Just catching-up after the holiday…We had a great time in Italy. Everything worked out smoothly and the itinerary was the right pace for us. It was my first time driving in Europe but my wife and I were able to find our way with little difficulty, mostly because she navigated.
Our red eye flight to Venice was hard but it got us there on time and we really enjoyed the water taxi arrangement and were able to easily get to our hotel. Barbara at the hotel was very nice as was Sunil and we enjoyed our stay there.
One of the highlights of our trip was on the first night when we attended a rowing lesson with Row Venice an organization that is trying to preserve traditional Venetian rowing. It was great fun and a fantastic way to visit the city. The following day we visited some of the other islands and had a wonderful lunch of seafood in Burano, I think at one of the restaurants you recommended.
After that we visited the Doge’s Palace. The tour you had arranged worked well. We did not have any problems finding the meeting point and the docent was very knowledgeable. It was also nice to be in a smaller group. Barbara was nice enough to help us get our tickets for San Marco, which allowed us to avoid the long ones.
Then we took the car and headed towards the estate in Valpollicella. We stopped in Soave on the way and spent a nice few hours visiting to old walled city. We did not make it to the park as we were having challenges with the directions. There seem to be more than one place that shows up in Google when searching that name. Our stay was very nice also. I would say our cooking lesson, tour and wine tasting was another highlight of the trip. We enjoyed walking around the estate and the neighbouring villages. We did go to Sirmione and enjoyed the visit on a hot and sunny day.
We then went to the castle that you booked for us, which is an experience onto itself. We enjoyed the hotel and the facilities and spend a good part of sunday in the spa where I was treated for my birthday. We would have liked to visit one or two of Proseco wineries but, contrary to what the hotel staff had advised, tours are only available by reservation or on weekends. So, we spent some time on the Prosecco road and visited the ancient mill in Refrontolo and Fregonia Grotto, which were well worth the visit and interesting.
The next day, we went to Cortina by the back roads and reached the hotel early enough for lunch in the village. We enjoyed visiting Cortina and watching all the shopping going on there. Everyone at Hotel in Cortina was very nice and we had a nice stay there.
Our guided hike around Tre Cime was another highlight of the visit. We could have managed well on our own but it was very relaxing to know Mauro was taking care of everything. It was also nice meeting him as he is a remarkable young man and truly passionate about the mountains. As you suggested, we visited Asolo on the way to Caorle.
I found Asolo quite nice and certainly worth the detour. We ended-up parking in the town square and having lunch nearby and then visiting the surrounding area by foot. We made it to Caorle in good time. We found the hotel location was a very good one but our room was small and the shower was very tight. I guess that is just the way it is there. It was a good experience to go to a touristy place like Caorle. Although it is not my kind of place it was nice to have a day to put our feet up before heading back. I previously explained how the diner resolved itself.
So all in all a wonderful trip. Thanks again for helping us on such short timeframe.