Now I know for most people when they visit Venice they really fall in love with it. Although I enjoyed Venice, I didn’t fall in love with it at all. That might be due to the dramas getting there and the weather we had! Read on…
Getting there – not fun!
We drove to Venice from Tuscany, and didn’t have a great start to the day. Had a couple of thunderstorms overnight so not much sleep and we lost power. So no shower in the morning as no hot water. Very wet, cold day. In fact we had torrential rain most of the way driving there and of course there was an accident on the highway which held us up further about 30 minutes.
Finally get to the Avis Hire Car office and it had closed at 1pm. So we weren’t sure really where to leave the car – there were vague instructions. We stuffed around for a bit trying to work out where we should leave the car and eventually parked in the next door carpark on an upper level and left the keys in the console. Fingers crossed! We later discovered they took 2 days to find the car, and so we were charged for those extra days, but we didn’t get charged for the damage John had inflicted – so that was a win!
By this stage we were about an hour late meeting the woman to take us to our apartment. We got on a water taxi to St Mark’s Square and of course she had long since gone. Finally found her phone number and so gave her a call and received a telling off. We then had to catch another taxi to Rialto Bridge and wait half an hour. Almost a bit teary by this time. And had pay another €30 for our delay – fair enough. At least the rain stopped whilst we dragged our suitcases to the apartment. Thank god the apartment was nice and spacious.
So Venice hadn’t made much of a positive impact at this point – it looked cold, wet and dirty. Some of the buildings along the canals looked a bit decrepit.
Finally arrived!
After all that, we had a nice apartment in a very central location and had a nice little bar near us two doors up and I was in great need of a drink by this stage! Had a very average pasta in a restaurant that evening where all the staff were Asian – odd, not what we were expecting in Venice. Had a few more drinks in a bar overlooking the Rialto bridge and doing some people watching. Went to bed hoping for better weather.
Wet, Wet, Wet
Unfortunately, the weather didn’t improve over the next few days. Very grey, cool, and wet. Canals start to overflow and narrow streets were filled with very wet people and umbrellas. Clothes, shoes and socks got wet and by the end of our holiday we didn’t have much clean clothing left. So had to leave our clothes out to dry overnight. St Mark’s Square became flooded towards the end of our few days whereby they put boards out for everyone to walk across. Apparently the previous weeks had been lovely so probably would not go in October next time (if there is a next time!)
Doge’s Palace – A Highlight
So after my whinges there were definitely some places we enjoyed seeing during our few days there. Probably a highlight was Doge’s Palace next to St Mark’s Square. Really magnificent and so much to see. One of the rooms was said to be the biggest in Europe and had the biggest painting on canvas. Quite an awe-inspiring room. The museum had lots of interesting things to see – a chastity belt for one!
The armoury I wouldn’t have thought would have interested me so much but it was great. All the arrows, swords, armours, crossbows etc. were all so decorative and beautiful. Really a feature of the Italians I think that everything should be beautiful – even weapons. In contrast they also had a few German helmets etc. that were as plain as could be – purely functional. The difference was stark! From here you go through the prisons and the famous Bridge of Sighs where the prisoners were transported from their cells to the courts.
The Food
Did spend a bit of time eating and drinking whilst in Venice! Didn’t find the food to be a highlight as it is in other parts of Italy. Quite expensive of course too. St Mark’s Square at night is quite gorgeous. Everything is beautifully lit up and some of the restaurants have bands playing classical music. Lovely!
And of course, one afternoon we had to have some coffee and cake at Café Florian. It’s known for being horrendously expensive – and it is – but if you know that going in I don’t see the problem. I think it was 30 euros for two coffees and one cake (and this was a few years ago)! It has been around since 1720 – the oldest coffee house in the world! Service is top notch and service is on silver trays so it is a bit special. Enjoyed it.
Heading Home
So after some wet days in Venice we were flying home after more than three weeks in Italy. My daughter was flying home from Canada the day after we got home so it was definitely something to look forward to after our holiday. Although the last few days were a bit of a dampener (excuse the pun!) we really loved Italy and it remains my favourite country outside of my own. Arrivaderci Italia!
Useful links:
Isn’t it interesting how our experiences colour our impressions of a place. Our friends weren’t particularly taken with Venice either, bad weather, gloomy, fishy smells, high expectations not met. But as for me, I loved it and absolutely fell in love with the alley ways, friendly people, sunny vistas and sipping wine and eating panini on sidewalk canals. Probably helps that I speak the dialect. I’ve been back three times and loved it every time. Nice memories in your post even amongst the wet grey skies. It’s still magical to me. 😊✨
Yes, the weather always makes a difference and the dramas getting there didn’t help. But yes, it is funny how two people can have such widely differing experiences of the same place! But Italy is still my favourite country outside of Australia 🙂