Venice is really the City of Love (I’ll ignore the “And Death” part for the purposes of this write-up I think!) There are few cities where you get an immediate feel for the place upon stepping outside of the airport or the main train station. Venice is one of them. Perhaps it was the timing of my arrival (sunset) combined with the glorious warm weather but I couldn’t have arrived into a more romantic mood. From Venice airport I took the Alilaguna water bus and for the whole 50 minute plus ride in to San Marco I had the gorgeous sunset hovering over the calm waters of the Adriatic Sea out my window. It really set the scene for a fantastic 3-4 day stay.

Photos, Photos, Photos.

When?	Mid May 2009
Why Go?	Oh my god the romance and I don’t just mean from a partner point of view! Its such a beautiful city and so different from anywhere you’ve ever been before. You could understand why so many poets and artists found inspiration in this lovely city. The greatest thing about Venice was the fact you could walk two or three blocks from Piazza San Marco (tourist central) and aside from being absolutely lost (heh heh) you’ll find yourself absolutely alone. It never failed us and it was great to have the peace from all those tourists. 🙂
Weather	Fantastically hot and just a bit humid (the 19-25 degrees felt soooo much hotter than it sounds.)
Hint	– When they say travel light – believe them! You will be walking over a lot of bridges to get to your accommodation with most not having ramps so you’ll have to lug your luggage up those stairs and then also lug them up the floors you’ll no doubt have to climb to get to your room.
	– You will get lost. There is no avoiding it. You can have the best map in the world of Venice and it will still not have every street on there. But that’s half the charm of discovering Venice. I remember one time late at night I was leading Teesh down an alley and we emerged into this very small square, where there happened to be a buzzing café, and I went to walk down another alley to get out of the square wondering out loud what was at the end of it. I got a cheeky response from one of the guys at the café saying there I would find a pool and sure enough all before me was water.
	We had a pretty good map, supplied by our B&B, but even with that we got lost so many times it wasn’t funny. However, somehow we always found our way to where we needed to get (even if it did take an extra 30 mins …) Much to our great amusement, one of the couples staying in our B&B brought their GPS around with them. Losers! (Sorry – that was a bit uncalled for but we didn’t really like them because they were rather snobby!)
	The best bet for getting around is to pick up landmarks near where you’re trying to get to and just keep asking everyone you see to point you in the right direction. After all, someone is always going to know where Piazza San Marco or the Rialto is!
	– Gondolas are EVERYWHERE so shop around and see if you can bargain the price down. If you are traveling on your own or as a couple and want to save a few euro consider hooking up with strangers to share the cost.

Our visit to Venice was both relaxing and busy. We easily found enough sights and attractions to keep us occupied during our short stay. Teesh also picked up an American guy who we spent the day and dinner with us (and who we split a Gondola ride with) so it was mostly a tourist visit but also a sit back and relax and soak up the atmosphere visit. The American guy wasn’t the only one to show an interest in Teesh – the owner of our B&B, Ricardo, was also interested in some “activity” with Teesh. Rather amusing that she didn’t quite pick up the clues from him … Aside from this awkward situation though the B&B was really nice. It was only a couple of blocks away from most sights, we had a large lovely room with big bathroom and Ricardo was very friendly (I mean, beyond trying to pick Teesh up) and helpful pointing out good local restaurants to go to etc.

The Experience

A little planning is recommended for Venice to ensure that you don’t miss out anything that you want to do (such as visiting the island of Murano to watch the glass-blowing in the glass factories – visits are best scheduled for weekday mornings.) Also, travelling in Italy at this time of year it helps to pre-book some tours because they tend to get booked out or suddenly aren’t available for the day you want them. One tour we booked in advance was the Doge’s Palace “Secret Itineraries” Tour (Itinerari Segreti del Palazzo Ducale) which I would well recommend.

Doge’s Palace

The Doge’s Palace is a beautiful building in the Piazza which used to be home of the elected leader of Venice, the Doge. It was from here that the city was run. Not only was the Palace the political heart of Venice it also now holds may amazing pieces of art including Tintoretto’s Vision of Paradise. (I was soon to find out that Italy has so many pieces of art that every piece you come across is great or amazing for on reason or another.)

The “Secret Itineraries” tour not only allows you to skip the giant line for entry into the Doge’s Palace (you are free to wander after the tour has finished) but you get to follow in the footsteps of former leaders of Venice through secret passages and concealed doors. You’ll also find out about Casanova’s, “the world’s greatest lover”, incarceration and subsequent escape from his gaol. Hearing stories about the Torture Room was a bit creepy though from what I understand just the threat of torture seemed enough to get people talking. Look out also for the golden staircase, Scala d’oro, which you will climb to get up to the apartments – its hard to miss golden stucco decorated vault above your head.

At the end of your visit to the Palace you will have access to the infamous Bridge of Sighs a bridge so named by Lord Byron at the suggestion that the prisoners would sigh at their final view of Venice out the window before walking across the bridge and down to their cells.

Gondola Ride

As I said at the start there are gondolas absolutely everywhere so you can shop around to find the best bargain but also the best route. We took a gondola ride around the canals so it was sort of a bit more inland than, e.g., out on the waters of the Grand Canal. It was very nice and peaceful . We bargained our guy down in price but I’m pretty sure he also chopped out about 15 minutes of the trip to reflect the cut down price! At first our guy was asking for 60 or 80 euro and I think we ended up paying something like 45 or 60 euro (I can’t remember exactly) for 30 minutes. He was a nice enough guy but spoke limited English and so didn’t say much during our ride. From other gondolas passing us we heard the gondolier giving them a sort of tour guide, or pointing out important buildings at least, so it may be worth checking if that service is available.

A gondola ride is one of the must-do things in Venice and it is very lovely but it is pricey so you’ll have to buck it up and live with the price. Oh! You can also go and see the gondolas being built!

Basilica di San Marco (St Mark’s Basilica)

Lots of gold and mosaics in this basilica. A visit to view the interior is free (though women must be dressed appropriately (knees and shoulders should be covered) and you can climb to the Galleria for more views across the Piazza and out to the lagoon to San Giorgio and access to the museum. From here you can also get a better view of the interior. The highlight up here is the up close view of the four bronze horses.

Campanile di San Marco, or Belltower of St. Mark’s

Getting up early to hit the tourist sights is what most guide books advise you so you can avoid the queues. However this rule didn’t seem to apply in Venice. Could be an anomaly but every morning we went into the Piazza San Marco there were huge queues for the Belltower, the Palace and the Basilica but come just after lunch the queues seemed to fade away to more manageable levels.

Every city or town I visit I must go to a spot which sits high above the city for panoramic views and the Bell Tower is it for Venice. The line wasn’t huge to go up but by the time we emerged at the top there were quite a few people there so it was very crowded and spots by the windows were hard to come by. Good timing or bad timing we also got to the top just as the bells started ringing. There are five bells up there and they are massive and loud. I must admit feeling a bit nervous standing under them as they swung because I thought they might fall down on me!

The views from the Belltower are unparalleled and if its clear enough you can see absolutely everywhere though as usual you will have to put up with the rude tourists intent on getting their shot out the window.

Piazza San Marco

The Piazza San Marco is tourist central as this is where everyone seems to come (if they’re not at The Rialto Bridge that is ..) If you’re meeting people in the Piazza be sure to pick a point that is not outside the Basilica because this is where everyone, including giant tour groups, congregate and seeing each other in the sea of people will not be easy. You could easily spend an hour or two people watching in the Piazza but there are also cafes which line it if you want to take a seat. However, sitting down in any of the cafes in Piazza San Marco is going to cost you a bundle as you are paying a premium for the prime position and also the orchestra who entertain day and night. If you want to soak up the atmosphere you can simply stand around and watch. But sitting down in the Piazza, if not at the café, is strictly not allowed and if you do you will soon be asked to get up or the police will be called!

The Piazza is also sometimes hosts to re-enactments of the olden times when the King used to come down and be entertained by jesters, by sword fights etc. and we were lucky to see this one day. I was a bit scared though by one of his entourage – he was a big, no giant!, scary knight!

Vaporetto Rides

Vaporetto’s are basically Venice’s buses on the water and there is no better way then to get a picture of Venice than to take one of these on the Grand Canal. I think the No. 2 travels between Piazza San Marco and the railway station and along the way takes you up the Grand Canal taking in sites including the Rialto Bridge and the artistic area of Galleria dell’ Accademia. Plus out on the water you can see how busy it really gets with all those other “vehicles” on the water. Best place on the vaporetto is out the back for open-air views however also be aware that these rides get very crowded!

Other Distractions

Harry’s Bar

If ever there was a tourist trap then Harry’s Bar is it. However, everyone MUST come to Harry’s Bar to indulge in at least one bellini (peach juice and prosecco.) One bellini (served in a very small glass) will set you back at least 12 euro so its likely that’s all you’ll be able to afford but nevertheless it is interesting to come here and people watch and hope to catch a celeb. There are only 14 tables so it’s a rather snug restaurant and you’re most likely to be sat at the bar.

When Teesh and I went in an American couple were sitting next to us. I don’t know if the woman was drunk but she was VERY giggly and talkative. She was enormously entertaining especially when she kept wiggling her eyebrows at me when she was trying to emphasise a particular point, such as the fact that many of the people in the bar, the clientele that is, had had plastic surgery at one stage or another and when I discretely had a peak – she was right!

Note the dress code for men.

Murano

Venice’s glasswork is known around the world and if you went to get the genuine stuff then make sure it comes from Murano, being the island where all the glass making factories are. Note also that the vaporetta ride which takes you out to Murano passes by Isola di San Michele which is worth a visit in its own right. Known colloquially as The Island of the Dead it is one of the most beautiful cemeteries I’ve come across. Flowers seemed to freshened daily as most plots had nice fresh ones laid across them.

We ventured out to Murano early one morning hoping to catch some of the glass blowing demonstrations at the factories. Blatantly put on for tourists the factory we went to charged a small fee (a couple of euro) for the demonstration. It was money well spent. The first guy took about 15 minutes to shape this vase then the second guy, after shaping another vase in about 5 minutes, amazed us by whipping up a glass horse in like 5 twitches of his plier.

Lido

A short vaporetto ride away from Venice is Lido, an 11km sandbar and beach. We kind of left going to Lido a bit late in the day so, though we didn’t sit on the beach and catch some rays, it was still warm enough at 5pm in the afternoon to enjoy a nearly two hour stroll. It’s a huge beach and though the main area off the main strip was very busy a 5-minute stroll in either direction up or down the beach brings you to less busy surrounds. Its not the most beautiful beach I’ve seen but on a hot summer day I don’t see too many people refusing to go down there.

The Food

After one average experience at a tourist trap (serving typical pizza and pasta only) I really got into the food of Venice. Particular highlight included a tasty risotto nero (a seafood risotto tinted black by the ink of cuttlefish), a starter sarde in saor (sardines in a sauce of onion, vinegar, pine nuts, and raisins) and actually my final meal in Venice fegato alla veneziana (calves’ liver with onions Venetian style.) Mmmm …. all typically Venetian I understand.

One of our lunches was also quite memorable and involved indulging in cicchetti (tapas style snacks) which was quite good simply because we could eat what we want and as many of them as we wanted. It was surprisingly cheap too! In fact, a pub crawl in search of cicchetti is one of the perfect ways to fill your stomach at budget pries.

More simple pleasures including the numerous cones of gelati we indulged in (though often it was a race between the hot weather melting the ice cream and me being able to lick it all up) and the slices of pizza from a local pizza joint.

Last Words

I couldn’t get over the fact that there were no cars at all on Venice. The buses were boats, the ambulances were boats, the rubbish trucks were boats, and the police had boats. It was actually quite welcome and soothing.

As small as Venice is and as many visitors as it gets you would think that Venice would be overrun by the tourists but somehow it isn’t. The magic of Venice lies in the pockets of quiet that you can find dotted just steps away from the main thoroughfares. I could think of a better city to get lost in.