Lost in Venice

The iconic Rialto Bridge taken from the Vaporetti.

Venice is one of those places whose landscape is so iconic it is instantly recognizable. Exiting the train station in Venice I felt a deja vu feeling like I had been there before.

By day, it’s an easy city to navigate, on foot. By night, one needs a map and a flashlight and maybe a magnifying glass! The hard part is finding one’s location on the map. A common sight is tourists examining their maps!

Wander into quaint piazzas and dead ends.

Guide books say, “Get lost in Venice” – just wander without a plan. We tried that and ended up in the same piazza where we started. We then used our map to get away and found some interesting, quiet, non-touristy areas including the old Jewish Ghetto. Because the canals, bridges, windows, all start to look alike we’d ask ourselves, “Have we been by here before?”

A market boat

Venice! I loved seeing the shopkeepers opening up their shop, washing windows and sweeping sidewalks. St. Marks Basilica was gorgeous and unique from the other Italian churches I’d seen so far. I loved the crumbling buildings, the windows, gates and flowering window boxes, canals, bridges, stripe-shirted gondoliers, gondolas and ocean vistas.

Spaghetti with clams

In Venice we experienced a vaporetto ride up the Grand Canal, a traghetto crossing, sitting in a piazza, eating seafood risotto alongside a canal, wandering through all the sestierre, enjoying the views and people watching. St. Mark’s Basilica, the Doges Palace Secret Itinerary Tour, and the Frari church were the only things on the “must-see” list. We never made it over to Murano, Burano or the Lido.

Some visitors say Venice is too touristy, too expensive, or smelly. Not to me! Our 3 nights at Al Campaniel B&B in San Polo was only 96 euros a night. Venice is perfect for rambling which doesn’t cost a thing!