Post #10: Venice
I have mixed opinions on Venice, probably more leaning to the negative side. I concede that my negative feelings about Venice may have been affected by the cold temperatures and the fact that it was off-season. Maybe if we went during Carnivale, my opinions would skew more positively. Our Tour Guide (Lana) thinks that Venice is nicer than Rome, but she is out of her mind.
I’ll start with the good. The pizza was *exceptional*, the waterways were cool to navigate and I somewhat enjoyed the gondola trip, even though the driver refused to sing for us. I was told that they sing for tips, but was rebuffed. Also, I bought some cool souvenirs.
Here is my pessimistic view of Venice. The city doesn’t have a proper physical foundation and is surely to sink into oblivion in the near future. It’s gotten so bad that almost all of the locals have abandoned it, and its only inhabitants are the throngs of tourists that are picking the carcass of what used to be a beautiful and culturally significant city.
It seems that the overwhelming majority of the city are tourist traps and it seems devoid of the artistic spirit that it’s supposed to have. But hey, at least they make awesome Pizza.
Off to Slovenia, birthplace of our First Lady, Melania Trump.