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| Ranking Among Int'l Cities/Regions: #6 |
| Venturers: 10 |
| Mid-Venturers: 9 |
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| Centrics-Authentics: 9 |
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• Marco Polo left Venice for China in 1271; he was gone 24 years.
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| • In 1960, a gondola ride cost $3 an hour; Arthur Frommer warned readers off that expense |
| • There are about 450 palaces and old houses of note in Venice |
| • The average gondola lasts about 20 years |
| • The word ghetto comes from the name of Venice’s Jewish section in the 16th century |
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Canals + gondolas = romance
Venice is known the world over as the city of islands separated by scores of canals. That image has become so evocative that towns and cities as far apart as Amsterdam and Bangkok, or St. Petersburg and Suzhou in China call themselves the Venice of their countries or regions. But the city attracts visitors because it is much more than that: it is a stunningly beautiful place, reflecting its past as a trading powerhouse. It is a city of architecture and of art. And, it is a city of and for romance. Who needs more reasons to visit than that?
About Venice
This city on the water, founded in the fifth century by refugees from barbarian invasions of the mainland, now counts 118 islands, many of them connected to the historic city center by the nearly 400 bridges that cross Venice’s storied canals. The canals are effectively the streets, and boats provide most transportation. Not often is the everyday public transport part of the touristic experience, but it is a good thing it’s fun to use the vaporetto because it’s essential. On the other hand, riding a black gondola, poled by a young man in a straw hat with a red hatband, is optional — and more costly.
Some islands are not a mere canal distance away. The most popular with tourists are Murano, noted for its glassworks, and Burano, noted for lacemakers. These and other out islands are worth a visit. The same can be said for the Lido, a sandbar that is sizeable enough to accommodate ordinary roads with a public bus service. It is a resort area with beaches, the casino and several hotels.
The star attraction, nevertheless, is the heart of the historic town, beginning with St. Mark’s Square, the Basilica of St. Mark and the Doge’s Palace. You don’t have to be much of a devotee of architecture or art to want to lap up all there is that is lovely here, to gape at the incredible concentration of historic structures and to tour a few museums or palaces to see the wealth of art displayed inside. Venice also includes the mainland industrial centers of Marghera and Mestre. They provide support to the economy, but they contribute to the air pollution that threatens historic Venice. In addition, the city suffers from a double whammy: It continues to sink, but waters are rising, as well. Water weakens the foundations of buildings, but winter floods damage buildings at or above street level. Most times, as a tourist, you won’t have a strong sense that these serious issues exist. The city is accessible by train and by car. A roadway takes drivers to parking on two islands.
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• Take Italian language classes. You could devote an extended stay to this, but you can take classes that last only a week.
• Get married in Venice. Or, propose marriage there.
• Take a cycling tour that starts or wraps up in Venice. There are several cross-Italy itineraries that do just that. Or, make yours a cycling trip on the network of trails found in Veneto province (Venice is the capital). Find itinerary ideas at www.dolomiti.org/dengl/Cortina/ce/mtb/index.html. You can cycle on the Lido, too.
• Overnight with the Franciscan friars on the island of San Francesco del Deserto. This island, about 20 minutes by boat from Venice proper, was occupied in 1200 by Franciscsan friars whose successors still reside there, in an austere convent.
To round out this theme, you might want to visit San Lazzaro degli Armeni, an island inhabited by a religious community, as well, the Mechitarist Armenians.
• Eat plenty of seafood in this city where water is everywhere. Try the unusual risotto alle seppie, which is a deep black color because the cuttlefish has been cooked in its own ink.
• Choose a nighttime ghost walking tour, a program that promises hair-raising tales about ghosts, legends and documented bloody tales. Walk the narrow ally called the street of the assassins for reasons you can guess. Explore one of the secret passageways used by the denizens of Venetian palaces to escape the authorities. Then, there is the staircase built by one Venetian that allowed him to ride his horse up to his private apartments inside his palace.
• There are some options to take to the water, such as by sailing, waterskiing or windsurfing although your opportunities may be determined by the hotel you choose.
• For students, homestays are an option in Venice, among other Italian cities.
• Beg, borrow or rent a costume and join the fun during Carnival in Venice. Spring for a ticket to at least one of the big balls. See the gondola and boat parades along the Grand Canal; watch mask parades in St. Mark’s Square.
• Make Venice your end-of-trip cultural stop after a hiking trip in the nearby Dolomite Mountains.
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• Look for Venetian masters — Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and Titian — when you tour the Academy of Fine Arts.
• Rent a houseboat at Chioggia, an island town at the southern end of the Venetian lagoon, and spend a few days exploring the Venetian lagoon at your leisure.
• Go island-hopping, in this case by vaporetto, not merely by crossing a canal. See Burano, which is really four islands with canals, too, and noted for needlework; Murano, really five tiny islands and home to glassblowers who are artists, and Torcello, the most important of these islands from an artistic point of view.
• Sign up for a cooking school vacation in Venice.
• Attend opera at La Fenice Theatre, which is a totally reconstructed version of the 19th century opera house that was completely destroyed by arson in 1996.
• Join a guided walking tour as a way to get acquainted fairly quickly with all the palaces, galleries and churches you see eveywhere. Or, plan your own itinerary with help from a very good guidebook.
• Stay in an apartment rather than a hotel.
• Time your visit to coincide with the Feast of the Redeemer. This all-night event, in July, commemorates the end of plague that afflicted Venice in 1575. Musicians perform from lighted boats lining the canals.
• See the collection of 20th century avant-garde art gathered by American heiress Peggy Guggenheim and left for display in the museum that was her home, the Palazzo Venier del Leoni. But there are many other small art collections; choose the ones that address your interests.
• If you love spectacles, attend the September regatta (Regata Storica), a race by gondolini, fast gondola-like boats. The event kicks off with a procession of historical boats with crew and passengers in Renaissance costumes.
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• Have dinner at one of the outdoor restaurants on St. Mark’s Square.
• If you have what it takes (money), stay at one of the palaces that was converted into a hotel. Look at the Gritti Palace or the Danieli.
• Hire a gondola for an hour, with serenade.
• Plan some beach time on the Lido. Also, while there, your options include gambling at the island’s famous casino and tee times at the Venice Golf Club.
• Take a guided tour of the Doge’s Palace, visit the Basilica of St. Mark — then feed pigeons in St. Mark’s Square just because it is a quintessentially touristy thing to do in Venice.
• Shop for Venetian specialties: crystal, embroidery work, glassware and lace. Buy a Venetian Carnival mask.
• Take a daylong excursion to Cortina, a suitably attractive ski resort town that lures celebrity visitors, and the Dolomite Mountains. You’ll have a chance to see stunning scenery of all types, canyons, lakes, mountains and valleys.
• Arrive in Venice aboard a cruise ship.
• Tour the city on the water. Choices include a daytime Grand Canal boat tour or the evening Grand Canal tour by water taxi.
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For more information, consult the Venice Tourist Board at www.turismovenezia.it/eng and the Italian Government Tourist Board at www.italiantourism.com
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