Venice, what a fascinating place of trickery. It’s a man made island that is either ingenious or an extremely lucky fluke. It’s amazing, it’s confusing, it’s beautiful, it’s romantic, it’s a maze, but it’s sinking.

Amazing

I loved learning about how Venice was built. It’s actually ridiculous to imagine the Italians that drove wooden beams through the swampy marsh into the clay sea bed, creating the foundations similar to a forest under the sea. Then they layed down what was essentially a deck, one over the other, to create the surface. Finally they put down stone and built on top of that. What’s really interesting is that the type of wood they used has petrified rather than rotted due to the lack of oxygen thus making it stronger like stone. Lucky coincidence?

Don’t take my word for it though, I’m likely to have made a mess of the whole explanation. Instead do yourself a favour and take a walking tour to really discover the ins and outs of Venice. Your guide will do a much better job of showing you around rather then ending up at a dead end canal on you’re own. I recommend La Bussola. 

Confusing

Venice is made up of a ridiculous amount of little islands that used to be independent Christian villages. So with that in mind you can imagine that it is pretty difficult to navigate all of the alleyways, bridges and roads. You might find yourself slipping down a alleyway that is easily missed by the untrained eye or finding the canal at the end of your path resulting in an abrupt dead end.

Don’t trust Google Maps. That blue beckon of hope that is usually your best friend abandons you in Venice. I had carefully mapped out my route to my walking tour, Google Maps said it would take 10mins. Fantastic.  I thought I was being conservative by leaving with 15mins to get to my destination. Well I surprised when I got to the end of one alleyway to find that I needed to jump on a ferry to get to my destimation. Hadn’t factored that one. I didn’t have a ticket. So I quickly had to reroute myself and navigate my way through the maze at a light job by this point. I arrived only 5mins late, miracously, and luckily for me I wasn’t the only one. The locals must be used to it by now.

Beautiful

Venice is lovely. The canals, the gondolas, the people. It really is as beautiful as the pictures. Especially when you stumble across the less touristy areas, which do exist. Even though you’ll probably find that most of the time your getting lost, at least it’s in one of the most beautiful places.

It’s also a great idea to go out to the other islands that surround Venice. We went to Murano and Burano. Murano is best known for its intricate and vibrant glass. I loved watching the glass blowers at work. Then Burano is known for it’s lace and its colourful houses that look like they belong in a chocolate box they are just so darn cute.

 

Murano

Burano

Romantic

Of course Venice is flipping romantic! It has gondolas, canals, gelati and spaghetti (haven’t you ever seen lady and the tramp?) My friend and I decided to go for it and enjoy a half hour gondola ride with a lovely Italian gondolier for €80. Even though he didn’t serenade us like we had hoped, it was still enjoyable and iconic. Was it worth €80? Well, maybe not. Although, I do highly recommend you do it… But here are some tips:

• Get a group: You can have 6 people on a gondola So grab some friends and split the cost. If you don’t have friends just lurk around the gondola place. Let the gondolier know you’re interested but would like to join another group.
• Go late in the afternoon: They charge extra after 7:00pm but try and get as close to that time as possible because that’s the nicest time of day.
• Choose your gondolier wisely: There are so many to choose from so you can afford to be picky. Apparently the ones near Saint Marco Square only chat to their friends as they go along because that is the more popular part of town. Some you’ll find will also be on their phones on your ride. If your lucky you’ll get someone who is friendly and informative or someone who sings!

Did you know that there is a set number of gondoliers in Venice? There can only be 425. Also to become a gondolier you need to take an exam that is only held every couple of years. So it’s a pretty highly prized vocation to the Venetions.

Maze

Ironically Venice is on the shape of a fish. When you know this, it is easier to remember where you are. After giving up on Google Maps I decided to give my compass a try after I remembered a friend telling me he had been using one. Surprisingly it worked! It may not have gotten me to an exact location but definitely helped when I knew what general direction I wanted to go.

Sinking

Venice, please don’t sink! Sadly, despite failed efforts, Venice is continuing to sink. Due to the tourism and modern machinery it’s also sinking at a faster rate. So if you know of a way to save a sinking man made island, maybe give the Italians a call.

Bonus: An interesting fact I did learn about Venice was that there used to be two gangs living in Venice. They took gang wars to new levels as they would fight every time they would cross each other. Finally, sick of the violence happening in the street someone (with some kind if authority) decided to make a rule that this fighting could only happen at the assigned bridges that crossed the canals. The gang members could meet at one of these bridges and have it out. They would send one representative to get things started then as soon as one of them fell into the water it was all in.

Total Step Count: Lost count

Next Destination: Rome