"Much as expected, really.........." Venice by leics

Venice Travel Guide: 8,137 reviews and 21,375 photos

Stormy skies over the Canal Grande - Venice
Stormy skies over the Canal Grande

2012: a return visit with my friend, the farmer's wife (FW). We stayed in Mestre on the mainland, a much nicer place than I'd expected and worth considering if you find Venice accommodation simply too over-priced.

The FW and I explored Venice for one day. I was happy to follow her choices, so we took a classic vaporetto ride down the Canal Grande to San Marco, went into the Basilica, wandered the streets, visited the ghetto, wandered some more and then returned to Mestre. That was quite enough for the FW: she doesn't like crowds, she isn't much into history and...to be perfectly honest...she found Venice simply too tourist-oriented and too full of visitors (even in very early April...goodness knows what it is like in high season!). It wasn't 'real'. I know just what she means. Venice *isn't* real nowadays. It was once real, and it is that past reality which one sees.

I shall probably go back again at some point, in the lowest of low seasons, and see if I can find the magic which Venice works on so many of its visitors. But I haven't found it yet.

2008: I had to go at some point, of course...........one simply has to visit such places if one can. The vast majority of the European population already have many images of Venice in their heads; one doesn't really expect to be surprised.

And I wasn't really, if I'm honest. I saw alleyways and canals and gondolas and gondoliers, art and churches and church bells, water and tourists. A dramatic arrival in the midst of a raging thunderstorm with truly torrential rain somewhat dampened any anticipatory exhilaration I might otherwise have felt (thankfully the storm arrived after we landed, although we'd been told to expect 'severe turbulence', which was a bit scary). but the next two full days (and a morning) were pleasant and sunny, even warm in the afternoons, and thus ideal weather for my usual long, long walks wandering around an unknown city.

I didn't do the trip down the Grand Canal (too expensive, imo), nor the gondola ride (even more expensive, although I did manage a cheapo ferry trip on a traghetto gondola). Nor did I visit any of the other islands. thse things can wait until my return, if there is to be one.

But some things were unexpected: how expensive Venice is, for example. I had expected to be on a par with Rome, but it is more like London. It's not impossible to eat for a reasonable price (I did), but paying 1 euro for every toilet stop seemed a lot. But then, as long as the money goes towards maintaining the city............

I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness of the streets too. There wasn't the usual rubbish one expects to see in Italian cities, nor the graffiti. I can't speak for the cleanliness of the canals though; the lagoon is badly polluted by mainland industry, and the sink/bathwater from residential Venice still finds its way happily into the canals: the faint whiff which occasionally drifted up suggested what the place might smell like in the hottest months.

Venice postie. - Venice

Venice postie.

What else pleased me? Hmmmmm.........the little bits of old stonework which I spotted on walls everywhere I walked (I made a travelogue about these here and here). I suspect many originated as identification place-markers for a largely illiterate society. I saw the same thing in Pompeii, carvings on the corners of streets and so on.......lovely to thing how the practice survived into Medieval times...and in Krakow too, where many old houses have carvings above their doors. I know Venice now has a hugely confusing house-numbering system. The postman in the photo is a very clever man!

I liked the way narrow alleyways led into one another, or opened out onto a tiny courtyard, a little square or a massive church. I liked the way the larger squares were filled with children playing once school ended; riding their bikes, playing football, skipping, playing with the water fountains, the whole area resounding to their noise and chatter and laughter. Of course they do, for where else can the children of Venice play? It would drive one mad to be cooped up inside an apartment with a bubbly energetic child........better by far to go out onto the square, let the kids run around(no traffic to worry about) whilst you chat with other parents.

I liked the markets too, and the fact that (once away from the San Marco area) one could mostly hear nothing but Italian (I was there at the very beginning of the season, remember), and see ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.

I liked the fact that, although 'Don't Look Now' is one of my favourite films of all time, Venice isn't really the dank, dark, scary place it suggested.

The biggest surprise? Walking out of a sottoportego (an alleyway beneath a building) in Campo Santa Maria Formosa, a particularly large piazza, and hearing the rather familiar tinkle of bells. And then seeing the unmistakable sight of an English Morris dance troop, draining the last of their Peroni before preparing to work off the calories with a display. Of course. What else would one expect to see on a sunny Venice afternoon as one rounds a corner?

It was the Blackmore Morris Men, dancing their way round Venice for fun (they've been to other places too) . Their performance was well-received by those hanging around in the square, although some seemed bemused by the sight of English gentlemn with bells on their legs and flowers o their hats leaping about and waving handkerchiefs to the cound of accordian and fiddle.

But I liked seeing them, and I liked the way some little ones joined in with the dance. So that was fun, and deserves a travelogue of its own.

Morris in the campo - Venice

Morris in the campo

The art, of course, is there for those who wish to see it (it's not really my thing). The churches are many indeed, and I went into far more than most visitors do ....but their plainness and lack of external ornamentation was a surprise. Some were calm and atmospheric places, but many seemed to me to be nothing much more than art galleries.........but then, perhaps, my eye is jaundiced from so much Roman church exuberance, and by lovingly observing too much history and detail in UK churches and cathedrals.

Venice is desperately expensive for those who live there, so it is not really surprising that its population is dropping rapidly. I wonder whether, in the end, it will become a historical Disneyland, existing only for its visitors? In some ways it is already at that stage, for it is tourism which drives its economy and serving tourism which is its purpose.

And maybe that is not really such a bad thing. Better for Venice to stay preserved and functioning mostly for its visitors than for it to decay and decline and, eventually, be lost beneath the murky waters of the lagoon.

Pros and Cons
  • Pros:Superb architecture and an entirely unique location.
  • Cons:Crowds, queues, expensive.
  • In a nutshell:A place which lives up to its hype.
  • Last visit to Venice: Apr 2012
  • Intro Updated Apr 16, 2012
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Comments (16)

  • Reply
    dancinbudgie's Profile Photo
    Jan 27, 2011 at 1:41 AM

    Hadn't heard about the 'chorus pass', sounds like a good deal... Oh...also good to know I'm not the only one who has 'paranoid moments'! That made me laugh...

  • Reply
    hunterV's Profile Photo
    Oct 18, 2010 at 7:12 AM

    Hello again! It's another splendid page with lots of details, THANKS A LOT !

  • Reply
    Jun 27, 2010 at 12:22 PM

    I think the Osteria Enoteca Ai Artisti is nearby on the Fondamenta della Tolletta (and is what kofimensa is referring to). The Caffé Bar Ai Artisti (in the photo) sits right on Campo San Barnaba, and their tables fill the campo in front of it.

  • Reply
    RoscoeGregg's Profile Photo
    Nov 7, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    I love history of the everyday. Your tips are the best!! They will make my trip to Venice much more meaningful. Thank You For Them. Randy

  • Reply
    icunme's Profile Photo
    Sep 17, 2009 at 1:52 AM

    Always enjoy your photos & good detail. Great Off Path - sending your accommodations tip to a friend. Grazie, Carol

  • Reply
    Maurizioago's Profile Photo
    Sep 13, 2009 at 2:11 AM

    I have to go back there soon. Ciao!

  • Reply
    ViajesdelMundo's Profile Photo
    Jul 31, 2009 at 7:26 PM

    FAB HP photo with the clouds! Last trip, we too arrived in the rain (but not as bad as yr storm) and had diff finding the hotel; needing to ask other hotels along the way for directions! Wil get back to these pages soon; hv to give computer to hubby now.

  • Reply
    junecorlett's Profile Photo
    Feb 21, 2009 at 3:32 AM

    I dont think anybody could ever tire of visiting Venice,,,and yes, soooo expensive...

  • Reply
    leecouk12324's Profile Photo
    Jan 31, 2009 at 12:37 PM

    I like the first pic which looks like one of the Gande Canal I had mixed feelings of Venice - i did not like people trying to rip me off

  • Reply
    Zvrlj's Profile Photo
    Dec 28, 2008 at 11:33 AM

    You did a great job in "discovering" Venice. We have enjoyed your tips and photos. Happy New Year! I&V

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