Arts & Entertainment
 

Venice

She's worth the cost

by Sarah Ohmer
The Daily Cougar

Venezia (veh-NEH-tsiah) -- that's how they say Venice in Parmesan nation. She's a generous muse, that old Italian port town. Back in the day, she hosted merchants from all over the Mediterranean, the really old school, wealthy businessmen. Now artists and lovers get lost inside her, hypnotized by her mesmerizing soul. The creepiest back alleys, the calmest canals, the most harmonious colors, the most vibrant locals, the most delectable pastry displays, the most pigeons, the most expensive bus ride -- Venezia deserves all of these awards. All it takes to enjoy her is to be human. She's not difficult, not discriminatory, but a few hours with her will cost you.

If you want a cappuccino, drink it like the locals -- standing up at a coffee bar. Learn to enjoy pizza and spaghetti bolognese (that's Italian for marinara and meatballs), or indulge and pay 15 bucks for each meal. Watch out for the menu turista -- if it's got "tourist" in it, it's a trap. They're out to profit from you tourists. At least pay attention to cover charges -- yes, they can charge cover at restaurants here. A meal is kind like a concert in Venice, but it doesn't always come with the live string quartet.

She'll wear you out, that old Venezia, because you never get tired of discovering her hidden spots. There's the famous puentes (bridges), the piazzas (squares), and the iglesias (churches), and there's everything in between -- sandwich bars, ristorantes, boutiques, marketplaces, old ladies hanging laundry over canals, older ladies watching tourists lost in the streets and kids who sound like they're singing when they point at a chunk of white chocolate in the pasticceria's window.

It's nice to have a room on the island and wake up in the middle of it all. One-star hotels have queen-size beds for 60 bucks in the winter. If you don't like crowds or high prices, that's the best time to go. You can find gondola rides for the same price in January, per person, the prezio speciale college estudente. Make sure you keep 60 bucks aside for a gondola ride, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. The wet parts of Venezia have remained untouched or at least not turned into shops. The canals maintain the Venezian architecture at its most authentic.

The cheaper alternative to witness it is by the bus boat; for $6 you get to ride around on the main canal. Here's a good way to pass the time on any evening in Venice: Buy an overpriced bottle of wine, hitch a ride from the bus boat at the train station, go around the main canal, stop back at the train station, cross the giant bridge and see where the finished bottle of wine's intuition takes you. 

Don't be afraid to spare some change for the bums here and there, and don't lose your map. Pull it out when you're tired of playing, and get your tired feet to bed. You can play the same game during the day, with tourists' destinations like St. Mark's Square or the Rialta Bridge. 

St. Mark' s will take your breath away the minute you cross one of its thousand arches and one of its thousand pigeons lands on your shoulder. Seeds are sold for a euro, feathers and feces are free of charge. Visit St. Mark's Cathedral to see Christian wealth at its coziest -- you'll have to pay to see the "treasure," however, and you may want to save those euros for the tower across from the church and the palace next to the church. The tower's panoramic view and the palace's trippy interior designs will ensure that you get your euros' worth. Behind the piazza, on the opposite side of the museums, lies a quiet little garden, perfect for a nap, a wine picnic, a smoke and a kiss -- away from the Venezian folk.

The Rialta Bridge is even more romantic in the evening with soft red and green lights reflecting in the rippled waters and gondolas asleep in the dark, neatly aligned and quietly rocking with the taxi boats' wakes. The deserted marketplace right beside it leads to the oldest, thickest and bloated brick walls and dark, tiny streets with a few brave flickering lights.

There's no wrong way to visit Venice and no right reason to leave it. She'll steal your tourist heart and never return it, making sure you compare every other city to her unbeatable looks.

No need for reservations: in this traveling merchant's town, hotels send scouts to the train station. They spot the tourists and escort them to a cheap and decently located room. Hostels are off the island -- not worth it unless you're by yourself.

No need for transportation: in this pedestrian town, cars have to park at a giant garage at the entrance of the island, so don't rent a car unless you plan to sleep in it. Ride the train in from the French Alps, through Modane. www.trenitalia.it.

Photographer's Pick: In Venice, the only things you truly have to see are the canals.

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