Venice, Italy. Did it meet expectations?

 

Serenading Caroline on a gondola in Venice.

Venice, Italy! I don't know if there is a place that has a reputation for romance more than Venice. Perhaps Tuscany? Regardless, we headed for Venice after disembarking from a month on the Explorer of the Seas. Our goal? To explore the city and see the sights! And roam we did, as you can see in the maps below:

First, we had to get to Venice! We had disembarked in Ravenna, a city I need to explore in the future. From the dock, we took a bus, then two trains, to get to Venice. It was raining.

Our first view of Venice from outside the Santa Lucia Train Station, right on the Grand Canal. It was a short, 10 minute walk to our small but comfortable lodging on the Cannaregio Canal.

We dropped off our luggage and began 3 days of explorations. There's no other way to say this, so I'll be blunt. No greenery! Crowded! Stores selling merchandise made in China everywhere! And... do people visit Venice so they can smoke in crowds? If there were people, there were smokers.

Our first impression of central Venice was disheartening. This was a city of stone and commercialism. We've been to other places taken over by tourists, like Bruges, Belgium, but there was still... space. Trees. Vistas. On many streets in Venice, you are shoulder to shoulder with other people, particularly after 10am. It really wasn't pleasant. But, there was no flooding, so our visit had that for it.

There are locally made products. And I even found a music store selling ukuleles!

On our first full day, we took the obligatory gondola ride. I brought my ukulele to serenade Caroline! We got a lot of smiles and "thumbs up" from the passengers of other gondolas, but I was surprised at the lack of music and singing on other boats. We passed one gondola with a person singing and playing the... accordion. So much for my fantasy! And there were literally canals with "stop and go" gondola traffic, bumping into other boats and the walls, all waiting turns to take on or unload passengers. No fantasy here! It was a gondola trip production line.

Stone buildings. Stone walkways. Stone bridges. Stone churches. I've got nothing against this rocky construction, but it has pushed out gardens, and parks, and trees.

Note the extensive "porcupine wire" on buildings for keeping birds (pigeons) from roosting.

So, we decided to wander. And the further you got from Piazza San Marco, the more you got away from the crowds. You find trees, and parks, and museums. And did I mention the crowds dispersed?

The crowds are good for people watching, I suppose. And the crowded areas had eateries galore.

Too soon, our stay was over. We caught a water taxi to the Venice Marco Polo Airport, and boarded our non-stop flight to the US. Easy-peasy.

But... the United Boeing 767 flight had a malfunctioning air conditioner (we were told). After five hours on the tarmac, we were told the flight was canceled. United was terrible here. There was no assistance in rebooking. We finally got am e-mail that we were scheduled to leave in... 2 days. Not good. We ended up finding a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, with a connection on a United flight the next morning. We crossed our fingers that a reimbursement was coming, and got on the plane to Frankfurt, staying at an airport hotel.

Caroline waiting for the flight to board.

Five hours on the plane... this was our snack. It took another 2 hours to get through passport control. It was a long day at the airport.

The next morning we left for the US.

Of course, we don't blame the Comune di Venezia nor the Marco Polo Airport for our exit snafu. Expectations aside, we enjoyed discovering Venice, and would return to visit other islands. I think I would avoid the historic center of the city and look for paths less traveled.