Itinerary
Last Updated: April 19, 2012
This itinerary will change slightly as we settle on dates and may be subject to change in Italy as a result of weather, local festivals, strikes, and so forth. Once afternoon assignments are complete, students may have the rest of the day free. However, every evening the entire class is required to regroup at a pre-arranged time and place to debrief and discuss; sometimes this will occur before dinner and sometimes over a group dinner. Nights are free, but be warned that we’ll be up early the next day! Itinerary-related FAQ at bottom of page.
Travel Itinerary: (tentative)
Day 1: Sunday, May 19 We leave from LAX and spend a lot of time in the air.
Arrive in the evening and settle into Palazzo degli Angeli (S. Angelo vaporetto stop).
• Finish “Hunt 9: Where Have You Seen…” by the end of the trip.
• Find rooms, snack, talk, and hit the sack.
Day 3: Tuesday, May 21
| Today’s Journal Assignment: In several paragraphs, record your first impressions of your new tourist home. Feel free to sketch, write a poem, or write in prose. Do not tell us what you did — tell us how you felt about what you did. |
Morning Mission:
• Up early in the morning to visit the Basilica di San Marco (line up at 9 a.m.; basilica opens at 9:45 a.m., about 1 hour). Remember, bare shoulders, stomachs, and/or knees are not
permitted in the basilica.
• Visit the Palazzo Ducale (paid: use Musei ticket).
• Conduct “Hunt 5: Doge’s Palace” from Venetian Hunts & Puzzles.
Afternoon Art:
• Lunch together.
• Group gondola ride. Paid.
• Go grocery shopping together — buy whatever you plan to cook/eat during your stay.
Evening Event:
• Regroup & discuss.
• Grade Hunt 5.
• Dinner together at Rossa Rossa, if reservations can be made (paid).
Day 4: Wednesday, May 22
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Reflect on Venice as a mercantile capital and the site of The Merchant of Venice. Sketch, paint, write a poem, or photograph some aspect of this myth of Venice and discuss it in your journal. Emphasize commerce rather than the experience of tourism; you’ll get to write about tourism later. |
Morning Mission:
• Walking tour of the Venetian Ghetto in Cannaregio.
• Visit Rialto and Chiesa di San Salvador as we return from the ghetto tour. Finish “Hunt 6: San Salvador” from Venetian Hunts & Puzzles. (San Salvador: 9 a.m. to noon, 3-7 p.m.)
Afternoon Art:
• Lunch on your own.
Evening Event:
• 3:30 p.m. Regroup at the Zattere vaporetto stop with painting gear for our first painting. Take vaporetto to Guidecca to Palladio’s Santissimo Redentore (10 a.m.-5 p.m.) and go inside to look around.
• Wander with us or find dinner on your own in Guidecca, a little-visited part of Venice.
• 6:30 p.m. Return to Redentore and paint the view across the canal of Santa Maria del Rosario [aka Gesuati] or paint Redentore from below.
Day 5: Thursday, May 23
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Reflect on “Venice: decadent and dying” as we visit the cemetery island. Sketch, paint, write a poem/story/scene, or photograph — reflect on death as symbol and metaphor as you write. |
Morning Mission:
• Grade Hunt 3 over breakfast.
• Vaporetto together from Fondamente Nuove to San Michele, the cemetery island
— wander on your own: journal, paint, and/or sketch. Photographs are forbidden; take them discreetly and at your own risk.
• Return together.
Afternoon Art:
• Lunch on your own.
• 3 p.m. Regroup at Accademia Museum: Finish “Hunt 4: Accademia” from Venetian Hunts & Puzzles. (Accademia: 8:15 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Tickets paid.)
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own.
Day 6: Friday, May 24
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Take some time to reflect on yourself as a tourist in Venice. How do you feel about being a tourist? What changes have you experienced as a tourist from your first day here to this one, almost a week later? Is tourism good or bad for people and places? |
Morning Mission:
• Grade Hunt 7 over breakfast.
All-Day Island Tour:
• Vaporetto to Murano, Burano & Torcello — bring your art supplies.
• Lunch together on Burano (paid).
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own, but remember that we’re getting up early the next morning.
Day 7: Saturday, May 25
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Describe in prose or poetry the light of Venice — find your favorite light/time of day and paint or photograph it. (If it’s raining today, swap with Sunday’s question.) |
Morning Mission:
• Grade Hunt 4 over breakfast.
• 7 a.m. Visit the Rialto market to fill the refrigerator for the weekend!
Afternoon Art:
• 10 a.m. Regroup at palazzo. Visit Santa Maria dei Miracoli together and complete “Hunt 7: Church of Santa Maria Dei Miracoli.” (Miracoli is open from 10-4. Paid.)
• Lunch on your own.
• 3 p.m.: Meet at Arsenale with painting supplies. Walk together to Basilica di San Pietro di Castello (8 a.m.-12 p.m., 3 p.m.-6 p.m.) to paint. Walk to Giardini Pubblici together and separate. Make art at the gardens if you want.
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own.
Day 8: Sunday, May 26
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Reflect on your experiences as a foreigner who doesn’t speak the language of the country. How might the experience of foreigners in the U.S. differ, if at all? |
Morning Mission:
• 6 a.m.: Paint Piazza San Marco from San Giorgio Maggiore or San Giorgio
Maggiore from Piazza San Marco, in the style of Turner (@3 hours).
Afternoon Art:
• Get lost and make art!
•• Suggestions: The Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Mocenigo Museum, Ca’ Pesaro Museum, Fortuny Museum, Correr Museum, Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, the la Fenice opera house, any church we won’t be touring, or take the elevator up to the San Marco campanile. Take the ferry from Saint Mark’s square across to San Giorgio Maggiore and take the campanile to the top for a beautiful photograph.
Evening Event:
• Regroup at 6 p.m. & share the day’s art and explorations. Take photos of artwork and put on blog.
• Home-cooked Sunday dinner! Be ready to show off your culinary (or dishwashing) skills….
Day 9: Monday, May 27
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Reflect upon your impressions of Venice’s future; be thoughtful, not flippant, but be imaginative. Your thoughts may be as pessimistic or optimistic as you like. Write a poem, story, or scene; sketch; collage; or paint your image of the Venice of the future. |
Morning Mission:
• 10 a.m. Visit Ca’Rezzonica to learn about 18th century Venice (Wed-Mon 10 a.m.-6 p.m.). Finish “Hunt 8: Ca’Rezzonica” from Venetian Hunts & Puzzles. (paid: use Musei ticket)
Afternoon Art:
• Noon: Visit the 16th-century San Sebastiano church to see the Veronese paintings.
• Lunch together at Pane e Vino (paid)
• Free time until 6.
• 6 p.m. Meet behind La Salute. Watercolor architectural details of La Salute, Dogana, or San Giorgio Maggiore in the style of Sargent.
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own.
Day 10: Tuesday, May 28
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Write a journal entry reflecting on the food you’ve been eating over this first week in Italy. Compare and contrast Italian food in the U.S. to that of Venice. How do you like it? What differences strike you about the “food culture” of Italy versus that of the U.S.? |
Morning:
• Leave on vaporetto to Lido
Afternoon:
• Make art on Lido. Come home on your own time. Notice the wonderful view of Venice a la Turner on your way home.
Evening Event:
• Free day. Dinner on your own, , but remember that we’re getting up early in the morning
Day 11: Wednesday, May 29
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Find and describe — and either take photographs* (these 3=1 for this assignment) or sketch — examples of Venetian Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance architecture. See last page of itinerary for reminder. You must include in your description the location of the architectural example you discovered. Don’t simply repeat the examples we’ve provided; that’s cheating! |
Morning Mission:
• Enjoy your last day free. Do some final painting. Mail any souvenirs you don’t want to carry.
• Don’t forget to finish “Hunt 9: Where Have You Seen…”
Evening Event: Regroup for final restaurant dinner together, possibly at Leone Bianca (paid).
• Clean up the palazzo.
• Pack your bags, because we’re leaving Venice tomorrow!
Day 12: Thursday, May 30
| Today’s Journal Assignment: You’re leaving Venice, so now is the time to reflect on what Venice has come to mean to you, personally. This course was called “Imagining Venice” — what has Venice come to symbolize for you, in your imagination? It may be good or bad; be thoughtful and honest. This will form the core of your presentation next fall, so you may end up putting down some preliminary thoughts now and then refining them later as you further reflect and absorb what you’ve learned and experienced on this trip. |
Morning Mission:
• Take train to Verona (@1.5 hours).
• Grade Hunt 8 and Hunt 9 on train.
• Check into hotel.
Afternoon Art:
• Walk and see Roman sites: Forum, Teatro Romana Verona and the Museo Archeologico del Teatro.
Evening Event:
• Dinner together (paid).
• Visit the Casa di Giulietta on your own.
Day 13: Friday, May 31
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Compare and contrast the castle in Lake Garda to the palazzi of the Venetians. Explain the differences from a historic and geographic point of view. |
Morning Mission:
• Go to Sirmione by Lake Garda (@1 hour by bus)
Afternoon Art:
• Visit the Scagliar Castle. Sketch and take photos.
Evening Event:
• Return to Verona together. Dinner on your own. Remember to pack up for an early departure to Florence.
Day 14: Saturday, June 1
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Describe your reaction to one of the Uffizi’s famous paintings mentioned below in depth. Which is your favorite and why? |
Morning Mission:
• Train to Florence (paid)
• Settle into Hotel Lombardi & walk around central city
• Tour Piazza del Duomo to see the duomo, campanile, and baptistry.
It will cost you €8 to climb to the top of the dome, if you decide to do it!
Afternoon Art:
• Uffizi Gallery (Paid; reservations.) It’s a big museum, so take your time with it! There’s a cafe on top where you can relax between galleries if you need to rest your feet.
• Find Fra Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Angels, Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus, Michelangelo’s Holy Family, Leonardo da Vinci’s Annunciation, Rafael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch, and Titian’s Venus of Urbino.
Day 15: Sunday, June 2
| Today’s Journal Assignment: Describe your reaction to Michelangelo’s David — was it what you were expecting or not? What visual information do you miss when you look only at a photo in a book? What other famous paintings or sculptures did you see today in the Uffizi, and how did your reaction to them surprise you? |
Morning Mission:
• Galleria dell’Accademia (8:15 a.m.-6:50 p.m.) to see Michaelangelo’s David. Paid; reservations.
Afternoon Art:
• Lunch together.
• Palazzo Pitti’s Boboli Gardens and Silver Museum. Ticket €20; Paid. (Garden: 8:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m.) Take photos for paintings in the style of Sargent upon our return home
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own.
Day 16: Monday, June 3
| Today’s Journal Assignment: You’ve now been in three very different Northern Italian cities. Which did you like best, and why? |
Morning Mission:
• Meet by Ponte Vecchio over the River Arno. Time TBD
• Visit the Bargello (8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m.) to see Donatello’s David. Paid.
Afternoon Event:
• Last lunch in Italy together at Ristorante Boccadama, Piazza Santa Croce (open 11-3). Paid
• Vivoli Gelato is nearby! Pack your suitcases! We will be home late in the evening and tired from a long walk!
Evening Event:
• Dinner on your own.
• 7:30 p.m. Meet at Ponte Vecchio with your painting equipment and walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo for a panoramic view of the city at sunset. Warning: Long walk and many flights of stairs!
Day 17: Tuesday, June 4
Depart Florence & Italy
Is Venice safe to wander around without a guide?
Venice is very safe during the day and reasonably safe at night, as long as you take the normal precautions: stay in sight of your buddy, avoid getting drunk, and stick to well-lit streets after dark. Pickpocketing is a hazard in any crowded tourist area; keep your valuables in front pockets or a travel belt and keep a close eye on your iPod if you carry it clipped to a waistband. In Venice it’s easy (and fun!) to get lost, but hard to stay lost; ultimately you’ll hit the lagoon or Grand Canal, after which it isn’t difficult to find your way back to a main campo or bridge and get your bearings.
Any clothing restrictions?
Some churches do not permit visitors with bare shoulders, midriffs, or legs, so try to avoid a wardrobe full of shorts and tank tops; the famous Basilica di San Marco, in particular, requires shoulders and knees to be covered. Women should keep in mind that exposed cleavage, stomachs, and thighs may attract unwanted attention and crude behavior or comments from some men. Shorts are generally only worn by children, Germans and Americans, so although you can wear them (as long as you’re not visiting a church), they will scream “tourist!” to everyone around you.
You’ll be doing a lot of walking on hard cobblestones. Sneaker-style hiking shoes would be a wise investment. Bring sneakers, at least.
Bring layers for warmth (average May temps run from 55-70 degrees) and bring your umbrellas and raincoats (average rainfall in May is 2.7 inches). Note that cobblestone streets are slippery when wet!
Is there wi-fi so I can email and blog?
Wi-fi, not so much; Venice is a city of stone! Cell-phone reception often requires walking outside into a campo, as well. However, Venice has numerous internet cafes where you can pay to use the provided computers or, in some cases, plug in your laptop. The palazzo we rented in 2011 had wi-fi, and if we get it again in 2013, you should be fine.
While we’re talking electronics, remember to bring plug adapters for laptops and voltage adapters for other electronics, such as blowdryers.
Is the water safe to drink?
Yes; you can drink it from the faucet. Bottled water abounds if you prefer to be cautious, however.
I have food allergies or restrictive eating preferences; will I find anything to eat in Italy?
Italy is a gourmet’s paradise, but it doesn’t always cater to eating restrictions. You’ll have a hard time finding gluten-free pasta, for example, but as long as you can eat regular enriched wheat pasta, going meatless won’t be a problem for you. There are a few vegetarian restaurants in Venice, as well. If you’re allergic to shellfish, you may want to avoid all seafood dishes as a matter of precaution; restaurants might not be scrupulous about preparing shellfish dishes in separate pots and pans. JewishVenice offers advice on finding kosher food. We intend to rent a palazzo with a kitchen, so you will have the option of shopping and cooking for yourself during much of the trip, although sometimes we’ll be out all day and eating in restaurants. We recommend that for the duration of the trip you relax any voluntary eating restrictions you’ve imposed upon yourself and enjoy the full Italian culinary experience.
I use a wheelchair; will I have problems getting around?
Unfortunately, yes; the streets of Venice are narrow and paved with uneven stones, and they abound with stairs and bridges. There is very little accommodation for wheelchairs in buildings — most are extremely old and have only stairwells — or on mass transit such as trains and boats. Moreover, there are no railings between the streets and the canals if the crowds get pushy, as they sometimes do. This trip will be walking-intensive and is not a good choice for anyone who has a mobility impairment.
Are there ATMs? Are credit cards usually accepted?
Yes to both. However, it’s always a good idea to check with your bank to find out about international ATM-use or credit-card-use surcharges that may be incurred. Most of the main tourist shops and large restaurants will be happy to accept your credit card, but having cash is a good idea for smaller neighborhood shops, grocery stores, vaporetto tickets, and cafes. …Unless we’re arriving in Venice on a Sunday, consider bringing an ATM card with you and getting your euros at a bank in Venice, rather than exchanging money at LAX.
Will there be time to shop?
Of course. We’ll ask that you restrain your consumer impulses during the painting/touring part of the class and, in return, we’ll give you plenty of time afterward to browse around; remember, you’ll be in the city over a week, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to shop.
If you plan to buy a lot, consider setting aside enough money to mail it home from Venice. Shipping internationally from the post office is a bit of an experience, so set aside an hour or two for it to take into account lines and paperwork. Remember, we’ll be traveling by train for the last few days, and your professors assure you from personal experience that you don’t want to do that while hauling around more than one suitcase and backpack.
What if I want to continue traveling through Italy/Europe after the class is over?
Tell Study Abroad before airplane reservations are made. You’ll find it very easy to meet up with friends or family in Florence, which has an airport, or to travel from Florence by train to another destination. You may wish to reserve your train tickets in advance during your stay in Venice; your professors can help you.