Wondering the streets of Venice with the kids is really all the recommendations you need. This town is just magical. Every alley, every street is literally a tour-de-force of Italian culture. Every restaurant, even the ones that seem to be touristy, is so yummy, you start wondering if the food you had outside Venice, called Italian, is even worthy of the title.
Let's start with the hotel. The Hilton Molino Stucky Venice is a five-star hotel, located right at the outskirts of the city, on one of it's canals. The crown jewel of this hotel is most definitely it's beautiful, luxurious rooftop pool. Overlooking the city, the pool is the perfect desert for a long day of walking around a touring the town. My kids and I went there everyday and it was the perfect treat.
Touring the city was just nearly indescribable. Let's start with the museums. There is of course, the famous San Marco square, i.e. Piazza San Marco, which you cannot miss upon entering town. Once you leave the ferry that takes you from the hotel across the canal into town, you basically "land" in Piazza San Marco. The buildings around the square are the Doge's Palaca, the Basilica of San Marco, among others. We visited Doge's Palace, which is located at the eastern end of San Marco Square. It's glory and magnificent design are one of the symbols of Venice. It is a gothic style building. The Ducai Palace, in which the Doge is located, was once home to the doge and was the headquarters of the government and the court of justice in addition to the prison of the Republic of Venice. My kids were astonished not only by the grandness of the building but by its elaborate, gigantic court rooms and adjacent prison cells.
For us the Ducai Palace was a highlight. We visited a number of museums and galleries in addition to it. But this was the most memorable one of them. Another memorable museum was the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, with a wonderful display of modern art. The museum is the home of a great art collector and it is located on the Grand Canal between the Academia Bridge and The Church of Santa Maria Dell Salute. The museum also has a statue garden, called The Nasher Sculpture Collection.
A free, yet very artsy experience I highly recommend is walking into Ca Macana, the original Venice atelier that manufactures and sells original Venetian masks. Although there are vendors all over town that sell knock-off masks, this store offers something else. There are very few original, handmade mask shops in Venice, in general. Ca Macana, where we shopped for our original Venetian mask, is in itself more of an experience than it is a store. The display of different mask in this store is so wide, it is almost blinding really. They even did masks for a number of Hollywood blockbusters. I highly recommend a visit to one of the store's two locations.
Dining in Venice is an exquisite experience. There are cafes and restaurants all over the crowded streets, and we weren't disappointed in any of them. That being said, I do recommend asking the hotel for references as there is such a wide selection.
We enjoyed particularly the seafood and of course pasta and pizza. Do not skip the gelato, of course, either.
There was one experience that happened while we were in town that was a unique occurrence. I am referring the the annual Dolce and Gabbana runway show that took place while we were there. With Jlo in attendance and an array of models, the entire San Marco Piazza area was sealed off for an entire evening. It was quite the show in a city that is all show in the first place.
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