well upon arrival in Venice at midday of
course we're kind of hungry and ready
for lunch and there's this lovely and
friendly restaurant right on the grand
canal Koval a dog it's just a block or
two from our hotel so this was really
convenient and we had a fun chat with
the waiter who's a local Venetian guy
and get ready for some polenta Venetian
style and squid with that black ink or
pasta fettuccine spaghetti any kind of
pasta you want here they have some nice
fresh pasta with tomato sauce you can
get it with peas and ham local style
this is the nice way to start our visit
and Vanis build up some energy then we
leave our hotel heading out from the
opposition oon walk with Daniela and
right away we run into some street
musicians
very often in Europe you're going to
find buskers on the street performing
these fellows seem to be from Central
Europe with kind of gypsy music as we
make our way out from the hotel which is
right by the train station and the train
station bridge one of the three major
bridges across the Grand Canal we are
heading into the heart of Venice on this
walking tour with Daniela you see our
Hawaii group over this substantial
bridge you get some very nice views
looking up and down the Grand Canal in
both directions often there's some
Street peddlers here selling cheap
handbags or little games and puzzles but
today we're just walking along passing
on by up and over the bridge to the
other side now we're in the central
section of Venice and ultimately will be
heading to piazza san marco but we're
going to take our time getting there
we're going to take you on a back route
that's not often walked by tourists it's
a lovely an enchanting route through
these narrow alleyways passing little
shops and restaurants here and there the
old decaying and crumbling buildings a
little bit of graffiti here and there
beautiful brick structures it's so
pleasant to be able to stroll everywhere
and not worry about cars or trucks
running you over or blasting you with
noise and exhaust the only wheeled
vehicles in Venice are the push carts
for the workers and the little bicycles
for the kids
instead Venice offers the peace and
serenity in a world of its own if you
know where to look however the main
square the Piazza San Marco and primary
shopping streets can be an ordeal of
crowds and high-priced shops that could
give you a very bad impression
especially if you're only in town for a
day like most visitors
or even part of a day like most bus
tourists Venice has the highest ratio of
tourists to residents of any city in the
world which proves what a highly prized
magnet this is but warned you the town
is being loved to death you're going to
face major challenge to get away from
the mobs but it can be done if you know
where to go as we will show you most
tourists who visit Venice are here for
just a few hours and completely miss out
on the authentic experience because they
are in a rush to get back to their tour
bus all they see on a brief day trip is
the Piazza San Marco which is a
beautiful spot they might go to a glass
factory maybe a quick gondola ride and
then they rush off to the next city on
their hurried itinerary they supposedly
saw Venice but missed the heart and soul
of the town well this is the paradox of
mass tourism more people are traveling
to more crowded places but are in such a
hurry they don't find what they came
looking for this problem is more
apparent in Venice than anywhere else
rush rush rush the rewards of seeing the
real town are so great that so many
people want to come here but they're in
such a rush on a package tour they don't
really see it most places that you visit
in your travels are worth more than a
brief encounter especially a destination
is wonderful as Venice our approach here
is totally different we've got many tips
for getting the most out of every hour
in this precious jewel of a city you
could easily fill three days exploring
this town but even if you have only two
days you could squeeze in most of our
suggestions this detailed itinerary will
take you far beyond the stage front of
piazza san marco to discover venice's
true character much of which is found in
the little back alleys
the schedule that will bring you to all
the major highlights plus gets you into
the quiet neighborhoods far from the
crowds where you will find colorful
local life the best way to see Venice is
by getting away from the tourists and
walking through those little alleys oh
don't worry about getting lost you will
get lost but that's half the fun
you cannot stray too far because this is
a small town it's only about one mile
wide and it's on an island so you can't
go beyond that so just absorb the
overwhelming beauty and enjoy yourself
wander on these little side lanes and
here we're in a little courtyard
surrounded by the old apartment type
buildings Daniele is pointing out this
well in the middle of a courtyard this
is very typical
because Venice does not have any
groundwater as such so in the old days
the roofs and the ground would catch the
water and it would percolate down into
holding tanks and they would get it from
those wells this is very old fashioned
floor that herringbone brick pattern as
we continue our little walk distances
are not very far in Venice you really
can walk from one end of town to the
other in a couple of hours depending on
how lost you might get and following
Daniela we're not going to get lost at
all she was born and raised here and
knows the town very well we've just
walked by the school that she went to as
a child we are out of the details right
so then when we to Rialto Samarco you
see local
and here's some local kids playing
soccer of course the national sport of
Italy and throughout Europe they don't
have any soccer fields as such in Venice
they don't have any fields at all
it's only these courtyards fact they
call them comfy which means field so it
back in the old days there probably was
grass here dirt but of course that's
long gone
Venice is a very urban place a fairly
high density population although in the
last century of course the population
has dwindled considerably from what at
once had been the estimate today there's
about 70,000 people living in Venice
whereas there might have been 240,000 a
few hundred years ago when Venice was at
its peak walking along past the Ferrari
Church will pop in there for a quick
look later on in our visit but for now
we're just walking by continuing on our
pursuit of the back streets of the town
really getting away from the crowds here
it is totally empty except for us our
hawai'i group we had a small group on
this trip just 15 of us traveling
together a most enjoyable group of folks
most compatible really a lot of fun
sharing the experiences with each other
and with our great guide Daniella as we
trundle along we'll be heading into some
other little courtyards and visiting a
spectacular staircase coming up shortly
passing in the new stands and cafes
there's all sorts of little nooks and
crannies here notice those boards on the
right side of the alley those are for
one Venice floods a little bit they put
out there walking planks but in the
summer time and even in the spring and
fall there's not much flooding going on
but it is a city of water of course as
we approach the Grand Canal
there's a try ghetto you see the sign
try get those son Toma that will take us
across the canal from one side to the
other
now with the three bridges sometimes
you'd have to walk quite a distance to
get to a major bridge to cross the canal
like here you can't see any bridge in
sight and so the way you do it is you
take a little boat across from one side
of the canal to the other called the Tri
ghetto and it's quite inexpensive less
than one dollar for your short ride
you're not going to get seasick
out here on the Grand Canal and it's
calm you don't have to worry about the
boat Rocking
although it is a little bumpier than the
side canals this is a true ghetto
gondola so it's really the cheapest
gondola ride you could imagine and it's
quick and we're rapidly on our way
continuing the walk as we approach into
the san marco area but we still have a
ways to go yet before we get to piazza
san marco around the bend up the steps
crossing little bridges as we go there
are over 400 little bridges in venice
across those many canals which form over
100 small islands there are so many
neighborhoods in this town it's really
quite something
with all those local folks living here
there is really a lot of character as
you walk along from one spot to the next
we're approaching now a little staircase
it's called the scala Contarini del
buffalo which we call the snail
staircase down this very narrow alley
and you get to a small courtyard here
too there's a well in the middle and in
fact in the garden they've got several
well heads on display as we get to the
snail staircase now this is a public
type museum you can pay to go in there
if you wish and walk up the stairs up to
the top you get a nice view and walk
back down again but we're just taking a
look from the outside
it's a spiral staircase goes around and
around this is something that was added
to the palace it was a private palace
like most of the big houses here the
staircase was added on after the
building was constructed maybe a hundred
years later this was tacked on and what
does it do we'll provides a little
outdoor ambience for the people who live
there
they've got patios now they've got Lin
eyes and also clears up some internal
space so they don't have to have
staircases inside the building and they
can utilize space as always at such a
premium in Venice and that way they
maximize their space and it's beautiful
- this is a Renaissance feature and in
the courtyard notice a pretty garden and
what do we have in the courtyard well
it's a whole bunch of wells so it's a
display of wells that were brought from
other parts of town as you see here
there's still a well of a beautiful
flower pot well beautiful spot and we
soon exit that same narrow look at how
narrow these alleys are turning left and
then a quick right to nearby compass on
Lucca we're seven little alleys converge
bringing a constant stream of locals
through this pleasant meeting spot this
is another beautiful Tampa campus on
Lucca locals are always bumping into
each other here nothing and talking and
often you'll see conversations going on
a loss through the matter a talk in the
key - they don't mind
this is one of my favorite little spots
it's kind of a nothing place it's not a
landmark by any means but it's a great
spot just stand a moment and look around
you
compass on Luca it's this intersection
it's like we're standing in the middle
of a clover leaf on a highway how many
roads come together here it's like six
or seven little lanes all come together
locals hanging out talking cafes this is
a very local place I'd say 80% of the
people walking through at this hour are
locals going to work chatting with their
friends going for coffee compos on Luca
just a lovely spot now this is the kind
of place where you'll benefit by just
stopping for several minutes and
observing the scene appreciating the
murmur and flow of people passing
through and then of course there's tour
shops around it as well and you'll find
tourists wandering getting lost
wondering where they are looking for the
Rialto okay let's go to Surya passing
some more of the upscale shops here nice
hotels we're getting more and more
closer into the center of town heading
towards the Rialto the rialto bridge and
then the mercury a which is the main
shopping district of Venice we supply
some maps with our walking routes on
there so those who are interested can
try and follow along on the map but it's
a real challenge in Venice to use a map
here on the Grand Canal we have lovely
views looking in both directions along
the banks of the Grand Canal to the
Grand rialto bridge that is one of the
main focal points of the city
one of the main landmarks you'll see
signs all over town pointing your way to
the Rialto and there's many of these
souvenir stands nearby pick up your
venetian masks postcards t-shirts
anything that says Venice or venecia on
it and a good variety of things like
t-shirts that's one of the most popular
items and now we're in the mercury a
this is the heart of the shopping
district of the city these stores are
open all day and on into the evening
they don't take a break for afternoon
lunch here a whole variety of goods a
lot of them expensive but very high
quality merchandise on display as we
continue walking on our walking tours
we're not doing any shopping as such but
window shopping certainly having a look
as we go and in just a few blocks will
be in the main piazza san marco now the
mercury a is a neighborhood of about
three major parallel streets and half a
dozen cross streets running
perpendicular so it really is quite the
shopping district of course all of
Venice has shops scattered around but
this is the main cluster at the mercury
a take a break for some expensive ice
cream in the Piazza and now we've
arrived
at the Basilica the Basilica San Marco
is the greatest single landmark of
Venice consecrated in the Year 1094
which makes it one of the oldest
functioning buildings in Europe this
church is Europe's most authentic
surviving example of the Byzantine style
with five domes hovering over a Greek
cross floor plan and an interior covered
by the world's largest collection of
mosaics the basilica's design is based
on the plan of a sixth century Church in
Constantinople that was built by the
Emperor Justinian the most important
place in town is the Piazza San Marco
the city's largest public plaza