Julio Cardoso : Proud Goan from Galgibaga.....: OUR TRIP TO VENICE, PADUA & GREEK ISLANDS IN AUGUST 2012 PART 1

OUR TRIP TO VENICE, PADUA & GREEK ISLANDS IN AUGUST 2012 PART 1

The beginning

It all started way back in December 2011, a month after my best friend Terence had left Kuwait for good to join his wife Joanita and children in Australia and we thought of going down under with an excuse of visiting Terry and family in Melbourne. When I say we, I mean our good friends Joe & Erin, Lloyd & Audrey and our common friend Bernard from Qatar. However due to clash of school holiday dates in Australia with our planned schedule, the trip was shelved and the idea of doing an exotic Cruise in the Mediterranean popped up.

The cast

After going on line and checking out a few cruise ships, the initial plan was to cruise on the Louis Crystal from the Greek island of Athens to Turkey via Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, and Patmos, but the dates were not matching the Eid Holidays in Kuwait and we zeroed in on the Norwegian Jade (Norwegian Cruise Lines), not only because the dates were perfect for us, but the Norwegian Jade was a much bigger ship and embarked from Venice the city of my dreams. We also realized that we could squeeze in a quick trip to Padua and visit the Basicilica of St. Anton, where the remains of this great saint are buried.

Tour itinerary for Norwegian jade:-

Dates	Port	Arrival	Departure
	Day 1	Venice, Italy		6:00 PM
	Day 2	At Sea
	Day 3	Corfu, Greece	8:00 AM	3:30 PM
	Day 4	Santorini, Greece	1:30 PM	10:00 PM
	Day 5	Mykonos, Greece	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
	Day 6	Olympia (Katakolon), Greece	9:00 AM	6:00 PM
	Day 7	At Sea
	Day 8	Venice, Italy	8:00 AM

The plan, costing and booking

NCL had a cruise starting from the 19^th of August 2012 from Venice to four Greek islands, Corfu, Santorini, Myknos, Olympia and back to Venice on the 26^th which was perfect for us as it coincided with the Eid holidays in Kuwait starting on the 20^th and we had to apply for just two days casual leave. When one plans a holiday such as this, it’s always important to make sure you have like minded friends traveling with you and having my best friends Lloyd & Audrey, Joe & Erin (all from Kuwait) and Berney (Qatar), it was easy to decide on the traveling, expenses and room arrangements.

Following was our planned Venice / Padua and Greek Islands Cruise itinerary:-

Date	Day	Description	Remarks
Fri	17/Aug	Depart early morning for Venice via Doha by Qatar Airways Check into hotel and sightseeing in Venice (Italy)	Arrive in Venice at 2:30pm
Sat	18/Aug	Visit Padua (Italy) in the morning Board the Norwegian Jade in the afternoon	Padua is 90 km from Venice
Sun	19/Aug	At sea on the Norwegian jade
Mon	20/Aug	Arrive in Corfu (Greece) for half day sightseeing
Tue	21/Aug	Arrive in Santorini (Greece) for half day sightseeing
Wed	22/Aug	Arrive in Mykonos (Greece) for full day sightseeing
Thu	23/Aug	Arrive in Olympia (Katakalon) Greece for full day sightseeing
Fri	24/Aug	At sea
Sat	25/Aug	Ship arrives at Venice at 8:00am Take the flight to Kuwait via Doha at 3:30pm	Arrive in Kuwait on 26^th morning at 3:40am

Booking on NCL Cruises is easy and can be done on line by going to www.ncl.com , but since this was our first time, we decided to let the professionals handle it for us and Caesers Holidays (Holdings) Kuwait, took care of our booking. Since the reservations were made about six months prior to travel, we were upgraded from normal staterooms with balcony to Mini Suites with Balcony with a little upgrade charge. We decided to take Qatar Airways to Venice via Doha as their connections were the best, although the prices were a little high

The Norwegian Jade

Following is the approximate breakdown of the cost of our trip:-

Description	Amount	Remarks
Schengen visa cost	KD.25/-	From Greek/Italian Embassy
Insurance	KD.15/-	Any travel Agency
Air ticket (Kwi-Doh-Venice return)	KD.262/-	Only because it was Eid holidays, otherwise it much less
Hotel in Venice for one night	KD.55/-	We booked a 4 Star hotel. www.papadopali.com
Cruise on NCL for 8 days and 7 nights (all paid for)	KD.360/-	Upgraded to Mini Suites
Compulsory tips (gratuities) on board NCL Jade	KD.25/-	Total for all 7 days
Excursions to Padua, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, Olympia	KD.100/-	We did on our own, so it’s cheaper
Overheads and other costs like fine dining, souvenirs, alcohol, Casino	KD.200/-
Total Cost	KD.925/- per head

The above costs are a little on the higher side as we did indulge in a few extras which could easily have been avoided. The costs would reduce drastically if you booked your air ticket well in advance, took the inside state rooms on the cruise instead of the mini suite, were careful in the casino and did not spend every night in the specialty restaurants… But this being our first cruise we decided to splurge in all the luxuries. ….

Securing your Schengen Visas & Insurance

Before planning your trip, you have to make sure that at the time of applying for visas, you have the following:-

a) Passport is valid for at least six months before the date of traveling

b) Residence is valid for at least six months (some embassies require only 3 months)

We approached the Italian Visa Section in Kuwait www.behbahani.com since our entry and exit was from Venice, but were advised to apply from the Greek Consulate www.greek.com as we were staying maximum number of days in Greece. Accordingly, armed with all the required documents we visited the Greek Embassy a month before traveling for our visas. The following documents are required at the time of applying for visas (mostly standard for all Schengen countries):-

1 1) Personal appearance for a interview

2) Original and copy of Passport (carry our old Passports as well, especially if they carry previous Schengen visas)

3) Visa application form

4) Salary certificate & copy of authorized signature of signatory which is registered in Chamber of Commerce

5) Copy of work permit

6) Bank state of the last six months with present balance

7) International medical travel insurance (coverage should not be less than 30,000 Euros

8) Ticket

9) Hotel voucher (in our case, the hotel voucher from Vencie and NCL reservation slip)

Visas are usually issued within a week, and we had absolutely no problem getting ours from the Greek Embassy, although there was a couple before us whose applications were rejected because according to the counselor their bank statement should show salaries exceeding KD.450/- . This is something strange I noticed at the Greek embassy, as an application could be rejected for having a reasonable salary, which according to them is low. I later came to know that the same couple applied through the Italian Consulate and got their visas. Strange isn’t it? Specially coming from the Greek Embassy… J

Flight from Kuwait to Venice

We took the Qatar Airways flight to Doha on 18^th early morning from Kuwait, spent a couple of hours in transit where we purchased some wines to have in our hotel room in Venice and possibly smuggle a little on board the NCL Jade. The wives of course bullied us into buying them perfumes and soon it was time to board our flight to Venice. . Joe, Lloyd and I decided to sit together so we could play cards on the way, while Zinia, Audrey and Erin were seated in the same row. Our friend Berne had already left for Venice a day earlier and would meet us at our hotel, upon landing in Venice.

Venice

Venice is easily considered to be one of the most romantic places in the world, but the same may not be true about the Marco Polo airport in Venice which surprisingly is very basic and after spending close to 45 minutes in the immigration queue manned by just a couple of officials, we finally walked out to catch our bus to Piazzale Roma, It is best to use the the Aero ACTV bus # 5, as it is not only cheap but comfortable as well. The drive to Piazzale Roma where our hotel was booked, took approximately 25 minutes, and from there by foot (make sure your suitcases have wheels) to our hotel which was located approximately 400 meters from the station. Our hotel http://hotel-papadopoli-venezia.h-rez.com was a beautiful 4 star hotel and located in the Santa Croce area. We chose this hotel after going through hundreds of reviews about hotels in Venice and although it was relatively expensive, it suited us perfectly as it was close to the Cruise terminal. Although we hardly spend any time in the hotel except to sleep in the night, the complimentary early morning breakfast next day was exceptionally good.

Venice

By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was 4:30pm and our friend Berine was waiting for us in the Lobby and since he was already familiar with the place having arrived a day earlier, we decided to catch as much of Venice as we could within the short time we had.

St. Marco square - music everywhere

The best thing to do in Venice is just walk. The architecture is so amazing that you will be left speechless and In Venice you either walk or take the water bus (Vaparetto) and we decided to take the Vaparetto from the Piazelle Roma to St. Mark’s Square which would take us practically through the Grand Canal. St. Mark’s Square is just amazing. It is one of the most famous squares in the world with restaurants, souvenir shops, musicians, people from all over the world, pigeons, and of course the famous bell tower and Basilica of St. Marco.

Dinner at a family restaurant in Venice

On our way back late evening, we did the mandatory Gondola ride (pretty expensive) and stopped by for dinner at the Rialto Bridge. This bridge is probably the most famous bridge in Venice (although there are quite a few others), and it is supposed to be several hundred years old. They say that over a million tourists walk across this bridge every day and it is the most photographed bridge in Venice. So we horsed around a bit on the bridge and took a few pictures too. For dinner we decided to find a typical homely family run restaurant to sample actual Italian food. We found one inside one of the many by lanes near the Rialto Bridge (can’t remember the name) and the prices were reasonable too. It’s important to remember that dining in Venice is expensive, so don’t be fooled into entering fancy restaurants and paying a bomb when you can get equally good food in small family run restaurants.

Gondola Ride

Padua

Early next morning after a hearty breakfast at the Papadopali, we checked out and requested the hotel to keep our luggage in the storeroom as our boarding on the cruise was at 3:00pm, and took the bus to Padua to visit the Basilica of St. Anthon. Padua is just 40 km from Venice and the journey took us about an hour with some breath taking scenery along the way. No buses are allowed inside the city of Padua, and we had to take a tram to the Basilica. Being in Padua in the actual place where the remains of St. Anthony are buried was a dream come true and we wondered around the basilica in awe. Spent some precious moments at the tomb of St. Anthony and prayed for all my family and friends. The souvenir shop (belonging to the Basilica) was full of statues of St. Anthony and other relics and we all picked up mementos to take for family and friends.

At St. Anthony's Basilica - Padua

Soon it was time to return, so we decided to be adventurous and took the return journey to Venice by Train. There are trains to Venice every 20 to 30 minutes and the fares range from 3 to 8 Euros. The journey was once again very pleasant giving us a wonderful view of the Italian countryside.