It is vital that you visit Venice if you go to Italy. It is a necessary stop. Venice was once the most prosperous sea port in Europe and a powerful trading post. Opulence reigned supreme but now it's in a state of elegant decay. Venice has been a tourist location for over 400 years and will continue to be so. Once you move out of the tourist zone you will find yourself in idyllic Venice that few see. Elegant decay does accurately describe the city but that's part of the charm.
On the train from Milan to Venice I met a Canadian guy and after we chatted a bit he invited me to spend the day with him exploring the city. He plays a video game called Assassin's Creed or something, and he wanted to visit the places in the city that were also in the game. And he spoke Italian. What a treat it was to spend the day with someone and share that experience.
My hotel was near the Scala Contarini del Bovolo or Bovolo Stairs. My room was in a grand old house. The price was reasonable but the room was awful. It was so cold that I could see my breath and as I didn't speak Italian, it was difficult to convey that to my hostess. Finally, I got my point across but she intimated that she couldn't do anything about it.
However, there was one fun thing about my room. Well, it's probably true about any room in Venice - my window peered out onto a popular water-way for gondolas. My first night I heard accordion music, singing and talking. I opened the window and looked down to see gondola after gondola going by. After the riders had passed I would whisper "psst" to the gondolier, they would look up at me and I would wave, they would smile and wave back (or just shake their heads). That was a thrilling moment. I jumped up and down, clapping my hands with delight. After some time I lay down on my bed happy in the thought I would fall asleep listening to singing in Venice... until it dawned on me that this would continue well into the night. And indeed it did.
This the Doge's Palace in Piazza San Marco.
This is a photo of a little church, Saint Maria I think but I don't remember exactly.
My Gondola tour was great and the guide was an American who had been living there for 8 years. I learned a lot about gondolas and their owners, and Venice too of course. We chatted for a while afterwards and I learned that she has lived all over the world working in the travel industry in one form or another.
Venice is not a quiet town. There aren't any roads so there aren't any cars but it is teaming with boats. Gondolas don't have motors of course but they represent only a fraction of the boats on the water. Most boats have loud motors. Everything has to be brought in by boat so they run from about 6:00am until well into the night. Venice is expensive as well. There really isn't a way to do budget travel here: just plan to spend money and enjoy yourself. You don't need to spend too much time in Venice one day is enough for most people but two days is a fine luxury.
One day as I was leaning on a bridge just daydreaming, a gondola came along, I waved and the gondolier blew me a kiss and said "I love you!". It was funny.
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