Isn’t It Romantic?
After weeks of trying to book a romantic hotel using my Visa points, we gave up and booked one of the cheapest places we could find on HostelWorld—twin beds with a shared bathroom. It turned out quite well. Although the room is a little institutional, twin beds can be cosy and we were given a room with a small balcony overlooking a busy canal intersection.
We spend a lot of time in our hotel room, but we don’t feel like we are missing anything. At any moment we can look out and see three small bridges. One is continuously covered with tourists on their way to or from Piazza San Marco. They take pictures of us from several different vantage points. It reminds me of the Chinese tourists, who took many pictures of us, albeit for different reasons. In the intersection is a continuous stream of gondolas leaning to pass under one of the lowest bridges, water taxi pilots shouting at gondoliers to move to the side, and delivery boats waiting for a lull in the traffic. Isn’t that what Venice is really about?
Well, it’s romantic too—despite the hordes of tourists, the atrocious prices and arguing about grammar. It’s nice to wander and resist the temptation to check the map. We’ve wandered down a couple of dead-end alleyways to find isolated docks which look onto the larger canals. The tourists tend to congregate on the bridges while on their way from one tourist mecca to another, but there are still a few spots with a good view that provide a few moments of privacy.