Venice

37,000 feet above the Atlantic, half asleep, nursing a recalcitrant head cold, Venice, the first stop on our 10-day Italian vacation, could not have been farther away.  Nonetheless, I persevered, willing my way through the ten hour flight, layover in Frankfurt, short flight to Venice, longer transfer via the Alilaguna water bus to San Zaccaria, and ten minute walk to our hotel.  After a pleasant, reasonably priced dinner a few doors down from our hotel, I succumbed to a nighttime cold medicine and, ultimately, sleep.

Venice is a tourist trap.  Don’t fight it.  With minor exception (see below), you will not find a good deal, and if you do, mostly likely it is not glass from Murano (but from some land far, far away).  Instead, your objective should be to soak it all in (which, concededly, has a different meaning after the recent floods and the (in)famous selfie-stick video) and to avoid a bad deal.  That said, I would not necessarily avoid the grossly overpriced (80 euros for 30 minutes) gondola rides.  While the Grand Canal beckoned, I opted for the infinitely more relaxing side canals, starting and ending near Parrocchia di Santa Maria Formosa.  While there are many canals inspired by those in Venice, including, of course, those at the Venetian in Las Vegas and the River Walk in San Antonio, unsurprisingly none hold a candle to the original, especially on a warm, October afternoon, with a faint chill in the air, the sun setting first on the rooftops, and then on the rest of this magical, slowly sinking city, a marvelous project started 1500 years ago and continuing to this day.

Embrace the typical tourist spots: Piazza San Marco, Basilica San Marco, Museo Correr, Palazzo Ducale, Ponti de Rialto, Cannaregio, and the Jewish quarter there.  Crowds are more manageable in October, and these sights are extremely popular for a reason.

An unreal quality pervades Venice.  Walking down Strada Nova toward Cannaregio, I could have been on a Hollywood movie set or on a street in Disneyland.  In some respects, these imitations seemed no less real than the actual city.  Of course, the essence of Venice is not Strada Nova or the standard tourist sights.  Rather, the essence is the labyrinth of narrow alleys, squares, bridges, and canals, perfect for walking or traversing on a cold, grey morning or a moonlit night, but simply maddening for anyone wanting to go for a run.

To their credit, I did see a few intrepid runners, braving alleys wide enough for one or at most two people.  Strada Nova, Venice’s main thoroughfare, remained a possibility, as did portions of the waterfront near Fondamente Nova, but, despite my best intentions, I could not muster a run in Venice.  Thankfully, I redeemed myself in Lucca (https://johnpavolotsky.wordpress.com/2019/11/30/lucca/) and Rome https://johnpavolotsky.wordpress.com/2019/11/27/rome/).

A day trip to sun-kissed Murano (below), about ten minutes from Fondamente Nove via vaporetto, with visits to the Glass Museum (Museo Vetrario), a glass factory (including a rather impressive glass blowing demonstration), and innumerable shops selling real and not-so-real Murano glass, was arguably off-menu, but otherwise our three-day visit to Venice was standard fare.  A visit to a local wine bar followed Murano and the gondala ride.  Enjoying a glass (or two) of very reasonably priced local wines, considerably less expensive and infinitely better than anything back home, I reflected on my good deal and (but for my usual morning run) an almost perfect day.

Comments welcomed.