Venice - slipping in?
 

Do people ever slip into the canals? How rare or common is this?

Are you planning on representing them in court, Counselor? (sorry, couldn't resist).

I kinda expected that. Nah, we're leaving Monday on our first trip to Venice, and I was just curious if slipping in should be of any concern, or if any Fodrites have any actual experiences or anecdotes.

Intrepid: I got a laugh out of this one

Well, we've certainly seen it happen in the movies although i think people wereas likely to get pushed in as falling in. I never saw anyone fall in when I was in Venice last although I suppose it is possible, depending on where you walk (in some places). I honestly don't think it is a major safety concern...use to be how the water in the canals smelled raised some concerns with some folks. Hope you enjoy your trip.

dflawyer:

Your question reminde me of something I've always wondered about: How DEEP are the canals in Venice?

Anyone . . . ?

Jennie

Don't forget to pack your water wings, DF!

Hi df

Falling into a canal is like falling off the sidewalk. It rarely happens.

The grand canal is fairly deep. Side canals can be as shallow as 2 - 3 ft.

Ira and Intrepid, thanks

Betsy, LOL

p.s. I commend Ira for taking such questions seriously. Although it is not an earth shattering issue, I was curious, and I am sure others are as well.

to the top

Well, first and foremost, ENJOY Venice and whatever you do be sure to go to San Marco in the evening after all the (other) tourists have gone..it is magical; same can be said of the early mornings there. Now, as to that canal question..if you DO fall in (after all that after hours drinking and carousing yu're going to be doing in San Marco, by all means close your eyes and hold your breath..the last thing you want is a nasty eye or other infection. Enjoy!

It wouldn't be any more likely than falling off a curb onto a street. I suppose in rainy weather when pavement can be slippery I wouldn't walk on the literal edge.

I thought maybe this thread was posted as a tribute to Katharine Hepburn. Remember the movie "Summertime"?

Just to give you an answer from my
experience the only time you have to be careful is getting into and out of a gondola. You have to walk down sometimes wooden steps from the cement sidewalks that are not slippery, to step into the gondolas. It was the only time I tried to be extra careful.
Have a great trip.

If you wander around and get yourself lost, you may come upon a block of canal that's been dammed up and drained for foundation repairs. They typically look to be 4-10 feet deep.

You may also see walkways and bridges under repair. We saw an area with the paving stones removed so they could put in the conduits for wiring and plumbing. It even goes under the flagstones inside those little bridges up and over canals. Hey, it's gotta get there somehow! It's not like they can just dig ditches everywhere.

This reminds me of my friend in Venice who for years took the same waterway to and from his Venetian dentist. On the way home one day, he took a passage he had never taken before, fell out of his gondola and knocked his two front teeth out on a piece of floating wood.

When he got home his wife exclaimed, "What happened?"

He replied,
"Bad route canal."
((H))

Hi all. I don't have a "slip and fall" story (SORRY LAWYER), but when my father-in-law (not the brightest bulb in the pack) was in Venice a few summers ago, he tried to cool off during a gondola ride by splashing GREEN canal water all over his face. EEEEEWWWWW!!!!!

While I don't think for a minute that there is any real danger of slipping into the canals, I do have an interesting story. When I was in graduate school, one of my professor went to Venice with his lover. She slipped and fell, hit her head on the side of a canal as she went down, and lived out the rest of her life in a coma. Sorry. Sad but true. I do not believe this was a tale made up by grad students. It was an event commonly known among campus faculty and students alike.

PJK: Based upon all the other responses, she probably did not slip at all, but may have met with foul play. Ah, the plot thickens.