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Michelle Vaden
- 68, Female
- Seattle, WA
- United States
- Blog Posts (24)
- Discussions (14)
- Destinations (3)
- Photos (37)
- Photo Albums
- Videos
Michelle's Musings and Meanderings
Profile Information
- What is your favorite place in Europe so far?
- Venice, Italy
- Where would you most like to go next?
- Just returned from Venice. I want to go back
- Tell us about one of your favorite places to stay on an Untour. Do you have a favorite host? Apartment? Village?
- Casino apartment in Venice! Yes!
- Do you have any special interests or hobbies that you follow when you travel?
- Photography
- When you upload photos to Untours Cafe, you are also giving Untours permission to use the photos in their promotional material (with credit to you)
- I was looking for the alemenatari and got directions where I bought post cards, she said (in Italian which I repeated in English to make sure I had it right) to turn right at the fountain, over the bridge and I would find Billa there. I was looking for my idea of a fountain which is something in the middle of a square with carving and water shooting up in the air. What I found was a water pipe coming out of a wall. Oh, I did eventually find Billa also.
- Which Untours have you already done?
- Venice
- What advice would you give others considering an Untour?
- Go and enjoy!
- What is your favorite Untour? (so far)
- Venice. I want to go back.
Michelle Vaden's Photos
Michelle Vaden's Blog
Blogging from Venice
For anyone interested I'm blogging from Venice now on my blog "Meandering with Misha" which you can find at
It's not an Untour but it is an untour as I'm on my own without any group or real itinerary. I just love being a temporary local. People are beginning to recognize me in my neighborhood and ask me where I'm from. People start talking to me in Italian...even though I'm carrying a…
ContinuePosted on November 25, 2012 at 3:25pm — 6 Comments
35 Days...
...until I land in Venice for a month for my birthday 12-12-12. Not an untour but a lovely apartment in a quiet area of Castello. I've created a personal blog and hope to be posting pictures if the internet connection works as promised in the apartment.
My blog is "Meandering with Misha", is mostly about Venice and can be found at www.mishaimelda.wordpress.com .
Posted on October 14, 2012 at 8:58pm
My Love Affair with Venice
I wrote this up for a friend and decided that since it was Untours who introduced me face to face with Venice that it belonged here too:
The story of my love affair with Venice:
I think I have always been intrigued by the idea of a city built on water . I knew I would go there someday. But life happened and Venice waited.
Sometime in the late 90’s a friend came to visit her cousin in Seattle and also spent an afternoon with me. Dorothy and I had met in a writing class in…
ContinuePosted on September 17, 2011 at 11:12pm
Venice...the Dream Continues Trip report
I just realized I had not shared my trip report from Venice in March. Here it is for the Venice lovers to enjoy. Unfortunately this time it was not with Untours but my apartment was in the same neighborhood as the Casino apartment so I was right at home. Note: this is copied and pasted from TripAdvisor.com
Here is my trip report from my visit…
Posted on September 5, 2010 at 10:00am
Venice...The Dream Continues
Yes, I went to Venice again, this time on my own since my Untours plans were cancelled this year. I couldn't stand not going and a friend said she would be there in March, then another, then another. I made my own arrangements and stayed in an apartment only a very short walk from the Casino apartment where I stayed in the fall of 2008. Even Atilla the local cat seemed to remember me when I called him by name. This is just a short note because I'm trying to post some of my favorite…
ContinuePosted on April 24, 2010 at 8:05pm
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Comment Wall (21 comments)
I like how you've customized your page already! Also, congratulations on booking your first Untour. I'm sure you'll have a grand time.
Thanks for joining the Untours Cafe! Take your time to explore all the photos, and videos. If you like, you can even post a question or start a discussion in our forum, though I see you've found them already.
In you run into any problems or have any question, you can send me a message or ask my colleagues, Marilee & Kim. We're here to help!
Having travelled with Untours to Italy, Switzerland, Bavaria, Rome, and Paris, I just know that you will love your Untours trip to Venice. Untours is a great way to travel.
Frank nd I will be looking forward to seeing some of your pictures after your trip.
Marlene
Thanks for your thoughts. I feel like I've joined a global traveling family. Believe me...there will be lots of pictures.
Michelle
Lots of extras in the kitchen that we haven't found in some other Untour apts- salt, pepper,sugar, coffee, tea bags, olive oil, plastic and foil wrap, garbage bags, dishwashing liq, clothes detergent, and lots of cleaning supplies.
Be prepared to light the gas cooktop with a match-we were there a week before we realized the oven was electric!!
Guess that tells you how much cooking I did.
The first day we searched for the dish drying rack, only to discover it was mounted on the wall at eye level directly above the sink, and the newly washed dishes drip into the sink, though we had stored groceries on it, but soon found a place to relocate them. The Italians sure use space well.
Planning is so much fun-I wish we were going back!
Sue
Don't worry much about the Italian-it seems everyone in Venice speaks some English-even the French and German tourists! We traveled with several Italian dictionaries and hardly ever needed one, except in a small market to figure out what some ingredients were.
The only person we encountered who we could truly not communicate with was a young college student we met on the vaparetto who spoke only Portuguese. I've often wondered how he managed, as not many Portugese speakers in Italy.
Sue
How I wish!! There are so many places still left for us to visit, we haven't allowed ourselves the luxury yet of returning,
Sue
Before you go to Venice, get a copy of Fodor's "Venice's 25 Best", if only for the comprehensive map that is included. AND get a little compass. With the narrow calles that twist and turn, it's easy not to know in which direction you're going. I still carry mine each time I go there.
Aack!! I can't find mine :-((. That's the first order of business in the morning. But I'm positive I got it from Rick Steves' catalog, and I think it came with a stretchy wrist strap.
Hope you can find out if my little dog house is a little cat house!
Lynanne
Anyway...it's now two months and counting till I'm off to Venice. I did pick up a copy of Fodor's "Venice's 25 Best" with it's lovely map this morning as recommended. And I also got "MapEasy's Guidemap To Venice" just because it was faily large print, has cute drawings and notations on the map such as "this waterside cafe is superb" they are referring to the one at the Hotel Gritti Palace which is probably out of my price range but you never know. I still plan at least a cappucino and a pastry at Cafe Florian just to be able to say I've been there. Ciao!
We have had computer problems ongoing for about 3 weeks, hope we are fixed, but who knows. Things seem to work well for 2-3 days, then it is trouble again. We retrieved our computer yesterday from it's second visit in repair-guess the next stop will be for a new computer!! Ours is 5 years old, and Eric's editor told him that is like 105 in people years.
Sue
The wire chicken on top of the stove hood is probably an egg basket-we never used it.
Though the photo doesn't show it, on the other side of the kitchen is a long granite countertop that runs almost the length of the kitchen, with drawers and cabinets below and shelves and cabinets above, containing dishes, pots, kitchen utensiles, etc, so there is loads of counter space. There is room at the end of the counter closest to the laundry room for a small chair, but no table, so it is not eat in.
I will probably recall more tidbits to share as I review my photos more.
Sue
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