Venice Overview
By iCheapAirfares Staff
Looking out across the stretch of water separating Venice from the Italian mainland, I was confident that the relatively short journey would not pose me any problems. How problematic can a trip across a bay be? In hindsight, the boat trip was fine - it was the disembarking that unnerved me. The boat bobbed about precariously in the water, and I was certain I would miss my footing in the gap between the boat and the ground.
Having made it off the boat in one piece, I was unsure of what to do next. I was in Venice, the romance capital of Italy, but there was nothing romantic about my trip. I was here with my friends on a one-day excursion during a short break. We were staying in the nearby resort of Lido di Jesolo, but it was not too our liking.
With the day’s itinerary already outlined by the tour company’s schedule, we joined the rest of the group on a guided tour of the city. The tour lasted around two hours, through the intricate streets and breathtaking architecture. Being summer, the weather was sweltering. Venice is situated in a basin, meaning that when it’s hot, it’s boiling hot. I could feel my pale skin starting to burn within minutes. I spent most of the rest of the day reapplying my sun cream, but still resembled a tomato by the evening.
Most of the restaurants in Venice charge ridiculously high prices for the tourists. They must see us coming a mile off. Not wanting to pay over the odds for our lunch, we set about trying to find one of the more modest eateries in the backstreets. Unfortunately for us, the backstreets of the Mercerie (a succession of interrelated shopping streets on the way to the famous Rialto Bridge) are a maze of intricate passageways littered with traditional market stalls and small but expensive boutiques. Presumably, these less expensive eateries are so tucked away that the tourists never find them. That was certainly true in our case. An hour later, we surrendered and opted to return to the waterfront. Easier said than done. We’d gone far deeper into the backstreets than I’d anticipated.
In desperation, I stopped a passer-by. My Italian is non-existent, apart from the absolute basics, and even that had deserted me. “Excuse me… where is the waterfront?” I ventured. The woman looked blank. Trust me to stop the one of the few non- English speakers in the vicinity. I stopped another person, one who looked more like a tourist than a local. He waved a hand in the distance and moved away. Talk about stating the obvious. None the wiser, I suggested that we try to retrace our steps and hope for the best.
I was ever mindful of the fact that our group’s boat back to the mainland would leave within the hour. We were due to assemble at the waterfront within 45 minutes. Whether it was by design or sheer luck, we managed to stumble out into the bright daylight of the waterfront within 10 minutes of the assembly time.
Walking along the waterfront, I saw a line of hotels with pretty outward appearances. How lovely to be staying in such close proximity to such a wonderful view. Our own hotel in Lido di Jesolo looked out onto a busy main road.
For me, Venice was the most impressive city I have visited. The historic architecture surrounding St. Mark’s Square, or Piazza San Marco, as they call it in Venice. One such building is the Basilica di San Marco. It looks even more fantastic when viewed in the kind of heat that accompanied my visit. We sat in the Square for a few minutes while we were waiting for the boat to take us back to our resort.
Strangely enough, the Square isn’t actually square. Its slanted sides indicate that it is in fact a trapezoid. Whatever it’s official shape, it dates back to the 11th Century. Building work on it was carried out in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Go!
