17 ms·

Walking Venice

86 points by cmod 4y ago

giuliomagnifico 4y ago
I live near Venice and I have to agree with the article. But I don’t like Venice, or better, I love the city, I hate the people/tourists in Venice. I can only suggest to visit (in addition to Venice), two nearby cities: Chioggia and Trieste
- TulliusCicero 4y ago
  To me it seems like a simple case of supply and demand. Of course, you can't easily increase the supply of historic super-walkable towns, but you could design and create a modern super-walkable town if you wanted to, and had the resources. Could even make it cute, probably, with the right design regulations.
  - erwincoumans 4y ago
    Yes, more pedestrian and bike friendly, routing the cars away from the center. Some cities in the Netherlands making efforts towards this. The author (tourist) writes about over-tourism: a challenge is how to turn those new walkable town centers into new tourist destinations to offload current hot spots?
    - TulliusCicero 4y ago
      Some places sort of naturally become tourist destinations because of size/importance, but there are other ways. * Some specific gimmick that the town emphasizes, like Leavenworth, WA in the US has a Bavarian gimmick/theme that draws in a lot of tourists in the winter. * Resort towns that were invented for that purpose like Cancun in Mexico, or Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. Doesn't have to be beaches either, you could do the same thing for mountains/skiing I'm sure, maybe other forms of outside recreation. * Having something legal that 'usually' isn't. E.g. Nevada towns in the US with either brothels or, more famously, gambling. Of course it's the whole state where's gambling is legal, but yeah you'll get some towns right on the border where they exist for people in the next state over to easily gamble.
  - tpm 4y ago
    Europe is full of historic walkable towns, mostly the smaller / less central ones because capitals and important cities have been heavily changed aftere cars took over. But many still have at least a walkable central part. Last weekend I spent in Banska Stiavnica, a former important mining town in central Slovakia, and that is an example of such a town, as would be the centre of Cordoba in Spain, which was very important and then ceased to be, and so on. So the issue is, I think, more of marketing: the popular walkable destinations are overcrowded, but there are many like it, maybe without all those palaces but still beautiful and much much more quiet.
    - rob74 4y ago
      Can't speak for other countries, but the actual reason why smaller towns have more of their historic heritage intact in Germany is that the larger/more important ones were sadly bombed to bits during WW2. Of course, after the war, the open spaces created by bombardment were used to enable "car-friendly" cities, but that was a secondary effect...
      - coldcode 4y ago
        My parents/ancestors small town in Germany wasn't bombed (except a few accidents) but after the war they decide to destroy many of the charming ancient buildings and replace them with 70's style ugly. It still has some character, but you have to look harder.
  - smcl 4y ago
    You're right in the sense that the supply can't actually increase, but I have to say that Central + Southern Europe (but Italy in particular) has so many of these kinds of cute, walkable, quiet-but-fun towns that if you want a lovely trip where you're not arse-to-elbow with other tourists you're spoiled for choice.
    - TulliusCicero 4y ago
      My experience was that you can easily find ones that are highly walkable, but "no cars in the city whatsoever" only seems to exist for, like, tiny little towns locked by mountains or on an island or something. Which I guess Venice is sort of like that, except that it's not all that tiny. That's what I like about it: it's a good-sized town/city that's super walkable and no cars whatsoever aside from the entrance area where the trains also come in IIRC. In Venice, you can walk from the train station to the park on the opposite end, it takes close to an hour, you'll not even see any cars during that time and it's all fairly dense and urban. If there are cities that you could say the same of, I'd love to know about them.
- UncleOxidant 4y ago
  Visited Venice while living in Italy back in the early aughts. Pretty much my least favorite city in Italy that we visited. Sure it's an actual real old city, but somehow it had a kind fake feel to it. I distinctly remember sitting down on a bench and then realizing that there was a drunk guy in the bushes right behind me mumbling about something (not in Italian). And none of the people we met who were working in the restaurants or running the BnBs were Italian - they were mostly Moldovan, Slovenian, Croatian. The owner of the apartment where we rented a room was Italian, but living in a completely different part of Italy. They hired a Moldovan woman to run the BnB. It was pretty much the same in all the restaurants we visited as well.
  - simplicio 4y ago
    I enjoyed visiting a few years ago, but yea, it feels more like "Renaissance Disney" then a real city. Even in out of the way parts of the city, the tourists and staff commuting in from the mainland seemed to far outnumber anyone that actually lived there.
    - chasil 4y ago
      I actually found an out of the way synagogue specifically for a gift for a friend, and otherwise did make a point to find a few places where I saw no obvious tourists.
  - pcurve 4y ago
    It has its charm, but I think it's a place to avoid during high tourist season. what frustrates me is just getting around. I suppose one would eventually get used to it, but despite what some say, it is not pedestrian friendly, with tight ally, bridges, dead-ends, etc. However, what I love is, how unique it is. how many places on earth are you able to take a boat taxi to an international airport?!
    - chasil 4y ago
      I visited Rome, Florence and Venice in January. I can't recommend the season enough, it felt as if I had some aspects all to myself. In the summer, I understand the crowds are insane. The only drawback is moderate rain. My favorite was the old city of Ostia.
- eafkuor 4y ago
  I'd recommend Vicenza and Verona. A single train line connects them to Venice, too.
  - klez 4y ago
    You'll probably never read this but: were you part of Insomnia Crew?
    - eafkuor 4y ago
      Wow, you have a great memory. Yes I was. I wrote a (terrible) guide to C when I was 13-14 years old.. :D https://web.archive.org/web/20030428061819/http://www.insomniacrew.org/docs/index.php?pag=coding https://web.archive.org/web/20030428061819/http://www.insomn...
      - klez 4y ago
        And I "composed" a (terrible) anthem for the crew (I used to use the nickname 'throttle' back then). So there's that :P
        eafkuor 4y ago
        Small world :)
TulliusCicero 4y ago
I've been to Venice and I do feel kind of bad about the situation. I wish there were more cities like it to visit or live in, that were really aggressively pedestrian friendly. The fact that it's mostly little alleys and side streets with nary a car to be seen is just...sublime, in its own way. It's amazing the impact it has on your brain to not have to worry about cars at all as you wander about on foot. Of course there are many reasonably pedestrian-friendly cities all over the world, but I can't really thing of anything on Venice's level where it's in a developed/rich country, and yet there's this decently-sized population/geographical area with essentially zero cars around.
- chasil 4y ago
  I've been to Venice, and I've driven from Miami to Key West. Both are doomed, but the catastrophes will have markedly different vibes.
- Barrin92 4y ago
  Quite a few towns in Europe are pretty similar. A few years ago I spent some time in Pontevedra which literally banned cars from the city. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/paradise-life-spanish-city-banned-cars-pontevedra https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/paradise-life...
  - TulliusCicero 4y ago
    Looks like cars are only banned from the center of the city there. I won't dispute that it looks quite nice though.
    - nextos 4y ago
      Pontevedra is very compressed. Pedestrian-only areas cover most of the city.
      - TulliusCicero 4y ago
        It looks like it only takes 10 minutes or to walk from one end where there's cars to the other. In contrast, going from the train station in Venice to the park on the opposite end takes close to an hour. Part of why Venice is nice is because it feels big enough to really explore on foot. Having a much smaller town that has no cars is okay, but not quite the same experience.
ews 4y ago
Thanks for writing this, I lived briefly in Venice during college, and I visited the city multiple times since in the last two decades. I been in both sides of the fence: a inhabitant and a tourist. And the city can't be any more different when you live there (the slow pace, the absolute silence, the absurd elongated perception of time) and when you visit. It was only until 2019 where I ventured myself into the Biennale and I had the same impression as the author: unthinkable that this fair is not more popular and appreciative of finding a place of high culture without being completely overtaken by tourism.
- pcurve 4y ago
  I just came back from this year's Biennale, and I'm thankful that it's not more popular. I think it's already popular enough ;-) Korea's pavilion had fantastic showing this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OFhSq1XEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OFhSq1XEE
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
itisit 4y ago
This has that cringey quality you can only find in self-indulgent writing. Kind of like what you'd expect from a small lib arts school undergrad lit major. Some things are better left unwritten or delivered in conversation over a drink or two.
- aeontech 4y ago
  Sounds like it’s not your cup of tea, but I wonder what prompts you to leave this negative comment? Do you think the author will read it and change his style? And, what do you think about the actual matter subject of the post rather than the style?
  - itisit 4y ago
    > Sounds like it’s not your cup of tea, but I wonder what prompts you to leave this negative comment? The hackneyed gerund-noun title is reason enough. Seriously, the writing is coming from someone who wants to be a writer as opposed to just being one: the contrived cadence, the awkward diction, the constant minutiae... > Do you think the author will read it and change his style? Hopefully. > And, what do you think about the actual matter subject of the post rather than the style? It's a terribly cliched type of travel essay: "This city is absurd, but there's beauty in places."
    - Veen 4y ago
      > the writing is coming from someone who wants to be a writer as opposed to just being one Mod has made a living writing, creating books, and taking photographs for many years. I'd say that makes him a writer, not a wannabe writer. You have critiqued his style, and that's fine. You don't like it, but your stylistic preferences don't govern who deserves to be considered a writer. Would you mind sharing an example of writing that is in your preferred style?
    - closedloop129 4y ago
      >But you learn. You learn to navigate the shameful ATMs, and you learn, quickly, routes between places that avoid the crowds. You learn the Biennale is Good. And you find a talented shiatsu specialist named Lorenzo who communicates only via Google Translate. Isn't that style meant to be read ironically? The general 'you' cannot learn about the shiatsu specialist named Lorenzo. Is that still bad style?
normac2 4y ago
At first I thought this was going to be fantasy or some kind of conceptual piece and the front page photo was faked with Photoshop or something like DALL-E 2 with a prompt like sad minotaur girl lies in street in Italy while tourists watch, photorealistic. Looks like it's actually from some kind of (very well-done) street performance art piece. Starting to feel what it's like to be living in the era where thinking a photo is real isn't a pretty safe default assumption.
- Markoff 4y ago
  Yeah, I was expecting some 3D walking through Venice in my browser window, something like Google street view but more smooth open space. This was very underwhelming afetr opening to just find some text musing about visiting.
  - Etheryte 4y ago
    It's almost as if you can't guess what an article will be about based on a two-word title.
- aib 4y ago
  It'a a photo of Uffe Isolotto's We Walked the Earth, at the Danish pavillion.
tamade 4y ago
I've been visiting Italy for years and this last trip during the pandemic, sans the typical tourist volumes, was fantastic. Now that travel is back on, I recommend getting away from the main tourist hot spots, the rest of the country is just as nice and much less crowded.
morninglight 4y ago
When I first visited Venice, I loved it, but that was 40 years ago. Thirty years later it had lost much of its charm. There did seem to be too many tourists, but in all honesty, I think the age of a visitor alters perception. In any case, City Walk videos may not be ideal, but they provide a rough idea of the current situation. https://youtu.be/QqTsxl820lo https://youtu.be/QqTsxl820lo
rkuska 4y ago
A little advice about ATMs (I think it should be applicable within any country in Europe) - Try to always look out for an ATMs that belong to banks, they are usually “nice” in terms of being easy to choose not to impose their own currency rate. The predatory ones are usually operated by some private nonbank subject most common being Euronet - don’t even touch these.
- herrherrmann 4y ago
  The EuroNet ATMs in Germany are actually pretty alright! I use them all the time and recommend them to visitors as well because they are widely available and still among the more official and hassle-free ATM brands around here. (They have a simple UI, support many languages and never ask for extra fees, as far as I’ve seen.) But it might be different in other countries and dependent on the origin of the bank card, of course.
  - notahacker 4y ago
    I believe the reason they don't ask for extra fees is because the exchange rate they offer is so bad (unlike your typical bank ATM that offers the correct exchange rate but might charge a Euro or two for foreign card withdrawals). Admittedly, that might be fire for visitors from the eurozone.
  - rkuska 4y ago
    If you are withdrawing the same currency that your bank account is then yes I believe euronet is ok. But try to use them with bank account in foreign currency - it´s not really clear to the user that they are accepting such a terrible exchange rate. At least that´s my experience.
- rob74 4y ago
  Of course, the "predatory ATMs" tend to be those installed at or near the main tourist thoroughfares, finding bank ATMs may require some searching. I guess it's just another variation of "tourist trap"...
- Unearned5161 4y ago
kamranjon 4y ago
Was in Venice at the same time, Biennale was the highlight for me, an oasis in the middle of our Venice trip. The city itself was expensive, finding good food was not easy, completely overcrowded and majority of financial interactions involved someone charging us for something we did not buy. Florence on the other hand was phenomenal, we stopped by on our way to Venice for a few nights and though it had many tourists, it was so easy to wander and get lost and find treasures. We couldn’t find a place that had bad food, just wander somewhere off the main path and amazing pizza, amazing wine for incredible price. Incredible sights and history to indulge in, definitely was the highlight of our Rome, Florence, Venice trip.
AlessandroA 4y ago
The thing I find most interesting about the Venice Biennale is that it is an event that really embraces the whole city. While the main exhibitions are hosted in the Arsenale and the Giardini venue, there are so many events scattered in gardens and palaces that are otherwise closed to the public. It's a unique chance to experience some hidden gems a tourist would never be able to see. If anybody is interested in exploring the Biennale Arte, I have built a non-official app that helps you navigate all those events, [0]. It's a hobby project, so please be kind! If you go and want some tips, feel free to get in touch. [0] https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/biennale-arte/id1620771374 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/biennale-arte/id1620771374
- simonebrunozzi 4y ago
  Well done, Alessandro! Do you live in Venice? We should get a Spritz together :) My email is my HN username at gmail
Liuser 4y ago
Visited Venice last year late November. During the day, the most enjoyable parts for me were walking a bit further away toward the northern sections (Cannaregio) which are away from the main shopping centers and thus crowds. Then during the late night/early morning I would walk with my wife and explore the city a bit more once the crowds died down and the city felt quiet (after 11pm). That was romantic. I’d parrot with others that it’s amazing not having to worry about cars. We did Rome, Florence, Tivoli, Siena and Venice. All beautiful cities coupled with amazing food. Florence felt like I was walking through a painting at times; I loved them all.
mettamage 4y ago
Ha! That front picture is of the Biennale! Denmark is bringing it! (they made the centaur art thingy)
AlphaGeekZulu 4y ago
If you are interested in the topic - try to get a copy of "Migropolis: Venice / Atlas of a Global Situation": https://www.hatjecantz.de/migropolis-2388-1.html https://www.hatjecantz.de/migropolis-2388-1.html
Tade0 4y ago
My SO used to work seasonally in Venice so I was a frequent visitor. If you haven't been there I recommend arriving by train. It's like setting foot on an alien planet. As for everything else: much to the locals' distaste the city, like many others in Italy, is slowly turning into a theme park. Good thing they at least managed to put all the party people on Lido. The general outlook is grim - young Venetians are increasingly moving out due to high cost of living combined with few employment opportunities outside of tourism. My fondest memory of Venice will always be the experience of running through the city - I needed to catch a train. It's possible, but frowned upon for the same reason that cycling is forbidden in Venice proper, namely the risk of falling or pushing someone into one of the many canals.
simonebrunozzi 4y ago
I grew up in Italy, lived abroad from 2008 to 2020 (Luxembourg, Singapore, San Francisco), then moved back to Italy, and settled in Venezia since. I live in Venezia now. AMA.
- stephenitis 4y ago
  What do you do? How much do you make? How much is cost of living in a month? Are you worried about the drought of the Po River?
- __void 4y ago
  Venessiani gran signori
atorodius 4y ago
Thanks for this piece, I enjoyed reading it. I was in Naples a few weeks ago and they drive theough all the tiny streets there, it was so stressful. We saw Pompei also. I could not help but marvel at how closw and homley everything felt. Abolish cars in cities!!

86 points by cmod 4y ago

I live near Venice and I have to agree with the article. But I don’t like Venice, or better, I love the city, I hate the people/tourists in Venice. I can only suggest to visit (in addition to Venice), two nearby cities: Chioggia and Trieste

TulliusCicero 4y ago
To me it seems like a simple case of supply and demand. Of course, you can't easily increase the supply of historic super-walkable towns, but you could design and create a modern super-walkable town if you wanted to, and had the resources. Could even make it cute, probably, with the right design regulations.
- erwincoumans 4y ago
  Yes, more pedestrian and bike friendly, routing the cars away from the center. Some cities in the Netherlands making efforts towards this. The author (tourist) writes about over-tourism: a challenge is how to turn those new walkable town centers into new tourist destinations to offload current hot spots?
  - TulliusCicero 4y ago
    Some places sort of naturally become tourist destinations because of size/importance, but there are other ways. * Some specific gimmick that the town emphasizes, like Leavenworth, WA in the US has a Bavarian gimmick/theme that draws in a lot of tourists in the winter. * Resort towns that were invented for that purpose like Cancun in Mexico, or Sunny Beach in Bulgaria. Doesn't have to be beaches either, you could do the same thing for mountains/skiing I'm sure, maybe other forms of outside recreation. * Having something legal that 'usually' isn't. E.g. Nevada towns in the US with either brothels or, more famously, gambling. Of course it's the whole state where's gambling is legal, but yeah you'll get some towns right on the border where they exist for people in the next state over to easily gamble.
- tpm 4y ago
  Europe is full of historic walkable towns, mostly the smaller / less central ones because capitals and important cities have been heavily changed aftere cars took over. But many still have at least a walkable central part. Last weekend I spent in Banska Stiavnica, a former important mining town in central Slovakia, and that is an example of such a town, as would be the centre of Cordoba in Spain, which was very important and then ceased to be, and so on. So the issue is, I think, more of marketing: the popular walkable destinations are overcrowded, but there are many like it, maybe without all those palaces but still beautiful and much much more quiet.
  - rob74 4y ago
    Can't speak for other countries, but the actual reason why smaller towns have more of their historic heritage intact in Germany is that the larger/more important ones were sadly bombed to bits during WW2. Of course, after the war, the open spaces created by bombardment were used to enable "car-friendly" cities, but that was a secondary effect...
    - coldcode 4y ago
      My parents/ancestors small town in Germany wasn't bombed (except a few accidents) but after the war they decide to destroy many of the charming ancient buildings and replace them with 70's style ugly. It still has some character, but you have to look harder.
- smcl 4y ago
  You're right in the sense that the supply can't actually increase, but I have to say that Central + Southern Europe (but Italy in particular) has so many of these kinds of cute, walkable, quiet-but-fun towns that if you want a lovely trip where you're not arse-to-elbow with other tourists you're spoiled for choice.
  - TulliusCicero 4y ago
    My experience was that you can easily find ones that are highly walkable, but "no cars in the city whatsoever" only seems to exist for, like, tiny little towns locked by mountains or on an island or something. Which I guess Venice is sort of like that, except that it's not all that tiny. That's what I like about it: it's a good-sized town/city that's super walkable and no cars whatsoever aside from the entrance area where the trains also come in IIRC. In Venice, you can walk from the train station to the park on the opposite end, it takes close to an hour, you'll not even see any cars during that time and it's all fairly dense and urban. If there are cities that you could say the same of, I'd love to know about them.
UncleOxidant 4y ago
Visited Venice while living in Italy back in the early aughts. Pretty much my least favorite city in Italy that we visited. Sure it's an actual real old city, but somehow it had a kind fake feel to it. I distinctly remember sitting down on a bench and then realizing that there was a drunk guy in the bushes right behind me mumbling about something (not in Italian). And none of the people we met who were working in the restaurants or running the BnBs were Italian - they were mostly Moldovan, Slovenian, Croatian. The owner of the apartment where we rented a room was Italian, but living in a completely different part of Italy. They hired a Moldovan woman to run the BnB. It was pretty much the same in all the restaurants we visited as well.
- simplicio 4y ago
  I enjoyed visiting a few years ago, but yea, it feels more like "Renaissance Disney" then a real city. Even in out of the way parts of the city, the tourists and staff commuting in from the mainland seemed to far outnumber anyone that actually lived there.
  - chasil 4y ago
    I actually found an out of the way synagogue specifically for a gift for a friend, and otherwise did make a point to find a few places where I saw no obvious tourists.
- pcurve 4y ago
  It has its charm, but I think it's a place to avoid during high tourist season. what frustrates me is just getting around. I suppose one would eventually get used to it, but despite what some say, it is not pedestrian friendly, with tight ally, bridges, dead-ends, etc. However, what I love is, how unique it is. how many places on earth are you able to take a boat taxi to an international airport?!
  - chasil 4y ago
    I visited Rome, Florence and Venice in January. I can't recommend the season enough, it felt as if I had some aspects all to myself. In the summer, I understand the crowds are insane. The only drawback is moderate rain. My favorite was the old city of Ostia.
eafkuor 4y ago
I'd recommend Vicenza and Verona. A single train line connects them to Venice, too.
- klez 4y ago
  You'll probably never read this but: were you part of Insomnia Crew?
  - eafkuor 4y ago
    Wow, you have a great memory. Yes I was. I wrote a (terrible) guide to C when I was 13-14 years old.. :D https://web.archive.org/web/20030428061819/http://www.insomniacrew.org/docs/index.php?pag=coding https://web.archive.org/web/20030428061819/http://www.insomn...
    - klez 4y ago
      And I "composed" a (terrible) anthem for the crew (I used to use the nickname 'throttle' back then). So there's that :P
      - eafkuor 4y ago
        Small world :)

TulliusCicero 4y ago

I've been to Venice and I do feel kind of bad about the situation. I wish there were more cities like it to visit or live in, that were really aggressively pedestrian friendly. The fact that it's mostly little alleys and side streets with nary a car to be seen is just...sublime, in its own way. It's amazing the impact it has on your brain to not have to worry about cars at all as you wander about on foot. Of course there are many reasonably pedestrian-friendly cities all over the world, but I can't really thing of anything on Venice's level where it's in a developed/rich country, and yet there's this decently-sized population/geographical area with essentially zero cars around.

chasil 4y ago
I've been to Venice, and I've driven from Miami to Key West. Both are doomed, but the catastrophes will have markedly different vibes.
Barrin92 4y ago
Quite a few towns in Europe are pretty similar. A few years ago I spent some time in Pontevedra which literally banned cars from the city. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/paradise-life-spanish-city-banned-cars-pontevedra https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/sep/18/paradise-life...
- TulliusCicero 4y ago
  Looks like cars are only banned from the center of the city there. I won't dispute that it looks quite nice though.
  - nextos 4y ago
    Pontevedra is very compressed. Pedestrian-only areas cover most of the city.
    - TulliusCicero 4y ago
      It looks like it only takes 10 minutes or to walk from one end where there's cars to the other. In contrast, going from the train station in Venice to the park on the opposite end takes close to an hour. Part of why Venice is nice is because it feels big enough to really explore on foot. Having a much smaller town that has no cars is okay, but not quite the same experience.

ews 4y ago

Thanks for writing this, I lived briefly in Venice during college, and I visited the city multiple times since in the last two decades. I been in both sides of the fence: a inhabitant and a tourist. And the city can't be any more different when you live there (the slow pace, the absolute silence, the absurd elongated perception of time) and when you visit. It was only until 2019 where I ventured myself into the Biennale and I had the same impression as the author: unthinkable that this fair is not more popular and appreciative of finding a place of high culture without being completely overtaken by tourism.

pcurve 4y ago
I just came back from this year's Biennale, and I'm thankful that it's not more popular. I think it's already popular enough ;-) Korea's pavilion had fantastic showing this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OFhSq1XEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OFhSq1XEE

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

itisit 4y ago

This has that cringey quality you can only find in self-indulgent writing. Kind of like what you'd expect from a small lib arts school undergrad lit major. Some things are better left unwritten or delivered in conversation over a drink or two.

aeontech 4y ago
Sounds like it’s not your cup of tea, but I wonder what prompts you to leave this negative comment? Do you think the author will read it and change his style? And, what do you think about the actual matter subject of the post rather than the style?
- itisit 4y ago
  > Sounds like it’s not your cup of tea, but I wonder what prompts you to leave this negative comment? The hackneyed gerund-noun title is reason enough. Seriously, the writing is coming from someone who wants to be a writer as opposed to just being one: the contrived cadence, the awkward diction, the constant minutiae... > Do you think the author will read it and change his style? Hopefully. > And, what do you think about the actual matter subject of the post rather than the style? It's a terribly cliched type of travel essay: "This city is absurd, but there's beauty in places."
  - Veen 4y ago
    > the writing is coming from someone who wants to be a writer as opposed to just being one Mod has made a living writing, creating books, and taking photographs for many years. I'd say that makes him a writer, not a wannabe writer. You have critiqued his style, and that's fine. You don't like it, but your stylistic preferences don't govern who deserves to be considered a writer. Would you mind sharing an example of writing that is in your preferred style?
  - closedloop129 4y ago
    >But you learn. You learn to navigate the shameful ATMs, and you learn, quickly, routes between places that avoid the crowds. You learn the Biennale is Good. And you find a talented shiatsu specialist named Lorenzo who communicates only via Google Translate. Isn't that style meant to be read ironically? The general 'you' cannot learn about the shiatsu specialist named Lorenzo. Is that still bad style?

normac2 4y ago

At first I thought this was going to be fantasy or some kind of conceptual piece and the front page photo was faked with Photoshop or something like DALL-E 2 with a prompt like sad minotaur girl lies in street in Italy while tourists watch, photorealistic. Looks like it's actually from some kind of (very well-done) street performance art piece. Starting to feel what it's like to be living in the era where thinking a photo is real isn't a pretty safe default assumption.

Markoff 4y ago
Yeah, I was expecting some 3D walking through Venice in my browser window, something like Google street view but more smooth open space. This was very underwhelming afetr opening to just find some text musing about visiting.
- Etheryte 4y ago
  It's almost as if you can't guess what an article will be about based on a two-word title.
aib 4y ago
It'a a photo of Uffe Isolotto's We Walked the Earth, at the Danish pavillion.

tamade 4y ago

I've been visiting Italy for years and this last trip during the pandemic, sans the typical tourist volumes, was fantastic. Now that travel is back on, I recommend getting away from the main tourist hot spots, the rest of the country is just as nice and much less crowded.

morninglight 4y ago

When I first visited Venice, I loved it, but that was 40 years ago. Thirty years later it had lost much of its charm. There did seem to be too many tourists, but in all honesty, I think the age of a visitor alters perception. In any case, City Walk videos may not be ideal, but they provide a rough idea of the current situation. https://youtu.be/QqTsxl820lo https://youtu.be/QqTsxl820lo

rkuska 4y ago

A little advice about ATMs (I think it should be applicable within any country in Europe) - Try to always look out for an ATMs that belong to banks, they are usually “nice” in terms of being easy to choose not to impose their own currency rate. The predatory ones are usually operated by some private nonbank subject most common being Euronet - don’t even touch these.

herrherrmann 4y ago
The EuroNet ATMs in Germany are actually pretty alright! I use them all the time and recommend them to visitors as well because they are widely available and still among the more official and hassle-free ATM brands around here. (They have a simple UI, support many languages and never ask for extra fees, as far as I’ve seen.) But it might be different in other countries and dependent on the origin of the bank card, of course.
- notahacker 4y ago
  I believe the reason they don't ask for extra fees is because the exchange rate they offer is so bad (unlike your typical bank ATM that offers the correct exchange rate but might charge a Euro or two for foreign card withdrawals). Admittedly, that might be fire for visitors from the eurozone.
- rkuska 4y ago
  If you are withdrawing the same currency that your bank account is then yes I believe euronet is ok. But try to use them with bank account in foreign currency - it´s not really clear to the user that they are accepting such a terrible exchange rate. At least that´s my experience.
rob74 4y ago
Of course, the "predatory ATMs" tend to be those installed at or near the main tourist thoroughfares, finding bank ATMs may require some searching. I guess it's just another variation of "tourist trap"...
Unearned5161 4y ago

kamranjon 4y ago

Was in Venice at the same time, Biennale was the highlight for me, an oasis in the middle of our Venice trip. The city itself was expensive, finding good food was not easy, completely overcrowded and majority of financial interactions involved someone charging us for something we did not buy. Florence on the other hand was phenomenal, we stopped by on our way to Venice for a few nights and though it had many tourists, it was so easy to wander and get lost and find treasures. We couldn’t find a place that had bad food, just wander somewhere off the main path and amazing pizza, amazing wine for incredible price. Incredible sights and history to indulge in, definitely was the highlight of our Rome, Florence, Venice trip.

AlessandroA 4y ago

The thing I find most interesting about the Venice Biennale is that it is an event that really embraces the whole city. While the main exhibitions are hosted in the Arsenale and the Giardini venue, there are so many events scattered in gardens and palaces that are otherwise closed to the public. It's a unique chance to experience some hidden gems a tourist would never be able to see. If anybody is interested in exploring the Biennale Arte, I have built a non-official app that helps you navigate all those events, [0]. It's a hobby project, so please be kind! If you go and want some tips, feel free to get in touch. [0] https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/biennale-arte/id1620771374 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/biennale-arte/id1620771374

simonebrunozzi 4y ago
Well done, Alessandro! Do you live in Venice? We should get a Spritz together :) My email is my HN username at gmail

Liuser 4y ago

Visited Venice last year late November. During the day, the most enjoyable parts for me were walking a bit further away toward the northern sections (Cannaregio) which are away from the main shopping centers and thus crowds. Then during the late night/early morning I would walk with my wife and explore the city a bit more once the crowds died down and the city felt quiet (after 11pm). That was romantic. I’d parrot with others that it’s amazing not having to worry about cars. We did Rome, Florence, Tivoli, Siena and Venice. All beautiful cities coupled with amazing food. Florence felt like I was walking through a painting at times; I loved them all.

mettamage 4y ago

Ha! That front picture is of the Biennale! Denmark is bringing it! (they made the centaur art thingy)

AlphaGeekZulu 4y ago

If you are interested in the topic - try to get a copy of "Migropolis: Venice / Atlas of a Global Situation": https://www.hatjecantz.de/migropolis-2388-1.html https://www.hatjecantz.de/migropolis-2388-1.html

Tade0 4y ago

My SO used to work seasonally in Venice so I was a frequent visitor. If you haven't been there I recommend arriving by train. It's like setting foot on an alien planet. As for everything else: much to the locals' distaste the city, like many others in Italy, is slowly turning into a theme park. Good thing they at least managed to put all the party people on Lido. The general outlook is grim - young Venetians are increasingly moving out due to high cost of living combined with few employment opportunities outside of tourism. My fondest memory of Venice will always be the experience of running through the city - I needed to catch a train. It's possible, but frowned upon for the same reason that cycling is forbidden in Venice proper, namely the risk of falling or pushing someone into one of the many canals.

simonebrunozzi 4y ago

I grew up in Italy, lived abroad from 2008 to 2020 (Luxembourg, Singapore, San Francisco), then moved back to Italy, and settled in Venezia since. I live in Venezia now. AMA.

stephenitis 4y ago
What do you do? How much do you make? How much is cost of living in a month? Are you worried about the drought of the Po River?
__void 4y ago
Venessiani gran signori

atorodius 4y ago

Thanks for this piece, I enjoyed reading it. I was in Naples a few weeks ago and they drive theough all the tiny streets there, it was so stressful. We saw Pompei also. I could not help but marvel at how closw and homley everything felt. Abolish cars in cities!!