Days 18-19: Getting Lost in Venice

Rick Steves says that 80% of Venice is NOT touristy, and 80% of tourists don't know this.  We found the 80% of which Rick speaks to be absolutely delightful, quaint, charming, and bulging with character.  We found the 20%--the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, St. Marks Basilica and Square, and the Doge's Palace exactly what we thought they'd be:  worth the visit and things that must be "checked-off" on your first visit to Venice, but crowded, hot, and super-touristy with what appeared to be the entire collection of North African countries, trying to sell us fake Louis Vuitton and Gucci bags, restauranteurs trying to lure us into their eateries with shouts of "Pizza, Pasta, Feesh!," and throngs of sweaty, dripping tourists.

The  sweltering heat we experienced in Verona continued in Venice.  This sweaty imprint was created by wearing my daypack as we walked 20 minutes back from St. Mark's Square to our apartment.

Those major sights are worth seeing but I preferred the laundromat.  Scrambling to find my way with Sam at my side through a maze or narrow, crooked streets and waterways--through which not even the best map can navigate one without getting them lost--was one of the highlights of my trip to Venice.  I found the place via some online forum, which provided no address but only directions such as cross this bridge and that bridge, turn left at the concession stand with the blue awning, and then take a right turn just before the church with the green dome, and so on.

Sam and I left our apartment in the Jewish Ghetto with just enough time to get one load of essentials (i.e., underwear and socks--items for which that most of us had no remaining clean items) washed and dried before the laundromat closed--that is, if we could find it on time. 

Even with navigation in hand we took a wrong turn or two, and we wound our way through a series of alleyways that couldn't have been more than 6 feet wide, passing various kosher cafe's and Jewish symbols hanging from store windows.  We finally emerged from the Jewish ghetto and arrived in a new neighborhood that housed our laundromat--just in time to get in a load before closing.

These are the kinds of restaurants you'll see in the "back streets" of Venice--small, mom and pop shops that have to make good food because they can't hustle in stupid tourists.   

Venice, with its 20 million visitors a year, is on most people's list of must-sees when they travel to Italy, but I have heard from a few that they hated it.   I too was a little worried that it was going to be a tourist trap. I might have felt that way too had if I wouldn't have been too cheap stay in the touristy center I--as close to  Rialto and St. Mark's as possible--but fortunately I went for the cheaper option and stayed in a neighborhood off the beaten path, which ended up making Venice a magical place.

Just as our load had dried, Sam and I walked briskly to the loan bus station in Venice to meet my parents, who are joining is for 19 days of our journey.  By that time it was 10:30 pm, and Mom and Dad were just coming off a marathon day where they flew from SLC direct to Paris, switched airports, ate lunch, saw Notre Dame, then waited two extra hours due to a delayed flight before they flew from Paris to Venice's Marco Polo airport.

We are thrilled to have two more traveling mates.

I asked Mom and Dad if they wanted to walk to our place (about a 17 minute trek according to google), or take the 15 minute boat ride.  Mom chose the $10 per person savings (with a little encouragement from me), and we began to walk the floodlit streets of Venice to our apartment.  45 minutes later we finally crossed the threshold of our apartment.

Yes, we got lost again. Before you think I'm navigationally challenged, you have to understand that there are no straight lines anywhere on a Venetian map. To complicate the matters, the same street often has two different spellings--one in a Venetian dialect and one in standard Italian, and the hard copy map I had in hand didn't often jive with my phone's map.  When in Venice, particularly if you stay off the beaten path, check your "I-have-a-good-sense-of-direction" ego at the door, and enjoy the wander.

Rick Steves says that you should get lost in Venice on purpose.  That wasn't too difficult for us, and being lost in Venice was definitely worth the price of admission.  Good night.  More pictures from Venice:

Gondolier on the Grand Canal:  crowded yet still beautiful.

Abby in her newly purchase stroller:  the first one bit the dust after a week on cobble stones.  We'll see how this one fares.

A secret shot I took of St. Mark's Basilica.  Not ever much of a natural rule keeper, I can't help myself from taking such shots--just to see if I can do so without getting caught :)

Gondelier on a side canal away from the hustle and bustle of the Grand Canal.

Me, getting a little work done on the balcony of our apartment.  That's quite a setting and conducive for focus.

Emma on that same balcony.

Another view--though in the opposite direction--off our balcony.

The track coach and his pupil with a view of St. Mark's square in the background.

The group at the Doge's Palace.  The Doges were the elected leaders of the super power, Venice, which was a mighty force in Europe for several hundred years during the middle ages.  Today it is the capital of tourism, and its population of Venetians continues to shrink--down to 60,000 from double that amount 30 years ago.  It's getting too expensive to live in a place where tourism pays a higher premium for land and food than do normal, everyday people and businesses. Here's hoping the number doesn't drop in half again in the next 30 years, although its heading that direction, losing about 1,000 citizens a year to the mainland.  Venice may just be a museum in the next century.