Batum's Travels: Venice, The good, the bad and the ugly

This post was finished while in a lock on our trip down the Danube from Linz to Krems. We are currently experiencing that sinking feeling.

Most of the three days in Venice were spent exploring on foot and water bus the various islands and districts. Our various impressions.

The Good (very good and excellent)

The Vivaldi concert on our first night was excellent. It was performed by a chamber orchestra dressed in period costume. The program included several different pieces including The Four Seasons. At 25 euro each it was a great night.

The Hubble telescope exhibition was in the same category and entry was free. It was housed in the Venice Science Institute, a fascinating building in its own right.

The scenery from the various water bus, lagoon and canal trips was stunning. You can see most of Venice this way.

The Grand Canal

St. Mark’s Library and Palazzo Ducale

There was a display of Leonardo Da Vinci paintings, sketches, writings and constructed devices from his drawing. This exhibition was in the very good category at the small entry cost of 7 euros.

Leonardo’s Tank

Murano is an island that specialises in glass making and was well worth the visit. There are many glass statues on display through the island and shops selling beautiful glass objects.

We walked extensively through the various districts of Venice discovery piazzas, alleyways, churches, exhibitions and shops. This was good.

View from the Rialto Bridge at night.

The Bad

Getting back to the Lido from the Vivaldi concert on the first night. It was raining. We headed for the number 1 waterbus stop. The crowd there was building and no waterbuses were stopping even though they were scheduled. After a while we all realised that something was wrong. We headed to a ticket office and found out that after 8.30pm the waterbus we wanted to catch left from a different location. However there was no indication of this information anywhere. When we finally caught the right ride it was packed to overflowing. The trip home took us four times as long as it should have. Italian efficiency strikes again.

The hordes of barbarians. Venice is straining with the sheer number of tourists. Both the day tourist from the bus companies & cruise ships and the people staying in Venice or on the nearby islands. As you approach any of the very popular locations the population density increases to almost intolerable levels. It’s a real turnoff.

The hawkers in almost every piazza and wide street. In a small piazza there can be five of them all selling the same 5 types of bags. After a while their constant harassment can get to you.

The ripoffs. Most of the time you need to keep guard against being ripped off. However if you’re tired and let your guard down it happens. Peter was looking for a beer after a long walking day. From previous lessons Peter had learnt that the quality of the draught beer was questionable in Venice. We found a place that sold bottled beer but forgot to ask the price. The cost was 10 euro for a beer once the cover charge was added. The most expensive beer of the trip. I’m sure if we had asked the price before hand we would have saved 3-4 euro.

The Ugly.

Venice raises money for restoration by selling advertising space on its premier attractions. This is not done tastefully as you can see from the photos. Peter forced himself to take some of these ugly shots. These are some examples but by no means all the examples.

“The Bridge of Sighs”