This is the kind of thing you miss when you pull the blind down on your window seat: Venice from the air.

We took this on a BA flight from Gatwick to Bari the week before last. When we’d flown the same route a couple of years before, we’d been treated to an unforgettable sight of Venice, with the Grand Canal snaking its way down the middle of the city. So this time we were prepared.

As we were crossing the Alps, we asked one of the flight attendants when we’d be going over Venice. “Will we be going over Venice?” she said, in that typical glum BA style. “I have no idea. Only the pilot would know that.” So we asked her to ask the pilot, who said that yes, in 10 minutes, it’d be coming up.

Ten minutes later, there it was. Not as perfect a view as the last time, but you can still make out the Grand Canal, Giudecca, San Michele, Murano and the Lido. Straordinario! ]]> juliab 2011-10-26T14:08:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/11/34747/458

Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn have the right idea in the movie Four Christmases; ditch the family for a romantic vacation this holiday. Venice is a reliable spot for a you and your mistletoe partner to get away for some alone time. And it's not too late to buy tickets. Kayak is offering round-trip airfare to the starting at $1,099 during the holidays. That's expensive for the rest of the year, but not during this season—it's a bargain.

Of course, the obligatory romantic thing to go is take a gondola ride in the canals, but that's the number one offense on our list of what not to do in Venice. While riding a gondola with only two people can get pretty expensive, don't let that deter you from enjoying the canals, even if it's by vaporetto, or water bus. The canals are a big part of the city's mystique and being on the water in the winter will give you a reason to snuggle with your honey.

Or do more than snuggle...]]> Jennifer Kester 2009-12-11T10:33:51-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/18/112434/62

Gondolas, palaces and 'O Sole Mio"—ahhh, the usual romantic image of Venice. Granted, the city known as "La Serenissima," is quite lovely and enchanting, but also full of money potholes and tourist stereotypes.

Because we like you, and because we've had our fair share of Venice visits and wish all the same enjoyment for yours, we're helping you out with our list of What Not To Do In Venice: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.

Check them out, after the jump.]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-18T13:19:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/5/16296/55093

· Venice: This weekend marks the opening of Venice's huge art to-do, the Biennale, which transforms the city into an exhibition space for international artists until November. While the acqua alta floods the city during late winter and early spring, the Biennale does its own summer flooding of Venice with tourists and fans of modern art, film, music and dance. Expect to see odd apparitions like inflatable icebergs plopped in squares, such as in the picture above. For information on the exhibition's major shows and locations, check out the official website.]]> JetSetCD 2009-06-05T16:49:31-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/24/05127/3017

Notoriously awash with tourists, the Acqua Alta and Bellinis, Venice is about to add Coca-Cola to the mix as the city's official soft drink. Of course in a city that has a love-hate relationship with modernity, the multi-million dollar deal between Venice's mayor and Coke isn't going over very swimmingly.

According to the BBC, in an attempt to supplement the meager government funds earmarked for conservation, the city will receive $2.7 million from Coke for installing "sixty vending machines which will sell the drink all over the city, including at the main waterbus stations and reportedly even St Mark's Square, where a city ordinance already forbids picnicking by tourists." ]]> JetSetCD 2009-02-24T09:01:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/2/6120/57950

Venice used to be a romantic getaway. Now it's kinda like being in grade school, because there are just so many rules you have to follow. Last year, we warned you to keep your shirt on--being bare-chested, or eating a picnic on St Mark's Square, can get you fined almost $40. But starting next week, feeding pigeons will be banned, too.

Venetian authorities are sick of the repair bills the birds cause, not just from droppings but also because they peck at gaps in building facades. Feeding the pigeons is apparently much worse than exposing your chest, because the fines start at €50 (nearly US$80).

We're not sure that the pigeons will get the message here, as they've been ruining St Mark's Square for decades now. And we're curious about what activity will be next on the "Not in Venice" list.

Related Stories:
· Venice to Fine Tourists Who Feed Pigeons [Reuters]
· Topless Tourists in Venice Fined [Jaunted]
· Bare Chests Banned in Venice [Jaunted]

[Photo: Malingering]]]> amandak 2008-05-02T09:45:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/27/93847/0185

Il Terraglio is the stretch of road between the Province of Venice and the uber conservative city of Treviso. By day the road is seemingly unassuming, lined with your typical Italian trattorie, coffee shops, and villas. But by night it's a sexed-up superhighway filled with prositutes.

On a recent drive back from Venice we counted thirty-five in a 2-mile radius at which point we felt slightly violated for even being on the same pavement, not to mention they were getting picked up left and right. Eww. Suddenly there it was, this salty sign provocatively posted along the street. In English it says, WATCH OUT FOR PROSTITUTES.]]> CourtScott 2008-03-27T15:01:24-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/