Despite the 7hr train ride from Dijon France to Venice Italy, I couldn’t contain my excitement about Venice. We stayed in Venice Mestre (located in the mainland) and just took the local train to the ‘island’ (Venice Santa Maria)…only took us 10 minutes. There are better deals in terms of accommodation by staying in Mestre and we didn’t have to find our hotel through the island’s maze (with our backpacks).
It’s very easy to fall for Venice (the sinking city)…it has been a tourist destination for many centuries..it will probably take a few more lifetimes before the city half submerges under water. It’s still fascinating with its history, maze of alleyways, canals, bridges, architectures and friendly ‘inhabitants’. Yes, quite a few people still live in the ‘island’. You must inherit the place or be very well off in order to afford any square metres. Most of the Venetians live in the ‘mainland’. There are still a lot of tourists all over France and Venice but it’s not too bad. (Don’t people work?) We don’t have to elbow our way through anything and we haven’t really queued up for anything (apart from the Louvre Museum in Paris). Most of the people speak English (at least understand English) and I have been attempting Italian. They’ve all been really friendly and helpful (even the old folks I meet in the streets). Surprisingly, Italy is not as expensive as I anticipated…definitely cheaper than France.
