View From The Train Station
After our adventure of navigating to get here, read about how the trains do not cross the boarders between Italy and Slovenia HERE. When we arrived in Venice and walked out of the only train station, all we could see was canals and boats. No cars, buses, taxis, or anything with wheels. Other then tourist with rolling luggage and strollers, which as a side note, this city isn’t a user friendly with wheels unless you are catching the water buses that transport everyone around the city.
Did You Know? The city of Venice was built on a lagoon with 118 sandy islands under the city, but that’s not all thats holding it up. The city is also supported by wooden platforms, and wooden stakes. The biggest fear for the city today, is the rising level of the ocean. Which gives it the name of Venice The Sinking City!
Armed with our map of the city we soon realized it’s very easy to get lost in this city. We were lucky enough to book our hotel within a 10 minute walk of the train station, so walking with the backpacks was very easily managed. Once out on the city, with map in hand of course, we wondered around. It was very easy to see which way the crowd of people were traveling, and how to find the “main” areas. Curiosity always got the better of us, so we would always be checking out this alley and street or what’s down there, they all lead to water sooner or later. Some very neat places along the way, we did find a great place that serves desserts, and some cold beverages in the hot summer heat.
We really were on the fence of where to stay when visiting Venice!: Should we pay the extra money to stay in the city, or save the difference to stay in Mestre. After the debate and weighing the pros and cons we opted for Venice. Firstly because well it’s Venice, and not sure if we will really ever be back before it sinks away. And secondly, we do some of our best exploring in the evenings and at night.
St. Mark’s Square
We did spend the afternoon in St. Mark’s Square and enjoyed the many activities that occupied the busy area, but the real luck was to walk through St. Mark’s Square at night, and the bonus was a full moon. So the tide was at its highest point. And there was water, in St. Mark’s Square, only a few centimetres. We were informed that the square gets a foot or more in the fall. That’s enough to have a row boat in there if you really wanted too! Venice the sinking city might one day have too much water in it, if a solution isn’t found soon.
Grand Canal
The city of Venice has a lot to offer for everyone, many shops with so much souvenir trinkets, museums, boat rides, music to enjoy, and the best is the architecture of the city. Check out our other blog for some Travel Tips For Venice also is good travel tips for Italy too. Our visit was short and sweet with only 2 nights, and 1 full day. We didn’t pre-book our train ticket to Florence, that was mistake. And by pre-book we mean the day before travel or 3 days. All the trains leaving Venice and heading towards Rome were booked, 2nd AND 1st class for the next 3 hours. So we had to wait out the later morning for a train ride, no harm waiting , we just explored the other smaller side, found some more delicious italian food.
We waited out the time and jumped on the train heading to Florence, and then again onto Pisa. Curious about that life changing event happened in Pisa? Check out The Leaning Tower Of Pisa page to find out!
Thanks for reading our Venice The Sinking City blog.
