leading to the ballrooms glinting with gold. A magnificent fresco decorates the ceiling depicting Merit reaching the Temple of Glory while clutching a book of names, which represents Venetian noble families. The Vedutisti Gallery on the top floor offers stunning views of Venice with the Grand Canal sweeping more than two and a half miles across homes, palaces, and churches. Step back aboard your private boat and continue your discovery of the art of Venice hidden inside the architectural splendor of the Palazzo Grassi, a Palace with Baroque and Classical decorative features.

Today you have the splendor of Venice at your whim and pleasure. At breakfast, you can linger under the shade of an umbrella and watch the boats glide down the Grand Canal. After your meal, you could spend the day wandering the labyrinthine streets of the city or take an island tour across the lagoon to visit Sant’Erasmo. You could also venture to Padua and enjoy a cruise down the Brenta Canal, stopping to visit the lavish villas en route back to Venice.

You return to St. Mark’s Square for a private tour of the Doge’s Palace, the seat of power and the residence of the Doge. The building in its current iteration was erected in the 14th century and overlooks the Piazzetta with an elegant façade of pink Verona marble supported by slender Istrian marble columns. Sculptures and carved capitals decorated the façade overlooking the Grand Canal and the small square alongside the palace.

The main entrance contains a stunning example of Venetian Gothic architecture embellished with allegorical figures, along with an image of the Doge Francesco Foscari kneeling beside an open book and the Lion of St. Mark. Your guide leads you beyond the normal tour of the palace and through the secret chambers and passageways of the palace. Ascend the stairs to the Inquisitor’s Chamber, where three magistrates of the Venetian government used to meet. You can imagine the government officials discussing ways to protect state secrets beneath the gorgeous frescoes adorning the ceiling, each painted by Tintoretto.

The beauty of Venice is equaled only by the splendor of the surrounding region of Veneto, stretching from the edge of the Adriatic Sea to the foothills of the Dolomites and Italian Alps. In the morning, you leave behind the marbled palaces and soft tones of historic churches around the city and travel north to the Palladian style of the Villa Barbaro. Romans erected estates in the region as early as the 3rd century BC. The tradition of opulent architecture and décor has continued for more than two millennia. The villa was built in the 16th century and remains a monument to the elegant lifestyles of Venetian nobility. The famed architect Andrea Palladio designed the structure with trompe l’oeil interior.

The interior contains a sense of whimsical allure with paintings connoting beauty and a sense of humor. In the grand salon, a fresco contains an image of the painter’s spattered shoes and cleaning broom, which stand out from the work done on the wall. In the Stanza di Cantuccio, you find a watchful dog guarding the painted door. The winemaking scenes in the Room of Bacchus offer a glimpse into the vineyards encircling the villa, except the walls are actually covered in frescoes resembling windows to the countryside.

Your guide leads you through the vines following the stunning tour of the interior to discover the different types of grapes grown on the land utilized since the beginnings of the estate. The grounds contain almost 570 acres of Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, and Prosecco. After touring the winemaking process, your guide leads you into the tasting room, which offers a rustic atmosphere complimenting the lavish villa. The last glass your guide pours contains the Prosecco produced on the property, which is a grape famous in the region for its use in sparkling wine. The effervescent qualities offer a crisp, citrusy aroma with lingering traces of melon.

The captivating city of Verona crosses over the banks of the Adige River. The Roman amphitheater edges the Piazza Bra and continues to support up to 22,000 spectators a year in the original stadium seating during the annual summer opera festival. Brightly painted buildings line the main street leading to Piazza delle Erbe. In the morning, café tables border the square providing a view to the morning produce market and 14th-century fountain of the Madonna di Verona, which an ancient marble statue adorns.

Your guide meets you in the lobby to escort you through the history and unique culture of the city, distinctive in its Roman beginnings, the power struggle of the Middle Ages, and prominent reputation as a city of lovers, as given by Romantics in the 19th century based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The true heritage of the city takes you beyond the home of Juliet Capulet and over the Ponte Scaligero, a 14th-century bridge in which locals enjoy daily strolls.

The bridge leads to the impressive 14th century walls of the Castelvecchio. The Scaligeri family erected the castle as a sign of wealth and protection. The stone contains a rosy, golden hue in the passing daylight. The main tower looks over the bridge and the city, offering a panorama of the hills on the horizon. In the charming church of Santa Maria Antica, the Gothic tombs of the Scala family overshadow the beauty of the 12th century structure. You find the figures of the former Veronese ruling family cast in full armor with the family crest of a ladder adorning the marble tombs.

In the morning, the various coffee shops of Verona open their doors to the emerging business people and students of the city. The aroma of rich espresso and frothy cappuccino begins to drift along the streets near the Roman amphitheater. The Romanesque style of the 12th-century basilica hides a 15th-century Gothic nave. Two paladins crafted in the mid 12th century flank the main portico. Red marble pillars cast a striking image against the marble choir screen. The immaculate design is treasured as much for its simplicity as for its lavishness. Your private transfer greets you in the hotel lobby when you’re ready and escorts you to Verona Villafranca Airport for your flight home.