In her beautiful book Venezia, Tessa Kiros started off with a letter…
“Dear P,
There is not much I can tell you about Venice… you will have to come and see it for yourself.” It’s true.
It is definitely a very unique place you need to see for yourself and it certainly is enchanting! Even arriving in the dark, getting off the train at the crowded station, there is just something magical about walking out onto the canals, seeing the hustle bustle of vaporetto and water taxis and of course the impressive buildings surrounding the station. (All while clutching your belongings after watching to many reels about pick-pocketers in Italy/Europe and being ever so grateful you read the warnings about not traveling with oversized bags in Venice!)
An amazing city, buzzing with life, full of ancient history and traditions that I won’t even try and summarise in this post, a unique culture built on centuries of trading and immigration. The labyrinth of little streets and canals, where you most certainly will get lost, the beautiful architecture and the fact that you are quite literally in a city, which is over 1600 years old and built on 118 islands is astonishing.
As we only had two full days here and had booked a trip to the islands for the second day, we had a few items on our “must see” list for which we had pre-booked tickets (top tip – book anything you don’t want to queue for in advance). We booked a Wake Up Venice tour on the first morning of our stay to get our bearings. It is hard not to be enamoured by the activity on the river, the surrounding architecture, the seagulls vying for the offcuts from the fish market and the vendors setting up their fresh produce stands for the day at the Rialto market. With references dating as far back as 1097, this area was once the center of trade in the region and has a fascinating history spanning centuries.
Our tour continued through the little alleyways, admiring the gondoliers all getting set up for the day and the Grand Canal slowly springing to life – the sound reminded me so much of listening to the long boats on the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok (also known as the Venice of the East)! A quick breakfast coffee stop with a cappuccino and delicious pastry in a cafe where the pigeons pecking at the crumbs under our feet seemed as at home as the regulars shouting out their coffee orders at the bar, and the tour was over, leaving us the day to explore.
By 9:30am St. Mark’s Square was already teeming with people. We visited the Basilica, which is very beautiful but hard to appreciate when you feel like you are in a human version of a cattle crush. Definitely worth it was the trip up the Campanile di San Marco, where you have a 360 degree view of Venice and the outlying areas.
We quickly moved on from the square with plans to return at a quieter time for photos, stopping to enjoy a little ombra of wine and cichetti in a small corner, watching the world go by. The rest of the day was spent wandering the streets, soaking in the atmosphere, a tasty lunch at Nevodi and a sunset aperitivo at a sub par riverside restaurant with a great view. Venice on a Saturday afternoon when the sun is out in late March, is a busy busy place! A unique pizza celebrating the seasonal white and green asparagus was our shared dinner before falling exhausted into our beds!
We did go back to St Mark’s Square on our last morning, at about 7am, with just a handful of others about, the street cleaners clearing up, a couple of delivery boats dropping off supplies along the canals and the odd vaperetto going by. It is a beautiful piazza lined with porticos, the Basilica, the Clock Tower, and the Doges Palace all beautiful with intricate details. All amazing to see and should definitely not be missed.
It was a little hard to get to grips with the food scene in Venice in the short time we had and I will certainly not be professing to have acquired anything more than the most basic level of understanding of it. I did however come to the conclusion that if you are intent on learning more about the regional food and plan on having a good meal in Venice, do your research before hand and be sure to pre-book or you will be having an overpriced, below average meal. I was happy I had booked a few places that had been recommended and would have loved to have had time for a food tour with someone knowledgable, but will save that for next time.
It is easy to romanticise Venice, and a short visit like this can really only offer you a brief glimpse into a place. Talking to our guide and host, we soon came to realise it is a complex city facing multiple challenges. Amongst other things, overtourism is a big concern that looms constantly in discussions about Venice with there currently being more tourist beds than actual residents. In an attempt to try control the growing tourist numbers the city has in recent years banned cruise ships and has this year introduced a tax for day visitors. A good reminder to be more conscientious about how we travel and the impact we have on places we visit.
In short, a lot of great things to see, even more off the beaten path for those prepared to look and spend a bit more time, churches and museums, restaurants celebrating local produce, cute local stores selling everything from mass produced curios to kitchen supplies and beautifully crafted goods, and of course proud people who truly seem to care for the future of their city.
Favorite things in Venice
- Aperitivo on the canal at Vino Vero – great staff, cichetti and natural wines by the glass.
- The very friendly staff at Bar All’Arco – despite being on every foodie show and travel article on Venice (it gets really busy), the staff were super and the cichetti fantastic even at 10am in the morning for travellers who really wanted to see if the hype was worth it!
- Lunch at Nevodi in via Garibaldi.
- Pizza at Birraria La Corte on Campo San Polo.
- Getting lost. It will happen, make the best of it.
- The story of Lucia Rossi, who dropped a mortar out of her window in 1310 which killed the flag bearer of the attackers below, saving the Venetian Republic from an attempted coup.
- Soaking in the atmosphere of a late afternoon Select aperitivo on a bustling square.
- Walking in the early mornings with the foggy canals and late evenings when the streets are quieter and in some areas there is an eery silence.
