Enchanting Rialto: a stroll through the markets of Venice
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I booked this personal 1:1 virtual tour in Venice for NYE. Our tour guide (Elana) was absolutely phenomenal & we learned so much from her. She was knowledgeable, genuine, and authentic, and made sure we didn't miss anything that was happening around her. Because there are absolutely no cars, we saw a garbage boat, a firefighter boat responding to a call, an ambulance boat, gondola taxi, & a funeral boat. It was a busy morning on the Grand Canal. We also walked thru the market place and got to see the Rialto Bridge. It really is a must try experience."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I loved going to italy and witnessing this live as things were happening. Our tour guide was fabulous and gave us so much back story and definition of terms. We loved her. This was a trip my friend and I had been trying to take for years and now we could visit Italy, together, via computer screen (huge gaming screen!!) in my kitchen while having espresso and biscotti. We could ask questions about our surroundings while we watched and took pix of our trip. So fun!!!\nI only wish all the trips had a box delivered prior with special things available from the places we visited.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "I've never been to Italy before and after this tour, I already know that I will LOVE it! Everything is so beautiful and historic. Huge thank you to my tour guide (Alessandra) who did not give up on me even though my connectivity was a nightmare this morning. She stayed on with me and showed me the sights even though she couldn't hear me! I was still able to see everything and take some beautiful photos. I was appreciative of her time and patience and the opportunity to spend my morning at the Grand Canal (from HOME... before work)! I still had a great time and would absolutely recommend."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-4 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Got this for my mom for Christmas and she had so much fun. The guide was a born and raised local so had great information and was able to show her quite a bit since this was one of the longer 50 minute tours. Unfortunately a lot of the shops were already closed due to the time chosen and with Covid restrictions or adjustments.\nNote: if you want more shops to be open or places to see, consider choosing one of the late night/early morning offerings from around midnight to maybe 6am CST (7 hour time difference where we are so check your local time zone). The guide told my parents a lot of the shops and some attractions can close as early as 3pm but there are some that stay open til 5 and 6pm.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The guide was knowledgeable and seemed to be pretty comfortable with the technology. She kept her camera facing the outside world most of the time, and occasionally turned it around to speak more directly to us. Even though she could not see us, she did a great job of making eye contact and engaging, as if she could. Her English was very good and she had no difficulty understanding or answering our questions. We would definitely recommend and look forward to doing more.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This was one of the most unique activities our family has done. The hostess was so inciteful, very knowledgeable about the history of architecture, culture, geographic areas, languages, etc. We loved seeing the typical tourist buildings, cannels, gondolas, and bridges. But we were pleasantly surprised to learn about hidden details and fun facts about specific buildings, the layers of the buildings, getting to see art from the era when they were during the Venetian times. It was so fun! Now to book a trip to Venice!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Elena was super charismatic and knowledgeable about her home of Venice. We were lucky enough to have a one on one tour with her. She handled our questions well and made the tour very engaging with her cool trivia about Venice. She definitely made us want to visit even more!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "We loved the early morning light on the city and our guide Lorenzo's humor and wit. What an awe inspiring experience. Venice has such an incredible history and beauty unmatched! Seeing the bustle of the local market enriched the experience and made it more human. Lorenzo made it feel as though we were part of his life, as if we could smell the salt air and hear the lapping of the waves on the canal walls. Thank you for transcending time & space for us; bringing us back to our 2008 trip there! Seeing the Rialto Bridge without the dazzling costumes of Carnevale di Venezia and the busyness of mid-afternoon in the city coupled with his intricate knowledge of that landmark was an endearing treat! Grazie Lorenzo!! Magnifico!! Tara & Mandy from frigid Alaska :)"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The personal on line tour was an exceptional experience. The host was delightful and very knowledgeable, answering my questions and taking me to inspect buildings and shops in which I expressed an interest.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-2 review-rating', 'review_body': "The tour guide was great, but the video quality was absolutely terrible. The tour started after sunset (most tours should probably not take place at night time, especially with poor video quality), so everything was dark and closed. As mentioned, it didn't help that video quality hovered around 280p, and froze multiple times. Luckily audio never dropped out, so it was more like an audio tour instead of a virtual experience.\nIt seemed like the tour guide was just streaming from a regular phone, and had a bad connection. I would think they'd have some sort of special setup that ensured at least 1080p steaming with good quality, but that was not the case."}]