Venice is one of the most romantic cities in the world and in everyone’s bucket list to visit. Venice was our last stop in Italy.
How to reach Venice is quite easy, you can fly into Marco Polo airport and take the bus from there to the city or choose to come by train from elsewhere in Italy. It took us about 2–3 hours from Florence by train. The city’s main mode of transport is the water bus or Vaporetto.
We reached the main square PIAZZA SAN MARCO by water bus as our Best Western hotel was walking distance from there. All transportation in Venice is done by water, through water taxis, gondolas, and Vaporettos. I was with my 5-year-old son he didn’t want to go inside and rather let pigeons sit on him, feed them which he enjoyed and we also preferred roaming about the streets of Venice as we had only 1 night stay in Venice.
Walk up to the bridge wait there for people to move to get a perfect picture especially of the grand canal during sunset. My son got a masque which is quite popular in Venice and are available on every corner.Sit by the cafe enjoy the seafood with wine (try seafood risotto).
Well, the evening was more dramatic..not knowing what was happening outside…sitting in the cafe when we came outside, the road was filled with water and so were the other areas. It was high tide or ACQUA ALTA which is high water. It is because of Venice’s unique position as an island crisscrossed with canals, the city is sensitive to water levels but the water starts going down in a few hours. By official definition, acqua alta occurs when the tide is 90 cm (35.4 inches) above normal high tide. Normally there are sirens indicating a high tide within a few hours of the forecast. It usually occurs in fall but a full moon or new moon to brings some flooding of the areas[we visited in August].
If you plan to spend time in Venice during the fall and winter months, you may want to pack rubber boots — especially for visits near the full moon or new moon, when acqua alta is most likely to occur. It is definitely not clean water and boot sellers were outselling boots and raincoats at higher prices. Venice is very confusing with its narrow streets and alleys, so pay attention to the shape of buildings and bridges. You can also just ask for directions, and we managed to reach our hotel. We decided to take gondola ride the next morning. It was an unforgettable gondola ride down the Grand Canal, with a kiss under the bridge, it offers glimpses into the palazzi courtyards and hidden canals. The rates are fixed and gondolas cluster at stazi(stops) along the canal.
Finally, it was time to say bye to Venice. To reach back to the railway station we took Vaporetto 1 which passes through beautiful mansions, some scene-stealing backdrops including of some James Bond movies. Venice is a whole different place, another day in Venice could have allowed us to visit a couple of places more like Burano and Lido. Many people told me before I visited Italy that Venice is an overrated tourist attraction, but I still feel Venice is different, it is like a magical floating city….
