Venice? Private? Hah. With 20 million visitors a year, you can't possibly hope to feel like you have this eternally beautiful city all to yourself.
But you can try. Because while the sights you share with countless, faceless others are truly stunning, they are just easy pickings.
And while the Venice of the Grand Canal, of the Doge's Palace, the Venice of the Piazza and Basilica San Marco is as beautiful and evocative of a splendid past as anything you've ever seen...
... it is the Venice of the narrow side streets that is the most special, because it is the Venice that will become your own.
Thankfully, the city provides no shortage of these small, winding alleys to get lost in. And I was happy to share my own private Venice with the love of my life, and with one of my dearest friends (and the love of her life!).
Far away from the grand piazzas and palaces, and close to sunset, after the hordes of day trippers have gone home, is the best way to find your own private Venice. This is what mine looks like.
My Venice starts out looking pretty much like everyone else's: filled with countless footbridges, little boats, and serene reflections.
It also has the same colorful Murano glass baubles and same fanciful Venetian masks; these are inescapable. Lovely as they are, these aren't really a part of my Venice.
My Venice is filled with shops that sell odd little things, like porthole mirrors...
homemade treats, and kitschily packaged candy.
My Venice knows what I love, and offers it to me.
And she knows I won't resist.
and deserted courtyards that are perfect for savoring the pleasures of a book, or catching a few minutes of cool shade (or even playing a few rounds of Zombie Highway).
My Venice is an always-unfolding curiosity, an exotic foreigner who leaves me puzzled with unfamiliar sights...
... but surprises me with glimpses of home.
Criss-crossed with laundry lines and brightened by lovingly tended flower pots, my Venice is not a precious museum, but a real, living, day-to-day home—just not mine.
That's why she's never really my own private Venice—but she makes it so wonderfully easy to pretend.
I live vicariously through your travel posts Deepa! Please continue sharing your travels. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this. I felt Venice was my own when the night train from Munich rolled into the station at sunrise. My friend and I walked from the station to our little hotel. It was a 25 minute walk and there was hardly anyone on the streets. We had Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge practically to ourselves. I love the side streets, too.
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