Venice was thriving like any other tourist hot spot in the middle of summer, and apart from the sleazy Italian men selling canal rides for a ludicrous 90 Euros, the imported Indian men selling roses on the bridge, and the Tanzanians selling fake imported Prada on the Rialto… you had the distinct feeling of being somewhere old and brilliant.
I still wonder what the old founders of Venice must have been thinking when they decided to build a city on the sea though- obviously they had no concept of polar ice caps melting or the green house effect. I’m glad I got to see Venice and it was sad to see parts of it under water sinking. The main square San Marco was huge and it was surrounded by amazing old buildings from some century long past, on our second visit just three or four weeks later it was actually under water. I think it had been raining the night before which apprently will do it…
The city was like a labyrinth, well at least once you veer off the main tourist routes like we did it is. You’re walking around cobbled streets dwarfed on either side by ancient buildings wondering “now do I go left or do I go right”, and around every turn there are more ancient buildings and cobbled streets grinning at you laughing as if to say “ahhh you thought you were smart, you thought you could work this one out, well you were wrong!”.
I’m sure the locals write fake directions on the walls and secretly record us sweating red faced foreigners for pop corn and pizza night entertainment at Mamma’s. So there you are tired, with sore feet, you’re back tracking, you’re grumpy, you’ve lost an hour of your trip, and all you want now is some good quality Italian food, don’t whatever you do under any circumstances go to the place we went to, it was bloody awful. I was complaining out loud and giving the staff a hard time, according to Amber and Dylan (who were not so impressed with my attitude) it is okay to let mediocrity to prevail. And because I’ve forgotten the name of the place and I didn’t want to fight that night mediocrity did prevail – I just hope you don’t find the same place.
Other then that it was fantastic. We both bought masks. I can’t wait to go again, this time I’d spend a few more nights there and explore the surrounding areas.
Next on the agenda is Slovenia and Croatia. Keep your eyes open and your ears peeled!