Venice, Italy

Yesterday we spent a restful day in Bologna. Today we will be visiting Venice!

Train to Venice

It’s a two hour train ride from Bologna to Venice and we enjoyed the leisurely commute there! It was actually quite neat when we got closer to the city as the train tracks form somewhat of a land bridge to it. You could look out the window on both sides of the train and only see water. It totally set the mood for the day ahead!

Venice

After leaving the train station, you didn’t have to look far before the Venice in your mind becomes the Venice in reality. All the movies that have ever featured this unique city rushed through my mind as we walked out of the train station and immediately over the Scalzi Bridge.

It is easily unlike any other city I’ve visited before. The sounds of cars on the road are replaced with boats in the water. My initial impression was very good and I really liked my first few glimpses of this iconic city.

Our destination within the city was St. Mark’s Square. However, we weren’t in any rush to get there so we slowly made our way through the city, over bridges and canals and through narrow alleyways.

Some of the alleyways were so narrow, you wouldn’t even be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with another person.

Ponte di Rialto and the Grand Canal

On our way to St. Marks, we crossed the Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto). This is a fairly iconic foot bridge that crosses over the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is one of the main waterways in Venice full of water vehicle traffic. It actually weaves around the middle of Venice and we had also already crossed it right outside the train station.

One thing that happens occasionally in Venice during the fall is flooding occurs. This is due to Acqua alta, which is a little bit like extreme high tide. For us we started notice it as we got closer to St. Mark’s Square. Even on the Rialto Bridge we started seeing evidence of it.

St. Mark’s Square

After navigating the city a little more we finally arrive at the famous St. Mark’s Square. It was here that we realized the full impact of Acqua alta. The entire square was flooded! There were these small boardwalks that were setup for people to walk above the water if they didn’t want to get their feet wet. However many (including myself eventually) ended up taking off our shoes and wading through the water! While most would probably be a little bummed that the square was flooded, in hindsight, I thought it was such a unique experience to see such an odd phenomenon happen!

Oddly enough, as we neared the southern water’s edge, there was no flooding. Even though this southern “edge” opens up to the sea. However it did offer some pretty spectacular views.

Ponte dei Sospiri (bridge of sighs)

As we rounded the corner and walked along the water we stopped on a bridge called “Ponte della Paglia”. From here we were able to look down a Canal and spot the Ponte dei Sospiri, known as the Bridge of Sighs. This was a bridge that inmates would need to walk before the were put in prison, and was named the Bridge of Sighs because it would have been the last view of Venice the prisoners would have seen before entering prison.

Venice Continued.

Sadly we would need to start making our way back. We spent the better part of a day here but would need to catch a train if we wanted to get back to Bologna. We took a different route back, opting to wander still a little. It was quite enjoyable because while the main areas were loaded with tourists, taking a less beaten path back took us through some quiet “neighbourhoods”.

On our way back, I did notice what I suspect to be a Venetian ambulance. I imagine with the lack of automobiles transporting people in need of medical attention over “land” requires a more unique solution.

For the most part, Venice was everything I imagined it to be. It was what I pictured it to look like in my mind (without the flooding). Though in honesty, while it’s very picturesque, I did find it quite “touristy”. Aside from the “novelty” of it being full of waterways, I found our wandering through the “quieter” parts more enjoyable than fighting through the crowds.

Tomorrow we’d be returning to Rome, where we’d spend our last day before making the journey home.