Venice is actually a small town and gives you a Chandni Chowk feel, although it has less slightly hustle-bustle and more tourist shops than anything else. But the similarity lies in maze of narrow bylanes where you can get completely lost. Suddenly the lanes open up to a small canal with a bridge on top. As you stand on these bridges, you can see the gondolas and other boats sail by below you.
The amazing thing however is that you can find your way around just using a street map and following the signages on the buildings along the lanes of Venice. This is how we made our way to the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square).
The St. Mark’s square is a beautiful large square in the courtyard of the grand St.Mark’s cathedral. The square is dotted with numerous street cafes with live musicians – ideal for a romantic cup of coffee with your loved one. Another common tourist activity is to feed the hundreds of pigeons that walk and fly around in the Piazza.
The square also connects to the grand canal and a walk along the Venetian waterfront is an experience to remember.
We wrapped up the day with a souvenir purchase (a Venetian mask, what else!) and a couple of very refreshing and delicious vodka, rum and mojito shots at a fruit juice shop called Frutulla.
Traveler Tip: Unless you are really, really interested in a gondola ride, you can give it a miss. Its exorbitant and honestly, a little over-hyped. I hardly saw any tourists taking the ride, so I’ve probably figured out the cost-benefit equation right.
We move from Italy tomorrow. It has been a wonderful 5 days – of art, history and scenic splendor. Have dropped off a couple of coins in the Trevi Fountain. Hope our wish for a return visit comes true!
No comments:
Post a Comment