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Venice: Low tides leave canals dry


Ray T

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4 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I thought the Med didn't have much in the way of tides? I reckon someone left the paddles open.

 

It doesnt but ISTR from my school geography that one of the areas wiith the biggest average range (within a normally very small one) is to the east and north east of Italy. One of the reasons it floods so often. Along with the fact the whole city is sinking of course.

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11 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

There are very few places that I have gasped at on first viewing.

 

St. Marks Square is certainly one of them.

My experience was different. The square is undoubtedly magnificent, but I knew that beforehand, so I wasn't surprised. But the place was heaving with tourists (and we were there out of season), there were long queues being marshalled to get into St Mark's, and the cafes were all charging three times the price of those two or three streets away. I much preferred the quieter locations away from the main tourist hotspots.

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Just now, David Mack said:

My experience was different. The square is undoubtedly magnificent, but I knew that beforehand, so I wasn't surprised. But the place was heaving with tourists (and we were there out of season), there were long queues being marshalled to get into St Mark's, and the cafes were all charging three times the price of those two or three streets away. I much preferred the quieter locations away from the main tourist hotspots.

 

I cant recall what time of the year we went but we didnt find it that busy, even though I rember it being blisteringly hot.

 

The cafe prices around the square though were eye wateringly expensive, I do remember that. And yes a few hundred yards in and very nice bars and cafes could be found at much more resonably prices, along with quieter parts.

 

From memory two mineral waters cost nearly a tenner so we moved on, sharpish

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42 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

There are very few places that I have gasped at on first viewing.

 

St. Marks Square is certainly one of them.

 

i had that at the top of the Arc de Triomphe, i think it had more to do with the lift being broken though :) 

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12 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

They should change the name of the city to Big Venice, so people don't confuse it with Little Venice. That has a canal too.

 

Visit Big Venice. Fewer canals than Birmingham.

Venice has far more canals than Birmingham, but Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice ?

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17 hours ago, David Mack said:

My experience was different. The square is undoubtedly magnificent, but I knew that beforehand, so I wasn't surprised. But the place was heaving with tourists (and we were there out of season), there were long queues being marshalled to get into St Mark's, and the cafes were all charging three times the price of those two or three streets away. I much preferred the quieter locations away from the main tourist hotspots.

 

We've been twice and never had to queue to get into Basilica San Marco. There is a secret to it.

It's also far better to go up the San Giorgio bell tower across the water than queue up with the tourists. Your vaporetti pass is your friend!

 

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Venice is quite extraordinary - but go at the wrong time and it is a miserable experience akin to disney.  March is good - weather looking up but not high season. If you stay on the Lido, you can avoid the sense of being crammed in, which can be claustrophobic. The cemetery Island is brilliant, as are other islands. Best to do the main centre very early, and head away after about 1030 in the morning. Well that's my opinion. 

The other thing that is fascinating is Gondolas. Not a straight line and an asymmetrical hull design. Incredible craftsmanship and woodworking skills displayed in every one. 

I expect I am about to hear they are churned out in plastic from China but I won't listen to that sort of thing. 

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10 minutes ago, Tigerr said:

I expect I am about to hear they are churned out in plastic from China but I won't listen to that sort of thing. 

 

I'm pretty sure tradition pretty much dictates that they are built in Venice so very little chance of that now or in the future I would say.

 

Much like the tradition that pretty much dictates that only those of Venetian birth or heritage and descended from a gondolier can become a gondolier themselves.

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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