After reading some advise on online travel forums, we decided to stay in Verona and do a day trip to Venice.
We didn't have any set itinerary for Venice. The only thing that was a 'must do' on our Venice list was a gondola ride. I just wanted to bask in the 'prettiness' of all the canals and little bridges. To be totally honest, I didn't get to do any research on Venice before we got on our train and were on our way so we arrived at the Sta. Lucia train station in Venice pretty...well, clueless. We're getting pretty good at finding our way from 'clueless' and I find it more fun to discover places as we go so this didn't faze me.
As soon as we stepped out of the station we found ourselves facing the Grand Canal overwhelmed with a myriad of options for 'water rides'. It's a bit like standing in Circular Quay in Sydney trying to find the best option for a ride to Manly. There were water taxis, tour operators offering canal tours, public water buses, and then there were the gondolas.
While it wasn't the cheapest way to get around Venice (€80 for 40 minutes) we decided that if we were going to get in the water in this city it had to be on a gondola. After all, we didn't come all this way to get on something that looked like a Manly ferry! (I also secretly wanted to get on one of those slick wooden taxis ala Angelina Jolie in The Tourist but I wasn't dressed for the part).
We explored the lanes and alley ways of the city before getting on our gondola and after a while corner after corner just started to look the same. Shop after shop it started to get pretty boring. They weren't little shops or artist galleries with artisans selling their wares either. I like those as they add to the charm and character of a place. These were chain stores, designer brands, and sidewalk stalls filled with every possible souvenir item made in China.
We didn't really have a clear idea of what we wanted to do in Venice but we certainly didn't go there for the shopping. Apart from a gondola ride though, it seems that's really all there is to do there. Were we missing something? We decided to continue walking and at least get to the Piazza on the map. After all, the piazza is always the heart of any town, city or village. At least we should see that, I thought.
Piazza San Marco was worth the walk. It is a beautiful open space surrounded by historic buildings. The kids loved running amongst the pigeons and classical music filled the air. Perfect place to sit for a cup of coffee while the kids played. I picked a table at one of the outdoor areas that had a quartet playing and sat down. Shortly after a spiffy looking waiter dressed in a tuxedo came over and handed me the menu together with a little 'flyer' announcing the table charge of €6 per adult for the music. OK, fair enough. At least they were upfront about the cost of the ambience. I opened the menu and that's when I almost choked. My 'little cup of coffee' was €9, a glass of wine was €18, and a cocktail was €26. Oh, and don't forget the extra €6 per adult for the music on top of that! In comparison, a cocktail at the restaurant in front of the Arena in Verona was €7.50. I couldn't get myself to pay €9 for a cappuccino and decided to get hot chips for the kids instead. They were still pricey at €8 (€14 including the music charge). Most expensive patatas fritas we've ever had.
I already had an opinion of modern day Venice before getting to Piazza San Marco. It's a beautiful place, certainly very photogenic and they know it. It's very touristy and annoyingly so in Piazza San Marco where fleecing their visitors with ridiculous prices seems quite natural. And if you would prefer to sit on the ground in the middle of the Piazza to take in the surrounds, local police will make you stand up (as witnessed). In fairness though, prices around the rest of Venice for food, drinks and gelato were pretty reasonable.
Part of me thinks I should just be able to overlook these things and enjoy the place for what it is but for some reason in Venice I couldn't. Even the gondolas, which I naively thought were owned by the individual gondoliers and their families as a tradition, are now owned by a few big companies and your gondolier is likely to be an employee.
Maybe we missed something vital? Maybe we didn't give it enough time? Not quite what I expected from such a beautiful place.
The 'Merchant of Venice' just took on a whole new meaning for me in this overly commercialised little city that seems nothing more than a beautiful shopping mall.
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