My brother facetimed me the other day and asked: “How was Venice? At least you posted a minimum of a hundred pics of canals, yawn”. Well, yes… I did. And spoiler alert: there will be more of them in this blog post – the little bridges are just so pretty and all slightly different and plus, not all my blog readers use Instagram, so I want to give them a chance to witness the beauty I have captured in form of photographs, too. Sorry bro :) Today’s post is a pure travel story about Venice!

Not sure how I had managed to miss the memo, but I am in total awe and quite shaken by the uniqueness and beauty of Venice. I knew about this place and that many think it’s amazing, but I hadn’t fully fathomed what a special place it truly is. For anyone else who isn’t fully on top of things; Venice consists of over 100 small islands that rest on top of the Venetian Lagoon. Over 400 small bridges connect the islands over the canals that separate them and this is why Venice is sometimes referred to as “The Floating City” or “City of Bridges”. The lagoon and the city (partially) are listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One can move around the city by foot or water transportation (busses, taxis or gondolas) – there are no roads for cars, which need to be left at Piazzale Roma or outside of the city altogether.

I spent four full days in the city and neighboring islands, mostly just wandering around, getting lost in the narrow streets and randomly finding cool places to visit, but also seeing a few specific sights that interested me especially. I stayed in Marghera, just outside of Venice, from where I commuted to the Piazzale Roma by bus in 15 minutes. There were some tourists, but not many and the city felt calm day in and day out.

I read somewhere that even though the winter season between November and March is a little less crowded than the rest of the year, there is no proper “low season” in Venice – with the exception for the first two weeks of December and two last weeks of January. I, visiting during the second last week of January, had no idea about this when I arrived and felt surprised when I read about the hour-long queues and throngs of people online, as I did not experience these in real life at all. I am beyond pleased that I had (totally obliviously) chosen this timing for my visit, as I would have hated the crowds and surely enjoyed my visit much more this way. Since I have been traveling in Italy since December, I am also so used to being one of the only visitors around – enjoying empty museum halls and space to breath wherever I’ve been so far. Offseason traveling really is the best!

The weather in Venice was rather cold (around 5-8 degrees), but sunny every day, like it has been for most of my stay in Italy. If you want to experience the real Venice, I highly recommend this timing of the year (last weeks of January) to do just that. Of course, now that this piece of golden advice is out here, there is a risk of a heavy increase in January tourists caused by my blog readers (OK Cass, let’s not get carried away).

One of the hundreds of canals in Venice, the famous Rialto bridge feat. a gondola and carnival masks on display

The narrow streets are something special – many times I wondered if they really even lead anywhere and whether I am on the right path on my way somewhere specific. Many houses are radiating vibes of history and forgotten stories and decorated with pretty flowers at the windows and balconies. There are some signs to a few main locations (like the central Piazza San Marco, Piazzale Roma or the train station), but they cannot always be trusted in terms of following signs and them abruptly ending at some point, leaving you at a crossroad wondering where to go next. But if you have time (and on holiday you tend to have it), it’s rather fun to just get lost in the streets and see where they lead you. Eventually you will find your way either to the water or someplace you know. Even Google Maps gets lost in Venice I must say.

The buildings are very old and there are picturesque landmarks, such as piazzas churches and palaces everywhere. Those checking out my stories on Instagram know that I have already visited tens of churches here, but they are oh so beautiful. The Basilica di San Marco is really something (no pics allowed) with its golden ceilings and so is Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute with its intriguing history. I love the element of water (am a huge sea lover) and for the public transport to take place over water felt extremely special and funny to me! There is an extensive Vaporetto (Venetian public water bus) network that takes people around the city, but also to the neighboring islands.

I visited Murano and Burano, two neighboring islands of Venice. Murano is another set of islands in the Venetian Lagoon that is famous for its long history in glass-making. The Museo del Vetro was fascinating and the church of Santa Maria and San Donato has a breathtaking mosaic floor to gape at. Burano is famous for its colorful fishermen’s houses, the fresh and delicious sea food and the history of lace-making.

The glass museum in Murano and street views, handbags, Burano’s colorful fishermen’s houses and a narrow street from Venice

I’m not sure how to put it into words, but there is a very unique atmosphere in Venice. Being such a special place means also having a special community of locals. During my visit I consumed two of Donna Leon’s crime novels taking place in the city (“Death at la Fenice”, “Dressed for Death” and now am in midst of “Sea of Troubles” – check out the reviews on my book club page!). These descriptive and lively stories are written from a local’s perspective and really give you a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a Venetian, live on the islands and face everyday life in this particular place. How annoying and seriously problematic the tourists are, how the environmental and economic reasons are pushing more and more Venetians to move out of the city, and yet how important this precious place is for the locals to preserve and protect. I cannot help but wonder how long the city will be open for tourists to visit, or whether eventually it will become a tourist attraction only as a place where “people used to actually live back in the days”.

Even with only little tourists around, the tiredness of the locals was evident. Yet I didn’t feel offended by this – it’s not like anyone was particularly rude to me, just not that friendly. In fact, I have mixed feelings about being hyped to be in this cool, mind-blowing place, when simultaneously feeling sorry to march around a small city, gaping around like in the zoo, the Venetians being the animals in it. But then again, couldn’t this be said about any tourist attraction, really? It must be the size of the place with the issues it’s facing, mixed with the insane amounts of tourists visiting year-round that make the equation in this case. It’s a complicated issue, as the tourism has certainly an impact on the local economy in the positive sense and on the contrary the negative effects are visible e.g. in rising living costs and especially housing. It’s unimaginable what the throngs are like at the worst of times in the streets or for example public transport means - not to mention pollution and the issues with the big cruise ships.

When I spotted locals, I tried to give them sympathetic glances, silently communicating that I understand them and that I am sorry to be one of the annoying tourists (although in my defense I don’t think I’m that bad really) and sending through warm vibes for them to power through these difficult times. How to spot locals you ask? I observed the way they moved and talked + a dog was always a good indicator, as I believe there is a small probability for non-locals to bring dogs into town. I hope all this didn’t come across as too creepy.

More pretty canal views in the radiant sunlight, Yours Truly in the ballroom of Museo Correr, gelato and a cat

Venice City has launched an awareness campaign called #EnjoyRespectVenezia to help visitors to adopt responsible and respectful behavior towards the identity, landscape and environment of the city and its inhabitants. The hope is to raise awareness on the tourist impact and to steer towards a more responsible way of travelling, supporting sustainable development in turn, which sounds like a great initiative to me. All around the city and also online are visual instructions about respectful behavior (e.g. regarding not feeding birds, not to swim in the canals, not to litter etc.).

My parents’ dog Peppi is also called “Police-Peppi” at times. You see, she is usually the naughty one doing stuff she really isn’t supposed to, but when some other member of the four-headed animal community of the house does something prohibited, she is the first one to alarm the human beings out of total outrage of someone not behaving. Now unlike Peppi, I am not the naughty one, but the “Police-Peppi” clearly lives inside of me. To my surprise it got fiercely activated in Venice, when I saw tourists acting against the #EnjoyRespectVenezia campaign. It made me really sad. When we are already there, destroying the city with our mere presence and disturbing the peace of the locals, the least we can do it behave respectfully (with, or without instructions to do so, but especially with them). I wonder; do these people behave disrespectfully also in their home environments, or do they just turn into jerks when en route as tourists? This is the end of my rant. All I can say is thank god I visited Venice during the rare low-season weeks – this truly made my stay unforgettable, highly enjoyable and safe (in terms of both my mental health and the campaign-neglecting tourists).

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate (liqueurs) in one go” resonates. The sweets taste so delicious and you feel like you cannot get enough. Eventually, after eating the entire box, you do start feeling nauseous.

Thank you, Venice!

Onwards my adventure goes; I have now landed in Tuscany and am enjoying some days in the countryside, hiking and exploring villages, before heading to the region capital Florence for the next month. I will be doing an Italian language course there as a daily practice to speed up my language learning process. More news on this project to follow soon.

Stay well & bacio! Cass 💋