Journey Across Italy- Day 11 a little but mostly 12
Day 11/12- Thursday December 29th & Friday December 30th
Our appointment to see The Last Supper was at 4pm on Thursday so we slept in, did a little shopping and walking around. After our viewing we drove to Verona and spent the night there so we could wake up close to our wine tasting in the Valpolicella region. We had the entire winery to ourselves (its not exactly high season) so got very personalized attention from our host, Alberto. The winery was called Fratelli Vogadori, or Brothers Vogadori, for the family who owns and operates it. They make very small batch wine with an emphasis on quality and it shows. Alberto, one of the three titular bothers, introduced us to 5 varieties of wine, an alcohol free children’s wine, olive oil and finally grappa- all produced on site. We loved them all but their specialty, the Amarone Grazie, was my personal favorite. We purchased a mix of bottles to take with us on the road (including one of the grappa) and ordered some more shipped home.
The wine tasting was in the countryside town of Negrar, the heart of the historic area of Valpolicella. We had intended to go back into Verona for lunch but Alberto recommended a local restaunt just 5 minutes away and it was perfect (see my duck ragu below).
After lunch we we began the process of getting to Venice and specifically, Murano Island, where our hotel was located. Venice and it’s surrounding Islands are car free- famously everyone gets around by boat. There is a transportation hub on the mainland just across from Venice, however, where we could park our rental cars and walk to the docks. We had arranged a private water taxi ahead of time (as opposed to using the boat “metro” system). The taxi took us to a dock on the backside of the gorgeous NH Hotel, my personal favorite of the entire trip.
After checkin we walked for a bit around Murano to get the lay of the land- there was hardly anyone around and it really felt like we had the entire island to ourselves. We couldn’t go too far before it got dark though, so most of our Venice pictures will have to wait for tomorrow- New Years eve!
Hotel In Verona: Crowne Plaza
Winery: Fratelli Vogadori
Lunch near the Winery: Trattoria Alla Porchetta
Hotel on Murano Island: NH Collection Venezia Murano Villa
I just loved the snails on this building :-)
Our lunch chef made the girls pizza into a heart!
A sweet shop in Milan.
I took a lot of pictures of beautiful old buildings, many of which I have no idea what they are or used for but it felt wonderful to be surrounded by such artistic and historic architecture all the time.
We grabbed a little nosh before our viewing of the Last Supper.
The next day- wine tasting room! Alberto said in the summer its packed but just us on that chilly, foggy morning.
Our wine selections.
The fog finally lifted enough to take some pictures.
My tagliatelle with duck ragu.
Rest stop on the way to Venice- we never lacked for sweets on this trip.
Another little treat at the rest stop.
On the steps of our hotel on Murano Island.
Hotel Lobby
A memorial to the fallen soldiers of WWI on Murano.
The Basilica del Santi Maria e Donato- the primary church on the island.
A small chapel in the basilica.
The view right outside our hotel.
This is the main lobby entrance to our hotel, as viewed from across the canal.
