Magical Venice: we could not get enough
 

Venice was always on the top of most favorite cities and I could not wait to show it to my DDs (14 and 9).
We've entered the city by taxi (no reservations). 95 Euros for four of us plus luggage. The looks on the faces of our DDs !!! Priceless! I was so glad that we did not wait for vaporetto.

I’ll be the first to point out the hordes of tourists as one of the biggest negative factors for any destination (very hypocritical of me, if you think about it, since I have no claim to not being a tourist myself), and on the main routes through Venice, away from the expanse of St Mark’s Square, in narrow streets and not very wide bridges, the crowd effect becomes horribly exaggerated. I’ll also concede that when the temperatures rise, plenty of canals start emanating strong smell of sewage. Those are serious and valid complaints frequently heard from people who leave Venice not exactly besotted with it.

All I can say to that is this: Get up at six in the morning one day, get on the slow Linea 1 vaporetto that runs the length of the Grand Canal, try to commandeer one of the few seats near the bow, and watch the rising sun illuminate palazzi that line the canal. If you do not end up mesmerized by what you see – forgive me for being blunt – I don’t know why you bother to travel to foreign destinations at all.

Or get into a gondola for a ride along narrow lesser waterways. Get over your misplaced condescension of this being a “corny” activity. Just do it. Maybe you’ll find the experience of noiselessly gliding under arched bridges in a sleek vessel incredibly romantic, maybe not. But you’ll have to be fascinated by the attributes of a lifestyle truly dependent on those little waterways, which you cannot get close enough to observe in any other way. And what is the purpose of travel if not to be fascinated with things that you cannot see at home?

Or simply get lost in the city. Forget about sights to see, just walk randomly in any direction without consulting the map. I bet you’ll come across of dozens of picturesque and evocative spots within a short period of time. A tiny bridge over a narrow colorful canal here, a quiet campiello with a striking little church there. If you are not delighted by what you see… uhm, I’m getting this-close to labelling you in an unflattering way.

We did all of that, and more. Many things were discovered, some things were discovered anew. We tried to build the itinerary to include as many sights and locales that we did not visit on our first trip to Venice years ago, but we covered all of the “must-see” points as well, for children’s sake. More importantly, we walked all over the city, used all various modes of water transport, explored islands in the lagoon, stepped into many churches, listened to music on St Mark’s, dined on fetching tucked-away little squares…

We did not want to leave.

Here is a recent addition for out Travelog with everything we did, places we stayed and restaurants we ate.
http://burlaki.com/travelog/venice/

Happy travels!

sounds like you had a great trip, matroskin.

I haven't accessed your blog yet, but it's on my to do list.

regards, ann

One thing that we decided to do this time is to actually seat at the cafe at St. Marks and listen to the music for almost 2 hours (and writing a diary as well). The cover music charge was 5.70 Euros per person and we each ordered a cup of coffee. total about 25 Euros.

Again, unforgettable!

we had a similar experience with our kids a few years back. although, we did not experience overwhelming crowds. but, walking in the neighborhoods, going to a pizzaria that you would have never known was there without a little help from fodorites (tiny sign, way off the tourist track), sitting in St. Marks listening to music drinking bellinis, all seemed magical. i think venice is one of those places that is what you make it. we enjoyed the pigeons, we marveled at the crumbling building, we intentionally walked without knowing where we were just to see what we could discover. cannot wait to go back.

Going to Venice for the first time in about a month. My husband has been there, but I can't wait to see it and he can't wait to show it to me and our 10-year-old.

One question - where did you catch the #1 Vaporetto - was it near the bus station or train station? We are staying in the Santa Croce area, so not too far from there. Can't wait to check out your Travel log. Will also be visiting Rome, Amalfi and wandering through Tuscany on way back to Milan.

hi, ibrad,

if I may butt in, the simple answer to your question is both. once you are off the bus in the piazzale roma, there are some steps by the ticket office at the bottom of which you can pick up the numero uno. it then crosses the grand canal, and stops at "ferrovia" - the sign you will see written on the sides of buildings, indicating the way to the railway station.

your accommodation should be able to tell you the best way to reach them.

if you would like to read my account of our trip to Venice last easter, just click on my name and look for the trip report there "we went to Venice and we saw".

have a great trip,

regards, ann

We took Vaporetto right from Realto stop (near our apartment).

ibrad: if you check out our blog http://burlaki.com/travelog/category/by-country/italy/, there is a special section on Rome, Tuscuny and Amalfi.

Happy travels!

Oh, lbrad, I wish I could experience that first time in Venice all over again. May you fall under its spell as so many others have!

If you travel with teenagers to Venice, I cannot praise enough book by Mary Hoffman "Stravaganza: City of Masks". You might like it too!

Let them read before you go and then they will re-reading it after.