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 hotel rural barcelona 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, hotel rural barcelona the Venetians show remarkable good spirits and enough patience to make every one of the saints adorning walls and piazzas 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," hotel rural barcelona she told us after settling hotel rural barcelona us into our spacious hotel rural barcelona 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, devoid hotel rural barcelona 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 hotel rural barcelona low price of €2, though residents pay just fifty cents).
The highlight hotel rural barcelona 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. hotel rural barcelona It is a narrow, bar-bell shaped island, hotel rural barcelona lined on one side with a fine sandy beach and a paved walkway hotel rural barcelona 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. For all the beautiful young girls in teeny tiny swimsuits -- and some who went topless -- 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. hotel rural barcelona Bravo! In my modest one-piece I was one of just a few women with a covered midriff.
hotel rural barcelona By four o'clock we were ready to see the rest of the island, so we rented bicycles hotel rural barcelona and pedaled along the Lungomare. Passing one exceptionally beautiful hotel, 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 p.m., and we wanted to hear some live music. While we waited for the band to begin, we watched couples dancing to recorded 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 hotel rural barcelona 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.
It is not my habit to visit popular tourist destinations hotel rural barcelona 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 wi...
It is not my habit to visit popular hotel rural barcelona 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 wi...
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hotel rural barcelona I'm not sure how anyone in their right mind could describe Venice as having an "artificial Disneyland-like atmosphere". In any case the Lido is a cool way to combine a bit of beach and a bit of culture in one trip. The North end of the island hotel rural barcelona is much more convenient for catching the vaporetto. But basically the entire island is very relaxed, very quiet, and a great place to get away from the tourist hordes. The only caveat is the water is very "dead" there due to the masonry groins. Good for toddlers, hotel rural barcelona bad for anyone who prefers active water.
What? That is not my experience. I had a great time in Venezia. I didn't pay any of them, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that they are "ladies of the night" in their free time. It was really easy. Most of the time I would just go up to them and tell them I had no money for food and they would buy dinner. Then I would hint that I had no place to go and well there you have it. The best part is that they would leave me some cab fair (boat fair in Venezia) and I would just use it to get some lunch. It was the best place to be homeless in my experience.
We were in Venice last week of July and discovered Lido by accident (we were riding hotel rural barcelona the Vaporetto the entire length to sightsee by boat). Lido had the great feel of where local tourist hang to escape the crowds of Venice. A hidden gem for sure!
The best places in Venice are the far corners. Away from the maddening crowd. The little neighborhoods with the laundry hanging and the kids kicking around a soccer ball. My favorite time to be there is the winter. The city slows down to a crawl and the vaporetti have seats available! Venice is truly a magical place.
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