Venezia, veniamo!

After arriving at the train station in Venice (we took the overnight train), we felt the action right away. The “Canale” in front of the station was full with boats. Water taxis, garbage freighters, post boats and “Vaporettos” – the public transport boats. It really gets pretty busy on the channels on certain times of the day.

We started the day well rested and therefore walked to our hotel. The hotel was quite nice and in a great area but we usually prefer renting apartments during our weekend trips.

So anyway, before heading out to explore the city, we stopped at a lovely “Cafeteria” for the first of many Cappuccinos … Italian coffee just tastes so good! Just shortly after we started walking further on, we realized that it was “Acqua Alta” time in Venice. During this, the city is almost completely flooded … So we bought ourselves rubber boots and continued exploring.

A little History before we head on.

Lesson 1: Venice was founded around 400 a.C. as a trading post by authorities in Padua. In the beginning, it was a collection of lagoon communities. Around 800 a.C., the first leader of Venice – the “Doge” named Ursus – was elected and between 900 a.C. and 1200 a.C. it developed into a city state. It soon later became a center of commerce and art, as well as an important trading point.

Lesson 2: The world-famous St. Mark’s Basilica was built around 800 a.C. but burnt down with a large part of the city around 950 a.C. It was rebuilt but only finished around 100 years later. It is the most famous of the city’s churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture.

Lesson 3: Venice was also a magnet for lots of celebrities: Titian, Giacomo Casanova, Thomas Mann, Richard Wagner lived here; Antonio Vivaldi and Marco Polo were born here.

History really does follow you at every turn.

Some buildings are absolutely unique, like for example the snail staircase of “Scala Contarini del Bovolo” – the only round shaped stairway of the Renaissance era, which is hidden at the end of a small alley, not far from Rialto bridge. But it’s not only history for which Venice is known for: Cultural events are happening all the time; the most prominent ones are the Carnival of Venice and of course the Venice International Film Festival – the oldest international film festival in the world.

Almost at every corner you’ll find a gallery where you can admire paintings, sculptures and other creative art. If you have enough time, a visit to the “Peggy Guggenheim” Museum in a beautiful palace along Canale Grande is a must! And for the real romantic ones, hiring a “Gondola” and rowing down the Grande Canale is definitely a highlight.

Yes, Venice has a lot to offer and it’s one of these cities you can never get enough of …

The canals in Venice are simply breathtaking and one could get lost walking in-between them.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 117 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges.

A water taxi along the lagoon in Venice.

“Street Art” can also be found along the canals in Venice.

Water taxis along the Grand Canal in Venice.

Exploring Venice in a Gondola is a great way to get around the city – it’s one of those things tourist from all over the world love to do.

The view of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

But this is future talk and for now, autumn is the time when you better come prepared. That means if you’re planning a weekend trip, check the weather forecast beforehand; if it looks a bit undecided/grim, be sure to pack up your rubber boots, an umbrella and a raincoat because this means “Acqua Alta” time in Venice. We arrived unprepared and looked pretty stupid when we wanted to leave the hotel after breakfast and the street was knee deep full of water. Our hotel was a really nice one (nothing fancy but who needs that anyway if you’re just planning on sleeping there), not far away from the train station but unfortunately they had no rubber boots to borrow.

But, as we’re all not made out of sugar, we took off our shoes and socks, rolled up the trousers and walked down fifty meters to the next shoe shop. Lots of people were already lining up get a pair rubber boots – imagine winter sale at Macy’s … people start doing anything for a last pair of those new trendy shows … As the place was not directly in the city center, the boots were on 16 € per pair – not too bad for a quick solution of the problem. In the city center we saw people paying up to 40 € for a pair of rubber boots. Depending on your negotiation skills you can get them for 30 – 35 € when buying them from one of the “flying merchants”. They were the obviously winners of the day!

The thing that worried us a bit was the electricity issue. So much water and high voltage is not the best combination. But Venice is prepared for these occurrences. Even the shop owners were pretty unimpressed by the situation, so we didn’t give it that much more of a thought.

So we were on our way and got to see how other visitors handled the weather conditions. We came across some funny sights indeed. Some simply walked barefoot, not worrying about catching a cold (it was pretty cold that day), others had a garbage bad wrapped around their feet to keep the water our of the shows. This method might work for a little while but in the long run, they usually give up – that’s why you see lots of garbage bags floating around in the streets.

Anyway, so we walked all day long without getting any blisters. The walking itself was a bit tough though; we weren’t able to run or walk pretty fast because we needed to avoid an overflow of water into the boots. Then at around 3 pm the tide turned and it was “business as usual” again…

“Acqua Alta” on Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy.

The walkways are flooded during “Acqua Alta” in Venice, Italy.

High water in the streets of Venice, Italy.

“One time” Rubber boots are a must during “Acqua Alta” in Venice, Italy.

Uncle Chrisi enjoyed the trip to Venice, Italy.

Interesting show styles during “Acqua Alta” in Venice, Italy.

Some people simply give up during “Acqua Alta” …

… others try to save money by wrapping plastic bags around their shoes.