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Dear Kristin,

We loved staying out in the countryside while only being 30 minutes away from Venice.

We loved:

- Quietness

- Proximity to the train to  go into Venice

- Proximity to shopping centers

- Proximity to the lovely bakery nearby

- The kids loved playing with the dogs

- The kids loved walking in the fields

- The apartment was large, comfortable

Down sides:

- A party hosted by the owner below our apartment until 1 in the morning one day.

- The TV reception was not great

- There was some sewerage smell in the bathroom

It was great.

Best Regards,

Michel C.

Dear Jessica,

We had a great time. The farm was the perfect place to stay with children. The boys could run around, climb trees, play with the dogs--and we never worried about them. It was very clean, and the kitchen was well stocked. There is a great pizzeria just down the road with an English speaking waitress where we had terrific salads and pizza. The farm's owner was friendly and helpful. On the down side, it was a bit cold while we were there, and the heating was expensive.

In Venice, we went on a wonderful boat tour with Elena that ended at a glass blowing factory on Murano where we saw some wonderful hand blown pieces. The boat tour is a great way to start off a stay in Venice.

On our third day, we found an amazing mask shop with a work area in the back. There are many of these shops in Venice. However, if you are traveling with kids this one is the shop you want. The woman who works there was amazing with our boys. She explained the process of making a mask, then she let the boys try on the masks. She was very warm and funny. The boys loved her! The shop is called Il Canovaccio and the address is Castello 5369-70. She gave me a web site as well: www.ilcanovaccio.com.

Thank you, your accommodations and your information were perfect. We had a wonderful stay.

Cyndie K.

Dear Jessica,

Podere di Venezia was a wonderful and convenient place to stay. Our hosts were great. The train and boat service to Venice were practically hassle free and you avoid the stress of dealing with Venice traffic and parking. The only real drawback is you cannot stay in Venice late in the evening at this time of year, if relying on the public transport to get home. The only way we know of to improve the experience of staying at Podere di Venezia is to stay longer! How about a washing machine?

Regards
Jean and Deborah D.

Dear Ghia:

Thanks for your e-mail. My husband, two sons, and I had a truly terrific vacation in Italy. Thanks to you and Kristin for all your efforts to ensure that our stay there was comfortable and relaxing. We were pleased with Podere di Venezia. We found that your web site and the materials you sent us beforehand very accurately represented the property, so we had no surprises or disappointments. In fact, we felt that the apartment was even better than we had imagined.

At Podere di Venezia our hosts (Giulio and Fabienne) were on holiday in Sicily so we never got to meet them, but they left us a comprehensive note with very helpful information (where to shop, restaurants to try, how to get around). Giulio's sister, who speaks perfect English, dropped by every day to see how we were doing and she even had us all over to her home for dinner! There were also two caretakers at the property who were lovely. They did not speak English, but our Italian was good enough to converse with them, so it was not a problem.

We took former travelers' advice and arrived with food, dishwashing soap, toilet paper and other necessities. There is one supermarket open on Sunday in Mira, but if you're tired, it's better to pick up things on the way. By the way, there is no telephone in the apartment, although the information we received said there was. It was not a problem for us because we used our hosts' phone to make restaurant reservations, but for those needing a phone for other reasons, they should be aware of this.

As far as staying at Podere di Venezia, I would caution future guests that there are two large dogs there, so if they have young children who are fearful of dogs they might want to ask that the dogs are put in their pen when the kids are outside. Our kids really liked the dogs, but when they tried to throw a ball around, the dogs went wild so the kids couldn't play. Max--the schnauzer gigante--barks a good deal, even at night.

We found that the traffic near Podere di Venezia, going toward Mestre and Venice, was very bad. There are a million trucks on the Autostrada, making driving a real ordeal. Our hosts recommended taking the boat from Fusina (10 minutes from the house) to Venice. It was a great idea. In 30 minutes one can be in Venice, with no parking or traffic hassles. The boats go every hour and return from Venice every hour.

Among the sites our kids liked near Podere di Venezia were Villa Pisani in Stra, which had a garden maze that is so complex it took us an hour to find our way out of it! It was really fun and the villa is amazing. We also drove to Vicenza one day to see Andrea Palladio's Teatro Olimpico, which was marvelous. In Padova, they loved the old anatomical theatre at the university. In the 1500s, medical students would secretly procure corpses to dissect at this medical theatre and then they would dump the bodies into the canals below Padova so they would not be discovered by the church! You can take a tour of the old anatomical theatre and learn the whole story. It really appealed our eleven and fourteen-year-old sons.

For food lovers, Mira didn't have a great deal to offer. It surprised us that many people preferred to go to the local supermarket (Panorama) on the highway, rather than shop at the markets or in local salumerias. We did find two very good restaurants, however--Nalin (for fish) and Da Conte (hard to find but truly spectacular, and with a great wine list).

Thanks again for providing a wonderful service for families like us who love Italy and wish to stay in apartments rather than hotels. It makes us feel like we're really a part of the culture, and we see places we might never have known about otherwise.

Very best regards,
Amy P. (on behalf of Peter, Nicholas and Oliver)

Ciao!

We had a wonderful time at Podere di Venezia. The accommodations were very nice and the location was excellent for day touring to the cities of the Veneto region. The Rocca's, in addition to being pleasant landlords, were friendly and helpful. They are the ones who steered us to NALIN, the restaurant find of the area. Our thanks to In Italy and the Rocca's.

Bob and Marilyn A.

Hi Cynthia,

Thank you for your inquiry. Our family found our experience at Podere di Venezia quite delightful and in keeping with our expectations. Fabienne and her husband were very accommodating hosts and tried to make our stay with them as comfortable and pleasant as possible. They truly went out of their way to please and I can certainly highly commend Podere di Venezia to any prospective visitor. We truly had the best of both worlds--the peace and serenity of the countryside and the relative proximity of Europe's most intriguing city, Venice.

The only "negative" I can relate is the mosquito problem in that particular region of Italy. You might want to advise future visitors to bring lots of repellent so it is on hand when they arrive. Luckily, we had some with us, and spared ourselves the agony of getting bitten by the little monsters.

I'll be sending you a copy of a "Travel Portrait" which appeared in last Sunday's edition of the Union-Tribune in which I encouraged readers to log on to your web site. Hope you enjoy the plug! Take care and keep in touch!

Joanne D.

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