My sister and I arrived to Venice the previous evening and stayed in a hostel, Camping Jolly. It was a campsite on the mainland and it was actually charming and very clean. For only 19,50 an evening, it was a nice stay. They also had a 2,50 euro shuttle bus that took you to the metro that would get you to the islands of Venice.
Unfortunately, the moment we arrived to the first island, we noticed that the entire city was completely flooded. The Grand Canal overflowed and we were trapped on Piazzale Roma which was a canal away from San Marco and San Polo, both of the islands my sister and I wanted/needed to visit.
Because there was no way we were going to swim there, we frantically hailed a water taxi. Because many friends of mine told me gondola rides were overpriced, and to me they seem more for romantic purposes than for two sisters sight-seeing, they said a water taxi was worth a try. So, this was a perfect opportunity.
At the end of our ride, after I had noticed that his meter was off, he charged us 60 euros. Not only is that ridiculously over-priced for probably a 5-minute ride, but he was obviously taking advantage of our desperate situation. Not the best experience.As the day went on, we just very badly needed something warm to drink because our faces, hands and ears were frozen from the brisk wind blowing as the freezing rain fell on us. So, we walked into a nearby caffè and chose a place to eat from my Italy travel book. We went to Ristorante Anima Bella on Calle Fiubella.
The food was incredibly delicious, but again, we were robbed. I ordered one bottle of sparkling water for the table, but the man brought us two. Because when one asks for a bottle of water at a restaurant in Italy, they usually bring you a liter or 75 cl of water for around 1-2 euros, I assumed that when the waiter brought 2 half-liter bottles, that it was because they were out of larger ones. That was actually not the case. The waiter not only brought us two when I ordered one, but he charged us 3,80 for each. Crazy, right?
At the end of dinner, I ordered an espresso for each of us. Il conto (bill) at the end said 7 euros for coffee. Yeah, we were each charged 3,50 for less than 2 sips of coffee. I know Venice is a tourist city and I am aware that people need to make a living, but that was just excessively ridiculous. Not to mention there was a 2 euro coperto (tip) and a 15% service fee.
The day did get better as it somewhat warmed up, but we decided to just sight-see while we walked in the general direction of the train station. Unfortunately, we became extremely miserable very quickly as it began raining again. Our train was not scheduled to leave for another 4 hours, so we bought return tickets for an earlier time because it was just too cold. Our day lasted from 9am-3pm (6 hours), which right now may not seem like a lot, but it was FREEZING and raining and we were just not prepared for it. You had to be there to understand.
Honestly, Venice is an incredibly beautiful city and I would love to visit it again someday when it is warmer and not flooded. I think our experience was definitely ruined by the fact that many pathways were blocked by multiple inches of water and it was probably the coldest day in Venice history! (probably not actually, but it felt like it)
My tip would definitely be to make sure to check prices and fight for things that seem over-priced and unfair. Apparently, Venice vendors and workers are not afraid to make an easy buck from "stupid" tourists. That is just not cool.
Anyway, I did manage to take some pictures, so take a look:
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| With everything being said, Venice is a beautiful city. |
<3
:(
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