Lost in Venice
Before I start I have to tell you all that I would not normally write something like this about my recent trip to Venice. However, Dan and Doreen insisted that I make a literary as well as fun contribution to their Grand Tour. Hence, The Keith now makes his one and hopefully only contribution to the annals of the Grand Tour.
I found Venice hard to describe, in fact, since my return to London lots of people have asked me about Venice. I try to explain it as an island city, but that does not do it justice. First, there really doesn't seem to be any island, as Dan recently described there were few parks (just the one at the end of the island), and few trees or grass. Everything seems to be covered by buildings, canals or brick parks (piazzas). Second, the builds are at or below sea level and the sea runs right up to the door (literally in some cases). Third, again as Dan and Doreen have said there are no cars, this is simply because there are no roads, just some narrow walk-ways. Canals take the place of roads throughout the city. Hence, Venice is unlike any other place you may ever see.
My big adventure in Venice was the hotel I stayed in (yes, I had many other adventures but they were all with Dan and Doreen so you can read their stories). It all started on arrival. Imagine this, I take the waterbus from the airport (on the mainland) to Venice. It takes about an hour (you can take a water taxi but they cost about 7 times more than the bus). The Bus takes you from the north side of Venice (the closest point to the mainland) to the southside, where San Marcos square is located. You get a great view of the city from many perspectives, but when you get to the south side you get a spectacular view of the post-card Venice - San Marcos Square, the Doge Palace, Basilica, and gondolas. It takes about 10 minutes from the time this view first appears to the time you reach the dock, so you really get to enjoy it.
Once landed, I had to make my way to my hotel. I purposely selected a hotel near San Marcos square since it is the main point of interest in Venice (this was mistake number one). I was shocked to find throngs of tourists crowed all over the square, thousands of sightseers queuing for entry or just hanging around. Once there you enter a maze of narrow streets lined with Glass and Mask shops, no kidding every other shop sells either glass or masks (with the occasional restaurant). Now all the travel books try to warn you that there are no good maps of Venice and no street names/addresses. So finding a hotel can be troublesome at best. I was given a map with the location marked, however there were a lot more streets in Venice than were on my map. Luckily, having been to Italy before I sort of knew what to look for. After about 15 minutes of wandering these narrow streets I found the hotel door. Now hotels in Italy (well at least cheaper hotels) do not have a big front entrance or sign, this had a door with the sign painted on the door. Since the weather was nice the door as pushed in (the open position) which made it harder to find.
ON arrival I checked in and was told some of the bad news. My room was on the 5th floor (sixth by American standards) with no elevator. I ascended the stairs and found the room. The next surprise struck me right away. Being on the top of the building meant that I had the warmest room in the hose, no air-conditioning of course. Then I turned to use the bathroom and much to my surprise the door was just leaning against the wall. As a final treat (yes, more to come) I finally found the shower. It was attached to the wall just about the Toilet, facing the sink. Imagine entering a half bath in the States (toilet and sink) then some one put a shower head just above where you stand to use the sink..... got it pictured... well that was my bathroom!
Keith in his Hotel
Now although these items individually would not be too troublesome their combination did mean things were not as comfortable as we would have liked. One other thing I alluded to earlier was that the location of the hotel although central to our site-seeing activities turned out to be very noisy. Each morning at 7:00 am all the bells ring (to wake up the city) and of course you sleep with the windows open. I was only 2 blocks from the big bells Dan told you about.....every morning!
So, my advice is as follows, go to Venice, but go in the off season (November to April) don't get a hotel near San Marcos, specify the floor before accepting reservations and enjoy!