Thoughts on Venice

Venice is complicated.

It's beautiful.
It's crowded with tourists.
It has amazing churches and markets.
It is expensive.

Venice charges for public toilets.  Need the loo?  You better have €1.5. Venice charges €7 for one vaporetto ride.  (Vaporetti are the water buses - the pubic transportation).  Although a week-long pass quickly pays for itself, even at €60/person.

I read an estimate that 16Million tourists will visit Venice this year.  I would guess that there are more tourists than locals here right now.  Tenfold.  We hear English, German, French, Mandarin, Japanese, and languages I can't identify.  Even some of the Italian speakers are carrying around guide books.  This is all well and good unless you get claustrophobic in crowds.   We're discovering that an early start is the only way to see the city.   By 1 or 2 in the afternoon you can hardly move around Rialto bridge or St. Marks Square....  So early up in the morning, visit the open air market near Rialto... drop off the groceries then out to be at the first church or museum before it opens.

We purchased the city pass - which includes the choral churches.  The choral churches are 16 large and small churches that charge admission, then pool that money for restoration of these churches.  Today we visited 5.  And one museum/Palazzo - where we took advantage of the restrooms available for visitors.   We've decided we will time our water consumption and museum visits appropriately.  LOL

We're staying in a non-touristy area - next to the Giardini park - east of St. Marks by a few vaporetto stops.   This has an advantage - the prices for food are  more reasonable... there's a Coop (Italian grocery store) at the end of our "street", and there are fewer throngs of tourists.   Our apartment is on the 3rd floor (4th by American numbering) and we're getting a workout.  But it has enough beds, a kitchen, wifi, washing machine, and AC.  The last is important since it is hot and muggy here.

Some food pics from last night (Jill - this is for you).  Piero and I started with a lobster tagliatelle followed by fried squid.   Lou started with a pesto gnocchi and Rigo with spaghetti con pomodori.  They split a roast chicken dish for their second piatti.

Here are some obligatory canal pictures.   Note the crowds thronging St. Marks.   We were in those crowds yesterday afternoon.... won't make the mistake of going to St. Marks in the hot/sweaty late afternoon again.