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Photographs by Leslie Strom and Eleonora Baldwin

How to get (purposely) lost in Venice

by Eleonora Baldwin

Not knowing one's whereabouts in the old city is inevitable, almost characteristic of the experience. There’s no escaping getting lost in the narrow and dimly lit calle alleys, emerging in dead end canal-flanked streets, and losing all sense of direction in the maze of overlapping stone arched bridges. It's one of the best things about Venice. And it's free.

“Learn to drift, to wander. Disoriented. Hang around.”
–T. Scarpa, Venice is a Fish

Complex coordinates

Any Venetian on the street/canal will help non-natives with directions; locals are accustomed to bedraggled out-of-towners buried knee deep in doubt, relying on cheap hotel maps and inept guidebooks.

So the soundest advice one can give travelers visiting Venice is this: get a big and detailed map. It's incredibly easy to get lost and wander around in circles (though you can't go too far afield, since you'll hit water eventually). The city of Venice is medieval in its layout, and can be very confusing. It is sometimes very difficult to orient yourself as to where you are with respect to the map. This is further complicated by the fact that the streets are narrow, convoluted, not named and lined with buildings four or five stories tall, making it impossible to see landmarks.

Locals often hear from travelers that Venezia is much larger than expected. People have an image of the city being an Italian version of Disneyland, or about the size of the French Quarter in New Orleans. In fact, Venice has about 60,000 inhabitants, and at one time had over 200,000.

Travel incognito

Citizens of La Serenissima are generally very kind and patient with lost tourists. That is of course if said visitors are not wearing a Mostra del Cinema badge. Beware! Venetians hate the end of summer twelve-day international film festival. To them it’s nothing but trouble, traffic, waves, trash and noisy motorboats crowding the canals. So when casually strolling the shady old town alleys, away from the Lido festival glitz, I suggest you avoid mentioning the VIP Mostra event. It is un-cool, and although the Riva speedboat taxis are very chic and the town spills with celebrities, the happening brings Venetians only unwanted distress.

It also ironically clashes with the city’s renown Regata Storica – held the first Sunday in September – which is the largest Venetian sculling festival of the year. It begins with a costumed procession of historic boats down the Grand Canal and continues through sunset with several boat races in different categories each with big prize money attached.

Mobility

If traveling by car, the Venice itinerary entry will mean a driving suspension, as the Serenissima is virtually a no car zone, being built on water. There are two parking lots in Venezia which serve the city: Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma. Cars can be parked 24hrs/7days a week for around €25,00 per day. A large number of ferries and vaporetti depart from Tronchetto and Piazzale Roma to the old city every few minutes.

The Santa Lucia Venice train station sits on the water’s edge on a broad terrace alongside the Grand Canal, where you'll find the vaporetto landing, water taxis, and the main pedestrian thoroughfare to the city center.

Although you can hire a water taxi near the station, you'll pay a horrendous fare, and these may not be able to get you all the way to your destination (not all hotels are on canals). Water taxis are the limousines of Venice: Riva motorboats with spacious leather-upholstered cabins, open-air seating in the stern, and private captains to chauffeur you up the Grand Canal or between the airport and your hotel. They offer an experience (and a fee) that you won't forget in a hurry. The fare between Marco Polo Airport and a hotel in central Venice averages €90 to €100, depending on location; a trip within the historic center can easily cost €50 or more, especially if you're paying the surcharge for ordering the water taxi by telephone. On the other hand, water taxis can hold up to 10 people, and the cost per person can be reasonable if you're splitting the fare with family or friends. Water taxis are also faster than public airport transportation, since you don't have to transfer to a vaporetto or walk a long way to your hotel when you arrive in the city.

Sticks and stones

A few words about how Venice stands. The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced woodpiles, which were imported from the mainland over six centuries ago. Under water, in the absence of oxygen, wood does not decay. It is petrified as a result of the constant flow of mineral-rich water around and through it, so that it becomes a stone-like structure. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud of the lagoon floor until they reach the much harder layer of compressed clay. Most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion. It is awesome to think that the entire city’s foundations rest on these piles, and the massive buildings of brick, marble or stone still sit above these slender footings.

Walking tip: beware of the slippery white marble that lines the city’s sidewalks and arched stone bridges. Considering the constant alcohol intake and the mossy flooring, improvised canal swimming incidents are not uncommon. The Venetian dialect name of the decorative stone is in fact pèa bianca, cu’o nero, which aptly translates to “white stone, bruised arse.”

Try walking the white lines inlaid in the St. Mark's Square pavement blindfolded. Proceeding in a straight line is virtually impossible, as the entire piazza is uneven and dis-leveled by the water tickling the foundations beneath. Also beware of the kamikaze pigeons. They have become accustomed to eating corn kernels (sold at Tokyo stock exchange prices) out of gullible tourists’ hands. They literally fly straight into people, looking for food.

Another Venice tradition for tourists and aficionados, is walking at least once each visit under the lion’s tail on the St. Mark's waterfront. The two tall columns that overlook the magnificent Palazzo dei Dogi are each topped by a statue; one of the city’s patron, Saint Mark - to whom the square is dedicated - and the other by a huge lion, symbol of the city. The feline’s tail protrudes out from the side of the column, and it is said that walking under it in the hope that the lion may one day release his droppings, bestows huge amounts of good fortune.

Hop on a Gondola

Another Venice requisite is taking a gondola ride. It’s an expensive, cliché and a mawkishly sentimental issue, but so damn romantic. Sneak a bottle of wine and glass chalices on board. The gondolier will be happy to share…as long as he doesn’t serenade too loud. Snuggle up to your significant other; listen to the silent canal water lapping at the sides of your gondola, and dream away. There are two important rules to remember about gondola rides in Venice:

1) If the price bothers you, don't do it.
2) If the price doesn't bother you, make sure you understood the gondolier correctly.

Fact is, a gondola ride is like a hansom cab ride in New York City: It can be a delightful experience, but only if you're able to forget the price and focus on the scenery.
The city of Venice sets official rates for gondola rides, which start at €80 for 40 minutes. Additional 20-minute increments are €40. After 7 pm, the base rate climbs to €100, with €50 for an additional 20 minutes. Up to 5 people can share a gondola.

This doesn't mean you'll actually pay 80 Euros, or that you'll get a 40-minute ride. Depending on demand, gondoliers may regard the official rates as a polite fiction. Special services, such as singing, can boost the fare even more. This means you should negotiate both the rate and the length of the ride before you get into the boat. Otherwise, your gondola ride may be memorable for reasons that have nothing to do with sightseeing.

The tide is high

Acqua alta, “high water,” is the exceptional tide peak phenomenon that occurs in the marshy Venetian lagoon mainly between fall and spring, when the astronomical tides are reinforced by the prevailing seasonal winds which hamper the usual reflux. Early at dawn the high tide alter sirens wail (warning: very annoying), summoning the plank people to work.
To allow pedestrian circulation during floods, the city in fact installs a network of expressly built gangways – wide wood planks on iron supports – reproducing the main urban paths, so tourists queuing to enter monuments and locals getting to work or rushing to school, all tread the same elevated passerelle, walkways, bumping into each other nonchalantly.

Favorite whereabouts

Lovely locations to get lost in are the market area beyond Rialto and the old Jewish ghetto. It is plain bliss to simply walk and walk, lose one’s direction and then be consoled with a couple of ombre (shot-sized stem glasses of chilled dry, white wine) in anticipation of one of the day’s many delicious meals.

Museums are superb in Venice. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Palazzo Grassi, Accademia Galleries, just to mention a few. And the bountiful Tintoretto, Carpaccio and other artists' works of art scattered in the city’s gazillion churches. The city itself is one big open-air museum.

Now take another overall glance at that map of Venice, doesn’t it look like a fish?

Eleonora Baldwin - American born, Italian raised, global citizen. Bi-lingual food & wine connoisseur, home cook, freelance writer, film industry script supervisor and travel enthusiast - Eleonora (Lola) lives in Rome with her 4 year old son, where she is currently editing her Italian cookbook/lifestyle manuscript. Eleonora is the author/editor of two popular weblogs:
AGLIO, OLIO & PEPERONCINO focuses on Italian cuisine, food history, travel musings and local hang-outs.
FORCHETTINE written in Italian; food-lover's online guide in which the author reviews restaurant facilities and regional specialties in Italy.