Venice: City of Canals
There has always been a kind of magic to Venice, this floating city on the Adriatic Sea, built on over 100 little islands. Its unique appeal, perhaps unsurprisingly, has led to a real overtourism problem--over 20 million people visit every year (half of which are day trippers from cruise ships and the like), and indeed multiple friends warned me off Venice to avoid the throngs of tourists. But ultimately, it was an ideally-located city to fly into before heading north to the Dolomites, and honestly, with rising sea levels, I wanted to be able to see this famed city before it sinks into the ocean.
The first interesting challenge in Venice, as one might predict, was figuring out how to navigate the waterways. Having spent considerable time in Bangkok, which has been dubbed the "Venice of the East", one might presume that Venice has a similar mixture of waterways and roadways threading through the city. But Venice truly lives up to its moniker--canal-travel on boats is really your only option. I'd planned to take a bus boat, as they run frequently up and down the Grand Canal, but there was some concern about our larger pieces of luggage and needing to walk from the boat dock to our accommodations, so my parents wanted to spring for a taxi boat. When we arrived at the Venice terminal, I assumed that taxi boats would be plentiful; however, after 30 minutes of running around along the canal, there was nary an available taxi boat to be found. So, in the end, we hopped on the bus boat (which ultimately was perfectly fine).
While they can get very crowded, I loved traveling the canals on the bus boats, as they provided some of the best views of the city--its pastel buildings, characteristic Gothic architecture, and the ever-present gondolas with their stripe-shirted gondoliers. We purchased a 2-day pass, allowing us to hop on and off at our leisure, making it an ideal way to easily see the city.
One bizarre hiccup to the start of the trip was that my camera lens for my lovely Sony a7RII somehow got damaged on the flight out and wasn't working. This did not bode well for the beginning of a 2-week, photography-heavy trip. Miraculously, we managed to find a camera store not too far from Piazza San Marco that had a replacement lens in stock. This also gave us the opportunity to check out the famed basilica and Palazzo Ducale (though we ultimately just checked out their exteriors). The exterior of Basilica di San Marco was unfortunately heavily scaffolded for repairs, but it was still an imposing and impressive sight. The square was large enough to dwarf the swarms of people buzzing about, selfie sticks in hand.
One morning we kicked off the day by checking out Ca' Rezzonico, a palazzo and art museum known for its 18th century architecture and decor. I always enjoy walking through museums--the kind of hushed reverence of patrons that pervades the space, as they whisper about different paintings. The ceremonial rooms were beautifully appointed with their elaborately painted ceilings, and it was lovely to enjoy the art and decor of that period--brocade furniture, chinoiserie motifs, marble statues abounded.
My parents really wanted to take a gondola ride (a when-in-Venice sort of situation), and so our AirBnb host booked her go-to gondolier for Sunday morning at 9:30 am, their earliest available spot. Our gondolier said this was actually the ideal time--canals were at their quietest, everyone still abed or headed to church. And it was truly a lovely and unique way to see the city, coasting along the tranquil canals. Our gondolier pointed out historical landmarks, such as the home of Marco Polo, and provided some historical context, but I was content to just drink it all in. To admire the hundreds of years of history scored onto the oftentimes crumbling buildings. To see the water lines imprinted into the brick, marking the ever changing tide levels. To glimpse the daily lives of Venetians, with their flower-laden balconies and lines of laundry, flapping in the morning breeze.
Ah forced perspective making me look like a giant with hobbit parents
By chance, our visit to the city coincided with the Venice Historical Regatta (Regata Storica). The first evidence of this competition dates all the way back to the 1200s. Before the actual races, there is a historical re-enactment of the welcome given to Caterina Cornaro, bride of the King of Cyprus, who gave up the throne in favour of Venice in 1489. The gondoliers dress in period garb and row 15th-century style boats up the Grand Canal. As we were staying not far from the Rialto Market and the Canal, we were able to easily walk over to snag a spot on a pier and watch the festivities.
One of the highlights for me was venturing off on my own one late afternoon to do a bit of a walking tour around the city. From our AirBnB, I ventured over the Rialto Bridge to see Libreria Acqua Alta, a beautiful and quirky bookstore known for its unique decor. From there, I made my way through the narrow streets with their charming, restaurant-lined squares and over countless little bridges spanning the canals criss-crossing the city.
Libreria Acqua Alta
I eventually reached the wooden bridge, Ponte dell'Accademia, spanning the Grand Canal and affording truly stunning views of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute. I managed to time my walk well enough to catch the golden sunset light illuminating the basilica, and even the fanciful boats from the Historical Regatta making their way back down the Canal towards the harbour, to cheers from those lining the bridge.
From there, I wandered back towards where we were staying, passing over the famed Rialto Bridge, its first iteration constructed back in 1173 (though it's needed to be reconstructed several times since). The sun was just slipping below the horizon, painting the skies with a palette of pink and orange, as I stood on the bridge overlooking the bustling canal, marking the end of a lovely 5 km walk through the city. While our time in Venice was brief, only scratching the surface of all the history and architecture on offer, I was happy to have had the chance to dip my toe in the proverbial canal waters. Even though some areas were packed to the brim with tourists, which I'm sure could irritate even the calmest of travellers, it is such a unique place, one that is well-worth experiencing.
Sleeping & Eating
Our accommodations in Italy were a lovely 2-bedroom AirBnB apartment. Spacious and well-appointed, it had everything we would've needed for a longer-term stay. The one snag was it was up 3 flights of stairs, making for a weightlifting work-out for me getting everyone's bags up and down the stairs. While I initially located it without incident, it would become a running challenge finding our way back to it at the end of the evening, as GPS would sometimes get befuddled by the close-quartered, labyrinthian paths, sending us in the wrong direction. If we were in range, we would sometimes even use the AirTags that we had in our luggage to help guide us back.
Ostaria al Garanghelo
While the food and wine were solid in Venice, we didn't have any particularly memorable meals. We did learn quickly that reservations in Venice, perhaps unsurprisingly, were essential, particularly on weekends. My dad's favourite was the very first restaurant we ate at shortly after we arrived--Ostaria al Garanghelo, a spot not far from where we were staying. It's a fairly inconspicuous spot, and we grabbed patio tables on the street, watching the parade of tourists wandering by. I had a prosciutto and blue cheese pizza, which was a solid first Italian meal. Dad had what would be the first of many lasagna meals on the trip, though I think he would say that this was actually one of the best he had--rich and flavourful. A warm Italian welcome!