Venice was such a unique experience... there is no place like it! We really enjoyed our two nights here. Venice is man made, which was news to me. I never realized that all of these mini islands, essentially, we're built in the ocean to create this city. Cars, bicycles and rollerblades are NOT allowed so everyone walks or uses water buses, taxis or boats. You have to be an excellent boat driver as canals are tight spaces and many traffic jams occur. (Ben, I thought of you often because you'd appreciate their boat maneuvering skills!) I loved just watching the boats!
We basically just walked around all over the place. Around just about every corner was a picture perfect scene including boats, canals, mini bridges, laundry drying on the line, friendly dogs, flower boxes, Italian friends calling to each other, gondolas, pizzerias and gelato! We also went to San Marco Square.
Important to mention... Venice is a labyrinth (aka. a confusing, non-sensical maze!). Our AirBnB host, Marti, kindly met us at the train station to walk us to her place... thank goodness because shortly after I peered out our window to see two extremely frustrated backpacking guys completely lost! We tried to call down to them to offer help but off they went. Anyways, a common sight in Venice was lost and often frustrated tourists. We decided to just embrace being lost and had a great time!
We went for a gondola ride!! It's one of those things you just have to do in Venice... get on the water ways! However, ALL water transport was very pricey (20 euros per person for water buses, 80 euros per boat for a 30 minute gondola ride, 80 euros for a 20 minute taxi, eek!). Marti told us of a family that got ripped off big time... they paid 400 euros for a 30 minute gondola ride!! When they found out they had overpaid, they searched all over Venice for their gondolier, demanded their money back and the police suspended the gondoliers lisence for just one week. Oh my!
Our gondola story began with Bruno, a 45 year experienced gondolier in Venice (he is 68 and even insisted on showing us his ID to prove it haha), who offered us 50 minutes for 80 euros. He took us exactly where we were headed, sang to us, spoke to us in mostly Italian ha, was waved to by practically every local we passed, etc. Such a great experience! It sure is something to see all of the little narrow waterways that make Venice so unique!
Here are some pictures from our nights in Venice... pizza, pasta, music in the streets, lights, sitting by the grand canal to catch the live romantic music across the way... what a dream!
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