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Return from Venice

After a few really great days in Venice, I’m finally back home. Basically, we’ve been spending most of the day walking through the narrow alleys, trying to find our way between the different sites (especially those small collateral venues) of the Biennale, but at the same time trying to see as much of the city as possible (considering that I’ve only been there once more than 10 years ago). Exhausting, but very rewarding.

I’ve uploaded some photos to Flickr, both of the city and of some of the works at the Biennale. I especially like this one: Is it just me, or does it look as if the gondola was tilting?

One thing that I found especially interesting about Venice is how quickly you are able to adapt to the extremely narrow alleys and the complex network of streets and canals of the city, despite feeling completely lost in the beginning. I’ve been to many other historic cities before that have similar streets (sans the canals, of course), but usually I was getting lost much more often than in Venice. I think this phenomenon can be attributed to Venice’s extremely unique architecture, where it’s hard to find a place or even a house that looks like another. Additionally, the placement of the bridges (which are, of course, crucial when travelling Venice) gives a good point of reference. Thusly, after only one day, I already felt quite confident about finding the way to the various places we wanted to see.

Another thing is that Venice is unusually expensive to visit. For example, while we got our room paid by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (that organized the trip and where my girlfriend is a student), we found out that the mediocre 2-star bed-and-breakfast hotel where we were staying usually charges 192 Euro (about $260) per night. That’s rather expensive for a hotel of that class! Also, food is quite expensive, too, even though it’s not especially good. For a country as famous for its food as Italy, it’s definitely a disappointment. Crazy, but I guess that considering how unique and awesome the city is, they can charge premium just for that.

Anyways, it has been a truly great trip that I’ve enjoyed a lot. Just the right thing to get the summer started!