Day 2 - Day started a bit rainy, drizzle, so we had our Italian expresso coffees and then decided we should go to Venice today. Now i know why the Italians are calling our coffee "octopus water"...One shot of double expresso on the beach and you don't need anymore coffee till next day! I mean it. And I'm quite a heavy coffee fan, I could have at home like 4-5 mugs in a day. Ok, now Venice! You need to come here to see it and to feel it. It definitely got the "Wow" factor! I don't know why, it's just so unique... Approaching it by boat and then... It's what you've seen in the movies but it's not. Gondola boats are looking in my oppinion like big luxury funeral cars. All in black, shining black, with golden margins and a little decorations on it, sharp front and rear , peaks looking to the sky. Gondoliers are all like sharp dressed macho men, driving their gondolas over big waves or making sudden turns across the channels. Very old buildings, very narrow streets, many leather and pizza shops, everything feeling like a giant maze, even you've got the map (2 eur at the kiosk in Venice) in your hands. Lots and lots of tourist, like a human river flowing on the main few "streets", less tourists if you go random on the small ones. Piazza San Marco and the Rialto bridge are the main attractions indeed, and looking great. At tide time San Marco gets flooded, not much but enough to put your wellys on if you don't want to get wet. People walking bare foot or just cutting through the water with flooded trainers or shoes... It gives you that sinking city perspective and makes you taking the tour a little faster, thinking: "what if the water is going to show up round next corner?"
Prices to get in Venice by waterbus from Punta Sabbioni: 28 eur adult return ticket. From Lido di Jesolo to P Sabbioni is 11 eur a return ticket. Bus tickets can be bought from any tabbachi shop and there are 2 basic tarriffs: intercity and extracity. It's better if you tell the guy where are you going and when and he will recommend you the best option. I drank a "grande" beer in Venice, something like 3-4 pints in a single giant beer glass for eur 15, my wife tried the Venetian Spritz that showed to be very nice, my son tried the natural apple juice and he cried because he couldn't finish it all...
What is Looking nice in Venice apart from the channels and bridges and gondolas? It is the contrast between old stone buildings, mostly wet, with pretty rich coloured glass everywhere and bright souvenir shops.
And the masks... Yes, the masks are just awesome, starting from the tiniest ones until the very big ones - masterpieces! But again, you need to be here to feel the spirit of Venice. And hurry up, it's sinking :)