Adult Disneyland

Went with all the roommates plus change to Venice this weekend. It was fun, but I could never live there. Actually, staying in the area for a weekend was enough. Don't get me wrong - great time. But there's a reason the population's been on a continuous decline.

The city smells. Either literally like crap or like bad fish, depending where you are. It's hard to avoid.

The city is expensive. The only thing keeping it afloat is tourism. It's like a disneyland for grown-ups. Everything is overpriced, in an open attempt to rip people off, and we experienced a wide range in service quality. Most places were forgettably decent. Worth noting, though, are the best and worst.

Worst: the no-more-than-half-full place that kicked out the 8 of us after someone had asked (in Italian) if it would be ok if we just sat down for some drinks. One person was also ordering lunch, but when the order of one lunch and a liter of house wine went in, an angry guy, who wasn't our waiter nor the person who'd seated us, came out slamming our menus as he collected them, rudely telling us to leave because we hadn't ordered enough.

Best: we were on a mission to find a place to eat before seeing an amazing €20 performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Earlier we'd walked past this restaurant named after our roommate Rob. "da Roberto's." We happened to come across it again after passing up several other places that were either out of our budget or that didn't have outdoor seating. "da Roberto's" had waiters in white tuxedos providing excellent service and excellent food for about €15-18 after you throw in the cover charge, the service charge (see how Venice gets expensive quick?), and two bottles of wine between 6 people. Not only was it just a fantastic place in general, but after Rob asked if it would be possible to purchase a plate (printed with "da Roberto's" named and logo) , the waiter simply gave him one. free. ...and earned himself an extra €5 tip.

Finding our "hostel" was an adventure. It was back on the mainland, so it required a bus. But we didnt know which stop and wound up going 2 stops farther than we should've. We crossed the street and waited for the bus going the other way. Walked 0.75 km from the correct bus stop down a street that didnt look like it had any hotels/hostels anywhere. Eventually we found the place and our room wound up being more like an 8 bed apartment than a hostel.

Obviously the city is visually beautiful. Most of the highlights are things I didn't experience when I first went with my family 2 years ago. View from atop the bell tower in St. Marks Square, Gondola ride, Vivaldi concerto, "da Roberto's," and the general nighttime atmosphere aided by live performances in St. Marks Square.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

On a side note: RyanAir didn't live up to the horror stories I'd read online. It's obvious why the flights are so cheap, but it gets you where you want to go.