Sensational Serenade 12 night Med with Venice overnight and Montenegro Review.

[windjamming]

BAHAHAHAA

Windjamming that has given me the biggest laugh in quite some time. Thank you :D

 

:D We all need a laugh occasionally! Hope you enjoy your week away, and we look forward to the continued adventures!

[Irish Cath]

Thank you one and all for the well wishes. I'm back and of course have a million and one things to catch up on and an extremely busy week ahead of me but i'm putting this review as a priority! It's been dragging on for long enough now.

Of course I have a lot of reading to catch up on from the other wonderful reviews currently in progress so the laundry will just have to wait :D

 

More to come soon .....

[JimAOk1945]

You're back! I'm looking forward to the rest of your review!

[windjamming]

Thank you one and all for the well wishes. I'm back and of course have a million and one things to catch up on and an extremely busy week ahead of me but i'm putting this review as a priority! It's been dragging on for long enough now.

Of course I have a lot of reading to catch up on from the other wonderful reviews currently in progress so the laundry will just have to wait :D

 

More to come soon .....

 

Yay, you're back !! Looking forward to reading more!

 

PS: Had a meeting with someone named Gerry today. Took a lot of effort to not call him "Grrr" :)

[Irish Cath]

We strolled along the now much quieter streets as dusk fell and wandered aimlessly for some time.

 

Tempting as we strolled along but I resisted.

 

The blistering afternoon sun was now disappearing.

 

Not wanting our evening in Venice to end we decided to venture into a little osteria which from the outside looked pretty lively as, although it was a Tuesday evening, now sometime around 9p.m there was a small crowd of locals outside. We were welcomed into Ae Force like old friends and we settled into or should I say onto the only 2 bar stools in this little bar. Located on Calle Bande Castello if you ever find yourself in Venice of a warm Summer’s evening with an hour or two to spare and you’re looking for a decent drink at reasonable prices well then you have to seek this place out. The owner Francesco was the loveliest of guys and I don’t think it’s any real secret that some Venetians can be ambivalent to tourists. Francesco and Ger had a good half hour conversation about local wines, he even told him not to bother with an expensive sparkling glass and steered him towards a cheaper Prosecco that was spot on. Kissing and hugging our new best friends we stumbled out of there a good two hours later. I had three glasses of Aperol spritz (my new absolutely favourite drink) and Ger had I believe three glasses of varying wines/ Prosecco. The grand total was €16.50. This blew me away, I so expected the bill to be at least double that.

 

My spritz inside the wonderful Ae Force

 

 

Now full of confidence in our orienteering skills we made our way back to St Marks in just a few minutes and what awaited us completely blew me away!

[JimAOk1945]

It's great to have you back! I'm looking forward to the rest of your amazing review and pictures.

[Irish Cath]

It's great to have you back! I'm looking forward to the rest of your amazing review and pictures.

 

Thanks so much Jim. And thanks to anyone else that has waited patiently for me to reappear! Hopefully posts will be at a slightly faster rate than one every three weeks from now on :o

[Irish Cath]

Upon entering St Marks from a side labyrinth our senses were reawakened. An orchestra played Vivaldi in the distance and street artists entertained the now much smaller crowds. Although the air still hung muggy around us the temperature was much more pleasant at this hour and the glistening glowing lights of the square is an image of Venice I will always hold dear.

My pictures of the square are far from perfect but as words can really not describe the beauty of that night I hope they will give you some small idea of how wonderful it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we knew the vaporetto service was reduced at this time of night we begrudgingly made our way to the closest boat stop. We did have approximately a 20 minute wait but as it was close to midnight this was expected. Again we sat outside in the stern, completely alone this time for most of the journey. Lanterns glistening against the water as we glided along under the stars and moon light, who needs a gondola ride, with my loves shoulder to rest upon this was as romantic as it could get for me.

 

Towards the Vaporetto stop

 

 

Disembarking the vaporetto in Piazzale Roma we crossed the square and had an experience similar to that of Cool Mom and Crazy Girl in Rome – the entrance to the people mover had disappeared! We searched high and low, around corners and under bridges but nope it was nowhere to be found. Luckily I had guzzled a large amount of alcohol or I may have been worried. We could see the tracks of the people mover high above us but couldn’t figure out how to get at it. Clearly our ridiculous carry on did not go unnoticed. A gentleman asked us if we were looking for the people mover – well yes actually we are where have they moved it to in the last few hours I enquired. It seems that the people mover closes around 11 p.m and we didn’t recognise the station entrance with the shutters down. Oh how stupid some tourists are! So we had no option but to set off walking using the tracks above us as a guide back to the port. This area of town is very different than the tourist hot spots and although I’m sure it’s perfectly safe looking back now I think that if it wasn’t for the previously mentioned beverages I may have been panicking a little right about now. With the help of a security guard at a car park we found our way back and think we encountered just one other couple. We composed ourselves for the passport check and were glad to get back to the air conditioned interior of the ship. Pretty exhausted we fell straight into bed looking forward to another day in Venice tomorrow.

[JimAOk1945]

It's great to see a continuation of your review. You certainly have a wonderful way of putting your experience into descriptive captions for your pictures. Keep up the good work!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:eek:Oh my God! Those night pictures of St. Marks are magical! I'm so jealous! Now I definitely know that I need to return to Venice ... just to explore it at night. Thank you so much for continuing the review!!!! Whoohoo! Anxiously awaiting the next post:)!

 

Stef

[pattle66]

I'm enjoying your review but I am anxious for you to finish! We leave on the 1st November for our Med cruise on Splendour and I am enjoying reading all the reviews and getting hints and tips along the way. Do you think you will finish in the next 2 weeks. Cheeky, I know :p

[Irish Cath]

:eek:Oh my God! Those night pictures of St. Marks are magical! I'm so jealous! Now I definitely know that I need to return to Venice ... just to explore it at night. Thank you so much for continuing the review!!!! Whoohoo! Anxiously awaiting the next post:)!

 

Stef

 

Thanks so much Stef, I am actually delighted with those pictures. Considering they were taken by a slightly inebriated lady with a lens stuck to her phone I think they look pretty ok :D

 

Yes you really must see Venice by night, it is just such a different place than during the day time. But hey at least you have experienced it at night time for about an hour if I remember correctly - i'd take a romantic hour in Venice than an hour in most other places any day !

 

Oh - did you see the football last night ? we left it late but boy were the whole island of Ireland screaming with delight at their TV's in the 90 minute :D

[Irish Cath]

I'm enjoying your review but I am anxious for you to finish! We leave on the 1st November for our Med cruise on Splendour and I am enjoying reading all the reviews and getting hints and tips along the way. Do you think you will finish in the next 2 weeks. Cheeky, I know :p

 

OHHHH MAN - the pressure ;) Promise i'l try to hurry.

Glad you are enjoying the review and I sincerely hope there is some small part of it that will be of some help. I certainly have gotten so much helpful information from here on CC I really hope I can return the favour.

 

What are your ports of call ? I have Venice, Ravenna and Kotor to finish. Sorry I won't have a chance to post tonight but soon..........

[windjamming]

Upon entering St Marks from a side labyrinth our senses were reawakened. An orchestra played Vivaldi in the distance and street artists entertained the now much smaller crowds. Although the air still hung muggy around us the temperature was much more pleasant at this hour and the glistening glowing lights of the square is an image of Venice I will always hold dear.

 

I love this paragraph. You've described Venice so perfectly. It's so much more than a place. It's an entire experience, in and for every sense.

 

Thanks again for continuing your review, Irish Cath. You really have a lovely way with words!

[xrayvin]

I love your review so far!!

Just wondering if you went anywhere in Venice for a glass of wine/tapas?

We are thinking about doing an giro d’ombra ( fancy way of saying pub crawl) I have read Harry's is a great bar but expensive. Just trying to find great places to stroll through on our overnight in Venice!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Irish Cath]

I love your review so far!!

Just wondering if you went anywhere in Venice for a glass of wine/tapas?

We are thinking about doing an giro d’ombra ( fancy way of saying pub crawl) I have read Harry's is a great bar but expensive. Just trying to find great places to stroll through on our overnight in Venice!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hi xrayvin

 

We absolutely did partake in some glasses of wine and cicchetti - if you refer back to page 10 post number 196 you will see it all there. Its a fabulous way to spend the evening in Venice. Although we've never been to Harry's bar I would imagine its less authentic to some of the other places in less touristy spots.

Where ever you decide to go i'm sure you'l have a great time.

[scrappylenore]

Upon entering St Marks from a side labyrinth our senses were reawakened. An orchestra played Vivaldi in the distance and street artists entertained the now much smaller crowds. Although the air still hung muggy around us the temperature was much more pleasant at this hour and the glistening glowing lights of the square is an image of Venice I will always hold dear.

My pictures of the square are far from perfect but as words can really not describe the beauty of that night I hope they will give you some small idea of how wonderful it was.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we knew the vaporetto service was reduced at this time of night we begrudgingly made our way to the closest boat stop. We did have approximately a 20 minute wait but as it was close to midnight this was expected. Again we sat outside in the stern, completely alone this time for most of the journey. Lanterns glistening against the water as we glided along under the stars and moon light, who needs a gondola ride, with my loves shoulder to rest upon this was as romantic as it could get for me.

 

Towards the Vaporetto stop

 

 

Disembarking the vaporetto in Piazzale Roma we crossed the square and had an experience similar to that of Cool Mom and Crazy Girl in Rome – the entrance to the people mover had disappeared! We searched high and low, around corners and under bridges but nope it was nowhere to be found. Luckily I had guzzled a large amount of alcohol or I may have been worried. We could see the tracks of the people mover high above us but couldn’t figure out how to get at it. Clearly our ridiculous carry on did not go unnoticed. A gentleman asked us if we were looking for the people mover – well yes actually we are where have they moved it to in the last few hours I enquired. It seems that the people mover closes around 11 p.m and we didn’t recognise the station entrance with the shutters down. Oh how stupid some tourists are! So we had no option but to set off walking using the tracks above us as a guide back to the port. This area of town is very different than the tourist hot spots and although I’m sure it’s perfectly safe looking back now I think that if it wasn’t for the previously mentioned beverages I may have been panicking a little right about now. With the help of a security guard at a car park we found our way back and think we encountered just one other couple. We composed ourselves for the passport check and were glad to get back to the air conditioned interior of the ship. Pretty exhausted we fell straight into bed looking forward to another day in Venice tomorrow.

 

OMG Irish Kath, I could have written this post exactly just changing the time looking for the entrance to the People Mover to 10:45 last week. We could not figure it out to save our lives since we thought it would still be running but no luck. The gates were closed and we could not figure out why we could not find the entrance. It was like it disappeared - no signs no nothing! We too wandered over to the car park and asked the security guard how to get back and encountered another couple that we helped figure it out. That was some hot, long walk back to the ship as our ship was parked in the farthest slip.

[xrayvin]

Thank you! I am not sure what happened I missed several pages and pg 10 was one of them.

 

I am going back right now and reading it!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Thanks so much Stef, I am actually delighted with those pictures. Considering they were taken by a slightly inebriated lady with a lens stuck to her phone I think they look pretty ok :D

 

Yes you really must see Venice by night, it is just such a different place than during the day time. But hey at least you have experienced it at night time for about an hour if I remember correctly - i'd take a romantic hour in Venice than an hour in most other places any day !

 

Oh - did you see the football last night ? we left it late but boy were the whole island of Ireland screaming with delight at their TV's in the 90 minute :D

 

Lol -- yeah, we were there at night...but the one measly hour included the way back to the port -- like you did -- over that bridge...and we only made it to the very beginning of the Canale Grande to sit on some steps with a tiny botte of screw top wine :rolleyes:. I think it really doesn't count.

 

Yep, saw parts of the game...not much though. Lol -- but the first person I thought of, when I heard they evened out was you:D -- as a representative of all of Ireland of course -- no pressure:D. Good game!

 

Stef

[Irish Cath]

OMG Irish Kath, I could have written this post exactly just changing the time looking for the entrance to the People Mover to 10:45 last week. We could not figure it out to save our lives since we thought it would still be running but no luck. The gates were closed and we could not figure out why we could not find the entrance. It was like it disappeared - no signs no nothing! We too wandered over to the car park and asked the security guard how to get back and encountered another couple that we helped figure it out. That was some hot, long walk back to the ship as our ship was parked in the farthest slip.

 

lol oh scrappylenore that's great to here. Not that you couldn't find the people mover but that we aren't the only silly looking tourists!! But it REALLY was like it disappeared. It sure was a long walk and after all of the liquid I had swallowed no surprises that I was running back to find the nearest restroom :eek::o

[Irish Cath]

I love this paragraph. You've described Venice so perfectly. It's so much more than a place. It's an entire experience, in and for every sense.

 

Thanks again for continuing your review, Irish Cath. You really have a lovely way with words!

 

Thank you Windjamming, you're very kind. I don't think i'm the greatest writer out there but its such fun reliving it and can also offer an escape from every day life! Anyway, I love knowing that my effort is appreciated so thanks again for taking the time to post :)

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for continuing your pictorial review. I'm eagerly looking forward to the next part about Kotor!

[Irish Cath]

So, as I have already disclosed in an earlier post I had paid just €2 each on Veneto Inside to skip the line at St Mark’s Cathedral some weeks before we left for the trip. How great does that sound, walking straight past the long line of tourists standing in the blistering sun and going straight in, the only prerequisite was that we needed to be there 10 minutes before our allocated slot. Fantastic. I was secretly very delighted with myself for finding this website. Just a shame we’ll never know how it would have worked out! Why I hear you ask, well of course because we decided that this would be a good morning to be extremely lazy and sleep until 8.30 a.m. I did momentarily have a meltdown about neither of us setting an alarm or arranging a room service breakfast but soon got over it. I guess that’s the price you have to pay for a pretty perfect night out in Venice. Our initial reaction was to panic – I jumped into the shower and Ger ran and got us 2 coffees and some fruit but by the time I was finished and he had returned it was heading for 9a.m so we agreed there was no way we would be in St Mark’s Square in just 50 minutes. So we halted the panic and prepared ourselves at a more leisurely pace. By the time we had gotten out of the terminal, walked to the people mover, got the people mover to Piazzale Roma, got our tickets and waited for the Vaporetto it was getting close to 10a.m anyway. I felt a little ridiculous but hey we were in Venice and surely nothing else could go wrong today!

[JimAOk1945]

I felt a little ridiculous but hey we were in Venice and surely nothing else could go wrong today!

 

Don't leave us hanging! :eek: What happened? :D

[denisey]

So, as I have already disclosed in an earlier post I had paid just €2 each on Veneto Inside to skip the line at St Mark’s Cathedral some weeks before we left for the trip. How great does that sound, walking straight past the long line of tourists standing in the blistering sun and going straight in, the only prerequisite was that we needed to be there 10 minutes before our allocated slot. Fantastic. I was secretly very delighted with myself for finding this website. Just a shame we’ll never know how it would have worked out! Why I hear you ask, well of course because we decided that this would be a good morning to be extremely lazy and sleep until 8.30 a.m. I did momentarily have a meltdown about neither of us setting an alarm or arranging a room service breakfast but soon got over it. I guess that’s the price you have to pay for a pretty perfect night out in Venice. Our initial reaction was to panic – I jumped into the shower and Ger ran and got us 2 coffees and some fruit but by the time I was finished and he had returned it was heading for 9a.m so we agreed there was no way we would be in St Mark’s Square in just 50 minutes. So we halted the panic and prepared ourselves at a more leisurely pace. By the time we had gotten out of the terminal, walked to the people mover, got the people mover to Piazzale Roma, got our tickets and waited for the Vaporetto it was getting close to 10a.m anyway. I felt a little ridiculous but hey we were in Venice and surely nothing else could go wrong today!

 

Ooooooh Nooooo! Well, we decided to book the advance entry tickets for our trip in May anyway (and set an alarm!) I'll update you then on how it worked and I do appreciate the tip.

 

We also booked a nighttime photography tour of Venice. Love your evening pictures!