Run away, she told us after settling us into our spacious apartment behind Campo Santa Martina. She

It is not my habit to visit popular tourist destinations in the high season, but here I am in Venice in August when the population of 60,000 swells to a million or more. Considering that each of us will pelt the natives with some version of this question, Do you speak as a prelude to some other question, the Venetians show remarkable good spirits and enough patience to make every one of the saints adorning walls and piazzas hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee very proud indeed.
But this year, a stroke of good timing in the schedules of two of my sons, Sam and Joseph, allowed them to join my husband and I on our trip to Italy and we wanted to show them this most remarkable city even if that meant joining the hoards in August and arriving with some ambivalence.
Run away, she told us after settling us into our spacious apartment behind Campo Santa Martina. She drew arrows and circles on our map and firmly told us, go here and here and here, get out and run away.   And so we did.
In the quiet neighborhood behind Giardini Biennale we enjoyed the colors of the laundry hanging out to dry high above our heads, and watched the workers in a marina full of boats but devoid of any tourists except us.
And after a challenging follow-the-map-or-be-lost-forever, we found the tiny dock where the public gondola would take us across the Grand Canal to Campo San Sofia (for the unbelievably low price of 2 euros, though residents pay just fifty cents).
The highlight of the trip, however has to be our day spent at Lido, the seven and a half mile strip of land that separates Venice proper from the Adriatic. It is a narrow, bar-bell shaped island, lined on one side with a fine sandy beach and a paved walkway on the other, and the interior is chock full of summer-at-the-sea shops and cafes that make everyone slow their pace and settle down.
The four of us spent the heat of the day at the free beach. Jim and I swam while our sons girl-watched. hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee For all the beautiful young girls in teeny tiny (and sometimes topless) swimsuits, there were just as many older bathers, men and women who wore equally miniscule attire. I had to conclude, as I stopped counting the number of people exposing not-even-close to perfect physiques, that this is not a body conscious place. Bravo! In my modest one-piece I was one of just a few women with a covered midriff.
By four o clock we were ready to see the rest of the island, so we rented hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee bicycles and pedaled along the Lungomare. Passing one exceptionally beautiful hotel, hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee I was so absorbed by the mosaics on the facade, I steered myself into the curb and fell onto the sidewalk.
A concert on the main street Via Santa Maria Elisabetta was promised at 8:00 and we wanted to hear some live music. hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee While we waited for the band to begin, we watched couples dancing to recorded hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee tango music on the Via Lepanto, while young boys zoomed around them on their scooters.
Wet, tired, happy, we boarded the vaporetto and called it a day knowing we accomplished something rare. We d found the places in Venice where the locals go when they want to relax and had an authentic and memorable experience among them.
Kudos to you for braving a city like venice during tourist season, and even more so for daring to step out of bounds and go to places that aren t on the usual tourist itinerary. Anna and I have learned this is the best way to travel. It s almost as if all the truly unique experiences have retreated from the spotlight to hide away from the crowds.
It is great to hear from you. While Lido is hardly off the beaten path, it seems the locals have made it their own and the out-of-towners like me do not overwhelm the charm of the place. hotels or motels in pigeon forge tennessee Check it out.