"Venezia - Love at First Sight" a Venice Travel Page by JetlagCity

Welcome to one of the only VT Venice pages NOT to feature the Rialto Bridge or the Bridge of Sighs! To be honest, I read so many tips about these two bridges before I went that I just got a bit tired of them!

This was my wondrous first taste of Venice when I arrived via boat from Marco Polo Airport. There was a boat race taking place on the Grand Canal, (I later learned this regatta is called the Vogalonga). When we arrived all kinds of manually powered boats were pouring out one end of it - rowboats, gondolas, kayaks, etc. What a spectacular sight!

The Venetian Lagoon has a lush, beautiful green tint to it. It was always choppy, due to so many vaporetti, ferries, cruise ships, fishing boats, and other motor boats making their way around. I've heard there are significant pollution problems, but I certainly couldn't tell just from looking at it when I was there. All I saw was the sun sparkling on the water -

After the water, Venice's big draw is its art and architecture. You'll see a lot of Middle Eastern influences on Venetian architecture, both Byzantine and Muslim, dating back to Venice's monopoly on trading with Turkey, Syria, Egypt, etc. And this city is overflowing with great art - Veneziano, Bellini, Carpaccio, Titian, Tintoretto, Palladio, Canaletto, Tiepolo, and plenty of others. It's a lot to take in, but I enjoyed it all!!!