There are infinity tourists. They all insist on taking photos on every bridge, though I’m not sure what of. ‘Here’s me with bridge #1 of 409. And here’s me with bridge #14 of 409…’ (Venice is made of 117 islands connected by 409 bridges.)
There are no cars, buses, motorbikes, or even regular bikes in Venice. There isn’t room! The biggest vehicle we saw (other than boats) was a kid’s trike.
Some houses directly on smaller canals have ladders, so the resident can climb directly from his boat into his house.
There are a lot of privately-owned ‘castles’ and villas that still make up the city. Most of them rent out to people like George Clooney for private events, but a few of them are museums, etc.
There are small ‘streets’ that are just wide enough for one person to walk through comfortably, which serve as the primary way to get between two places. Not so much personal space going on, though it certainly eliminates fear of ‘alleyways.’
Vendors sell a ton of Murano glass – some of which I suspect is fake, and lots of brightly-colored pasta – which I doubt tastes very good. I particularly enjoyed the sign assuring tourists that the penis-shaped noodles were actually ‘historic,’ not ‘sexy.’
There are still parts of the main city that can be isolated – or nearly so, even during the day, when tourists are there. People seem to tread over the same paths over and over.
I’ve never heard so many people hawking camera extenders with loud calls for ‘Selfies! Selfies? Selfies!’
The word ‘ghetto’ actually originated in the city, though the connotation was not negative, initially.
We saw a number of ‘sukkot’ (Jewish temporary structures for an October harvest holiday) set up around the city, with men sitting and studying inside.
There is a lot of delicious fresh fish here. Even the pasta and pizza take a back seat.
The city really does look a bit different from the water.
Because of tourism, most people (again) speak English.
And here’s me with bridge #14 of 409…’ (Venice is made of 117 islands connected by 409 bridges.)
going on, though it certainly eliminates fear of ‘alleyways.’
There is a lot of delicious fresh fish here. Even the pasta and pizza take a back seat.
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