easter in venice

After Milan we promptly headed to Venice where we proceeded to waste tons of money on accommodations and other necessaries, known as the unavoidable fate of Venice. We ended up getting a last minute deal online with a 3.5 star hotel, located off of the actual island of Venice, but cheaper than the lowest cost hostels located on the island itself. It was worth it, and kind of nice to be staying off the island.

Venice is as beautiful as it is melancholy. It's such a strange and lovely place that is really hard to describe. On one hand, it's exactly what you would expect. Gondolas everywhere. No streets, and instead, beautiful canals. Men with striped shirts who occasionally sing songs, taking lovers on the 100€ gondola tours around the city. And then there is this... depleting aspect of the city, this kind of feeling you get while you're there that it's a bit of a trap. The streets are tiny and are FULL of tourists. Sadly, the tourists outnumber the locals here by at least 4 to 1. When that happens to a city or town, something happens to the people there, whose lives are spent catering to annoying tourists. You almost get the feeling that they are whoring out their own town, and they are as disgusted by it as you are, but it's just the way it is and everyone accepts it. Some parts of the city have been rotting away and not really in a beautifully rustic way. Some streets you walk along are just sheets of wood above stagnant and smelly water. Everything is expensive, there are people everywhere, and it takes forever to get around because you have to fight through the crowds. Maps are completely useless here. It's not unusual to see people throw their map out with great frustration. Once you get into the heart of the island, it could take hours to make your way back.

All that said... there is still something magical about it and it's really lovely to see, no question. We had some amazing gelato and ate at one particular restaurant close to our hotel almost every day because the food was so good. On Easter morning, while Michael was in the shower I hid some of our Easter eggs around the hotel room. As soon as he got out, Michael started jumping and screeching in excitement and ran around the room in search of the eggs.
the end.