Venice

Okay, let me try to explain how great Venice was. First, you have to understand that for a very long time people have told me how great Venice is, and how they’ve had the best vacations there, blah, blah, blah. And usually, when people talk up something, when you actually see it for yourself, it never measures up. (Spiderman 3 is a good example of that!). So I was a little dubious, but I had had such a good trip so far, that I was sure I would have a good time. What I was unprepared for is just how amazing Venice really is.

Taking the train in, and going over the bridge that takes you from the mainland to the city, I already felt excited and happy. I’m not sure why, since all I was seeing was the city from afar, but it looked exactly like all the pictures (I love when that happens), and it really did seem so different than any place I’ve ever been. The first thing that struck me after the obvious fact of all the water, was that there were no cars. It’s amazing really how ubiquitous the sound of cars is in our lives, and in Italian cities, cars and scooters are everywhere. But Venice obviously has no cars, and even the boats that drive don’t sound as loud and obnoxious as cars. So taking the vaporetto to the stop for my hotel, I was struck by the relative quietness. When I stepped off the vaporetto, and walked towards my hotel, the quietness became even more pronounced. I walked one block in, and the sounds of man-made engines stopped, and all I could hear were birds and the lapping of the water. Now admittedly, that all changed once I got near the hotel, but nevertheless, it’s amazing how easy it is to walk into silence in Venice.

My hotels in Italy were great, but I totally outdid myself in Venice. I stayed in the guesthouse of a hotel called Locanda Fiorita, and I can’t say enough about the place. The breakfasts were simple and boring, but besides that, I loved it. My room was big and really quiet, and what was even more amazing was that it was on a big, busy square called Campo San Angelo. But the ever-present double-paned windows kept all the noise out. The location was incredible. It was completely centrally located (if something can be completely central). From the east end of the square, it was a five minute walk to Piazza San Marco, from the south end, a five minute walk to the Galleria della Accademia and the Guggenheim, from the north end, a five minute walk to the Rialto Bridge. It was also around the corner from two great restaurants where I had my dinners.

Venice is a city for walking, and while I saw lots of sights, the best part of Venice was walking around, and really you can’t get completely lost because you’re on an island. I did get lost a number of times, but if you walk around enough, you eventually reach some major point. Of course, the first thing I did was walk to Piazza San Marco, which was great. It actually reminded me a lot of Plaza Mayor in Madrid, except that it has the huge church. In three of the cafes, they have these bands playing outside, which I thought was pretty funny. I walked to the Doge’s Palace and made a reservation for the “secret tour” for the following day, and then I walked along the waterfront, watching the tourists. There are a lot of tourists in Venice, obviously, but for some reason it doesn’t seem as obnoxious as Florence, and I think it’s because it’s still so quiet in Venice even with all the tourists.

The first night, after dinner, I walked to the Piazza and walked from band to band to listen to music. That night I also got to see something that I wanted to see, but wasn’t sure if I’d be able to, and that was P. San Marco filling up with water. I guess the way the Piazza is built, during really high tides, the water flows up from the sewers and into the Piazza. I have a picture to the right, but it was funny to walk around this major square of the city and watch it slowly fill up with water. I didn’t stay long enough to see if it filled completely, but I don’t think it did, and the next morning, everything was back to normal.

The next day, I went to the Doge’s Palace for my “secret tour,” and I recommend it for anyone who goes. The tour is small (about 25 people) and your guide takes you into the attic of the palace where all the governance happened. You can see jail cells where Casanova was kept, and you see the attic rooms. But more interestingly is the explanation of the governance of Venice. It ends up, and I didn’t know this, that Venice was a democracy for most of its independence, which was about 500 years. While only the noble families could vote (so I guess it was really an oligarchy), it never had princes or kings, and the church barely had a role in the governance of the city. And a lot of the “innovations” of American democracy, where already used by Venetians, such as term limits. They were renown for their torturing, so it wasn’t all fun and games, but the whole discussion of how the city was governed was really interesting. After the tour, I went through the rest of the palace on my own, which was interesting, but not as interesting as the secret tour.

I then had a quick lunch. Oh, and by the way, the food in Venice was great, even though my tour book said that Venetian food wasn’t so interesting. For lunch, for example, I just went into this little place, and I had a great plate of spaghetti carbonara. It was totally satisfying, and the pasta was, as usual, incredible. In any event, after lunch, I went to the Accademia museum, which was nice, although I find Venetian Renaissance painting not as interesting as Florentine or Roman. I then walked around the city, looking at things, getting lost, and enjoying myself immensely.

That night I went to this great restaurant near my hotel, but the best part of the meal was that I met this elderly British couple, and we just talked all night. It was great to meet some random people and just talk. I have their email so I can get England advice for the next time I go.

The next day, I went to the city museum and Guggenheim, and walked around some more. I really didn’t want to leave. I had lunch at this restaurant right on the water where I could see the outer islands, and it was incredibly pleasant. I waited until the last second to get my vaporetto for the bus to the airport, and that ended up being a mistake. It was Friday at 6 p.m, and the traffic out of the city was incredible. Basically I sat on a bus for 80 minutes to get off the damn island, so I missed my plane. Oh, well. By the way, never take Vueling – they’re jerks.

So now I had to figure out what to do because there were no planes to Barcelona for the rest of the evening. And I had one of those weird serendipitous experiences that makes life so interesting. I went to the airport ticket agent to get a flight back for the next day. (Which, by the way, is what is so amazing about travel in Europe right now. I got an incredibly cheap ticket, less than 12 hours before my flight. In the U.S., it would have cost me a minimum of 250 to get from, say, San Francisco to Los Angeles the following day. On this cheap Italian carrier, it was 40 euros). And then I needed a hotel, and I didn’t want it far from the airport since I had such an early flight, so the hotel information place made a reservation in a 1 star inn that was on the second floor of a pizzeria. The hotel was unbelievably basic, but the pizza downstairs was amazing!!!! So I sat down there, drank wine, had pizza, and went to sleep. It sucked to miss the plane, but it was great to have this totally unexpected experience.

In general, I’d say that it’s true, Italy is a must-see experience. And I can’t wait to go back. There's so much to see, the people are incredibly friendly, and if you like food at all, well, you'll gain 10 pounds.