Venice

If you asked me to describe Venice in one word, I would say: overrated. Now, I really enjoyed myself, and the city is really beautiful. However, its such a tourist destination, that you really don't get the feeling that anyone lives there. They just come in service the tourists, which really is how the colony started anyhow. I'm very glad I went, it was charming, but I doubt I'll return.

Let's start with the sketchy late night trip from the airport, shall we? My flight arrived around 11 pm, so by the time I made it to the docks, it was almost 11:30 pm. I get on a water taxi, and prepare for an easy trip across the bay to the city. WRONG. It took forever! Why? Well, you see, the driver preferred to talk on his phone the entire time. Now, seeing as talking on the phone cause him to drive erratically, the police pull us over. Which is really weird--the boat police pull us over. They board, he has to find his registration papers, they write him a ticket. This process takes a good 20 min. By now, there's a Russian (maybe?) couple on the boat, who are getting pissed that this trip is a little long. When we finally get going again, the driver gets back on the phone, and the Russian couple continues to bitch about the guy. Then, we slow down AGAIN, and I think the driver was trying to help a girl in a boat who ran out of gas. I'm not really sure what we were doing, but it took another 20 min. So, the Russian guy starts shouting at the driver, in Russian, and the driver shouts back, in Italian. Now, as you can imagine, this accomplished nothing, except waste another 10 min. listening to a shouting match. We finally get back to boating, and I make it to my hotel at approximately 1:30 am. An hour trip took twice as long. Not very happy about that.

Anyhow, the crown jewel of Venice is San Marcos Square. No matter how much I wandered the small canals, I always found myself back at this beautiful place. There was plenty of people watching to be done, and I don't think you could ever admire the buildings enough.

Most of the beauty of Venice, I think, lies in your ability to just get lost in the maze of canals and small streets, finding that next small shop or gelateria. So, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The famous Rialto Bridge.

The Grand Canal.

St. Mark's Campanile.

St. Mark's Basilica.

St. Mark's Clock and Clocktower.

The Lion of St. Mark.

One thing that you notice is the severe lack of green space. I mean, the city is completely built in the water, so land to grow things isn't very abundant. These were the only trees I saw the whole time I was there.

All in all, I'm very glad I got to wander around this city, especially considering its probably going to sink into the water very soon. And, it really is beautiful, just extremely overpriced. Glad I went; probably wouldn't go back.