Business brought me to Venice, but pleasure made me stay. To celebrate our 20th annual conference, my company held its 2009 meeting at the glamorous Hotel Excelsior on Venice's Lido, where I had a suite overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Arriving with a few colleagues at Marco Polo airport, we took the expensive option of a private water taxi (€105) to the hotel, which has its own private lagoon. The Excelsior's grand Moorish style looked stunning in the glow of the Venetian sunshine, even though it revealed a more faded grandeur on closer inspection. On the Wednesday night of our arrival, there was an evening cocktail reception on the terrace followed by a boat trip under the Bridge of Sighs to the private landing of the Antico Pignolo restaurant, near Saint Mark's square. I ate melon & parma ham followed by sea bass, served by men in white coats with brass buttons, and chatted to some French businessmen about the joys of smoking while drinking Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Thursday was the start of the conference proper and an intense day of networking, but in the evening the whole group travelled by boat to the island of Torcello, to eat at the wonderful Locanda Cipriani (www.locandacipriani.com), where I ate melanzane parmigiana (aubergine parmesan) and then seafood risotto, washed down with several caraffes of Bardolino. On the way back to the boat, myself and a few other members of staff carried candles to lead the way along the narrow pathways to ensure that none of the delegates fell into the fluorescent green canals! Several beers in the hotel bar was our reward on returning that night.
Friday was the last day of the conference, with meetings in the morning and then awards in the afternoon, and after chomping a rack of lamb I presented the marketing award to the team behind Clamelle, a new OTC chlamydia treatment available in UK pharmacies. Before meeting Ruth, I did a quick guided city tour focusing on the Doge's Palace, and was fascinated by the prison cells from which the sighs used to emanate, giving the famous bridge its name. After saying farewell to my colleagues, I walked from Saint Mark's square with my suitcase, arriving in Campo Sant'Apostoli in the Jewish Quarter 20 minutes later. It was great to see Ruth totter round the corner as I waited for her outside our hotel, and the thought of taking off my suit, relaxing and enjoying Venice lifted my spirits. We'd booked in for 3 nights at B&B San Paolo (www.bedandbreakfastsanpaolo.net), which is in a great location just 5 mins from the Rialto bridge and a good budget option (€85 per night), although the free breakfast of cheese toasties and sugary snacks could do with rethinking - just some fruit or yoghurt would make it less calorific and dry. In any case, Friday night was loads of fun just wandering through the quiet canals and finding a cosy pizzeria, where Ruth had potato on pizza - a surprisingly good combo.
Saturday was a glorious day of sunshine, and so after a decent lie-in we headed to the Arsenale, where Venice's ships and armaments were built during its heyday in the 16th and 17th centuries to fight off enemies like the Turks. Not open to the public, it's still a stunning fortress from the outside, with huge stone lions everywhere to symbolise Saint Mark and the city's merchant and military pride. Then we sat down with an ice cream to look out over the lagoon and catch some sun, then strolled through the public gardens and then over to San Pietro island. Ruth was keen to take a vaporetto ride, so we jumped on the #42 back through the main lagoon via St. Mark's square and past Giudecca to the port, where the largest cruise liner I've ever seen - MSC Poesia - was docked. It apparently can hold a berth of 4,000. Anyway, we headed back to the Dorsoduro area on the vaporetto, and had another ice cream at Da Nico's - highly recommended. That night, we ate out near the Rialto at Trattoria Alla Madonna (www.ristoranteallamadonna.com), where we had to queue and watch the crazy, manic waiters argue and go about their business, before squeezing in to a table for 2. Seafood was the speciality here, so I opted for the local speciality of sarde in soar (marinated sardines) and then fried calamari, which were simple but delicious.
On Sunday, the weather took a turn for the worse, so I persuaded Ruth to take a trip to nearby Padua (being a little tired of the tourist hordes in Venice by this point) and so we headed off on the short 35-minute train trip. Padua is very pretty, like the Cambridge of Italy, famous for its university and with cyclists everywhere. That day there was a marathon in town, so getting around was eventful. Our first stop was the Scrovegni Chapel, where I managed to negotiate €5 (student!) discounts on both our tickets to see Giotto's masterpiece, depicting passages of the bible and his vision of Paradise in amazingly detailed 14th century frescoes. This was a highlight of the trip.
We then wandered round the gorgeous Prato della Valle, but as it was getting close to 3pm we needed a lunch stop and quick, and just made it in time for the end of the session at Ristorante Vecchio Falconiere on Via Umberto. No menus were offered as they only had Florentine steaks left, so we both duly obliged and were presented with the largest slabs of meat I've ever seen. This was accompanied by grilled vegetables and a bottle of Chianti for me, and Ruth somehow even finished her vast steak before me. It must be the pregnancy hormones! Anyway, all was dandy until the bill came - €115 for lunch, with the steaks priced at €45 (£40) each!! I somehow managed to negotiate €15 off the price for explaining we didn't know the cost before ordering, but it was still a whopper of a bill but nonetheless a very memorable and satisfying lunch. That night, we kept a low profile and went back to the hotel to digest our food. We were still digesting on the flight home Monday.
Thursday was the start of the conference proper and an intense day of networking, but in the evening the whole group travelled by boat to the island of Torcello, to eat at the wonderful Locanda Cipriani (www.locandacipriani.com), where I ate melanzane parmigiana (aubergine parmesan) and then seafood risotto, washed down with several caraffes of Bardolino. On the way back to the boat, myself and a few other members of staff carried candles to lead the way along the narrow pathways to ensure that none of the delegates fell into the fluorescent green canals! Several beers in the hotel bar was our reward on returning that night.
Friday was the last day of the conference, with meetings in the morning and then awards in the afternoon, and after chomping a rack of lamb I presented the marketing award to the team behind Clamelle, a new OTC chlamydia treatment available in UK pharmacies. Before meeting Ruth, I did a quick guided city tour focusing on the Doge's Palace, and was fascinated by the prison cells from which the sighs used to emanate, giving the famous bridge its name. After saying farewell to my colleagues, I walked from Saint Mark's square with my suitcase, arriving in Campo Sant'Apostoli in the Jewish Quarter 20 minutes later. It was great to see Ruth totter round the corner as I waited for her outside our hotel, and the thought of taking off my suit, relaxing and enjoying Venice lifted my spirits. We'd booked in for 3 nights at B&B San Paolo (www.bedandbreakfastsanpaolo.net), which is in a great location just 5 mins from the Rialto bridge and a good budget option (€85 per night), although the free breakfast of cheese toasties and sugary snacks could do with rethinking - just some fruit or yoghurt would make it less calorific and dry. In any case, Friday night was loads of fun just wandering through the quiet canals and finding a cosy pizzeria, where Ruth had potato on pizza - a surprisingly good combo.
Saturday was a glorious day of sunshine, and so after a decent lie-in we headed to the Arsenale, where Venice's ships and armaments were built during its heyday in the 16th and 17th centuries to fight off enemies like the Turks. Not open to the public, it's still a stunning fortress from the outside, with huge stone lions everywhere to symbolise Saint Mark and the city's merchant and military pride. Then we sat down with an ice cream to look out over the lagoon and catch some sun, then strolled through the public gardens and then over to San Pietro island. Ruth was keen to take a vaporetto ride, so we jumped on the #42 back through the main lagoon via St. Mark's square and past Giudecca to the port, where the largest cruise liner I've ever seen - MSC Poesia - was docked. It apparently can hold a berth of 4,000. Anyway, we headed back to the Dorsoduro area on the vaporetto, and had another ice cream at Da Nico's - highly recommended. That night, we ate out near the Rialto at Trattoria Alla Madonna (www.ristoranteallamadonna.com), where we had to queue and watch the crazy, manic waiters argue and go about their business, before squeezing in to a table for 2. Seafood was the speciality here, so I opted for the local speciality of sarde in soar (marinated sardines) and then fried calamari, which were simple but delicious.
On Sunday, the weather took a turn for the worse, so I persuaded Ruth to take a trip to nearby Padua (being a little tired of the tourist hordes in Venice by this point) and so we headed off on the short 35-minute train trip. Padua is very pretty, like the Cambridge of Italy, famous for its university and with cyclists everywhere. That day there was a marathon in town, so getting around was eventful. Our first stop was the Scrovegni Chapel, where I managed to negotiate €5 (student!) discounts on both our tickets to see Giotto's masterpiece, depicting passages of the bible and his vision of Paradise in amazingly detailed 14th century frescoes. This was a highlight of the trip.
We then wandered round the gorgeous Prato della Valle, but as it was getting close to 3pm we needed a lunch stop and quick, and just made it in time for the end of the session at Ristorante Vecchio Falconiere on Via Umberto. No menus were offered as they only had Florentine steaks left, so we both duly obliged and were presented with the largest slabs of meat I've ever seen. This was accompanied by grilled vegetables and a bottle of Chianti for me, and Ruth somehow even finished her vast steak before me. It must be the pregnancy hormones! Anyway, all was dandy until the bill came - €115 for lunch, with the steaks priced at €45 (£40) each!! I somehow managed to negotiate €15 off the price for explaining we didn't know the cost before ordering, but it was still a whopper of a bill but nonetheless a very memorable and satisfying lunch. That night, we kept a low profile and went back to the hotel to digest our food. We were still digesting on the flight home Monday.
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