This is my third trip to Italy and I did not see Venice before. It seems like everyone was there. How come I wasn’t? To remedy this, when I was back from San Marino to Rimini, I took the train to Venice.
Hotels in the island part of Venice were rather pricey. So I found on Booking.com a B&B place called Romantica Venezia for €50/night. The owner Giorgio met me at the Mestre train station and drove to the apartment although it was a 5-minute walk. He supplied me with a map of Venice, a lot of useful and not so useful information going methodically over the apartment dos and don’ts, what to see and to do in Venice. Then Giorgio gave the keys and left.
There was nothing romantic about this regular 3-bedroom apartment in a regular residential building. However, it was close to the station and a supermarket; it had everything that one would need to live in it comfortably. I had company for one night. An Italian family of mom, dad and their grown-up daughter occupied the other 2 bedrooms. We exchanged greetings and I did not see them again. The family left early on the following morning. The apartment was all mine for 3 days.
The train from Venezia Mestre where I stayed to Venezia St. Lucia, the island part, is 10 minutes and €1.35. My first impression of the city was shops, restaurants, tourists with suitcases and bored gondoliers with their plush gondolas. It takes time to see beyond that. When I came to the first curved bridge I was charmed once and forever, like everyone else who visits Venice.
Trying to stay away from the crowd, I started exploring Venice from the Jewish quarter. The Venetian Republic established a ghetto for Jews in 1516, i.e. over 500 years ago. It is the world oldest ghetto. The Jews were compelled to live in it. The area is rich in history and Jewish culture.
I expected to find all that in the Jewish museum. Unfortunately, its exhibits do little to tell visitors about the everyday life in the ghetto. Rather disappointed, I went to see the rest of Venice.
During the first day, I intentionally did not go to the main attractions. Instead, I simply wondered around in no particular direction and naturally got lost in the maze of the narrow streets and canals. I hate that feeling when everyone around looks like they know where they are going to and I am hopelessly lost. Google Maps helped until my phone battery died and then I could not locate myself on the paper map. I asked for directions to the train station. A nice Italian gentleman showed me a yellow sign on the wall that said FERROVIA. Apparently, it pointed to the train station. There were other painted on walls signs that showed how to get to the key places in Venice like Rialto or St. Marco. Now I understood why everyone walked with such confidence! They did know where to go. I followed the signs and soon was safely back to my Romantica apartment. The plan for the next day was to hit the museums.
Interesting about the signs on the walls, that should really help (especially when one understands enough of Italian). And the wedding is beautiful! It looks like it’s really hot there – here, in Germany, we are still wearing jackets and pullovers, and only yesterday I have changed the winter tires to summer ones. Probably too early, though:)
These signs were a lifesaver. I would not know what FERROVIA means, but other signs were self-explanatory like Rialto, St. Marco, etc. Orientation in Venice was probably a serious issue for visitors. That’s why the signs were painted. Otherwise, Venice would be full of lost tourists who forever were trying to escape from the island.