Venice, Italy

The flight from Nice to Venice only took an hour, making us feel like we hadn’t gone very far at all. But once we got into town, it definitely felt like we were in a different country. My husband and I have been to many different parts of Italy, but this was our first visit to the northeast. We spent four nights in a B+B in Mestre, one of the 6 Venetian boroughs.

Venice

Everyone knows that Venice is full of canals, yet somehow I was still surprised to discover that there are no roads at all – everything that would be a street in a typical city is a canal in Venice.

Piazza San Marco
Piazza San Marco,
from the campanile

In addition, having read that it is in danger of crumbling into the sea, I imagined, absurdly, a tiny island with walkways disappearing into water lapping at the edges. So I was also surprised at the size of Venice – it took a good 45 minutes to walk from one side to the other.

Grand Canal
Grand Canal

Venice is a beautiful city and thanks to the omnipresent water, there are amazing photos to be taken around every turn. However, the one major drawback is the rudeness of the locals. As I said, we have traveled all over Italy (and Europe), and never have we been treated so shabbily – it was far worse than anything I’ve ever experienced in Paris. The Venetians were utterly disdainful and contemptuous, particularly in the very touristy areas. It made no difference whether we spoke English or Italian (my husband’s is quite good). I hasten to add that this was not the case in Mestre, the islands, or any of the other towns we visited in the area.

Topics: Italy
 

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