Friday 26th March 2015:
Probably best known for its iconic canals and gondolas, Venice could also potentially be home to the largest number of selfie stick selling gypsies. From mainland Italy, we boarded a ferry for the approximately 20 minute ride, given that there are no cars or bridges linking Venice to the rest of Italy.
We started the day with a walking tour of the city, taking us from St Marco Square to the Rialto Bridge, through many winding and narrow alleys. We achieved all the standard Venice tourist activities, including a gondola ride, posing on the Rialto Bridge and visiting both the Murano Glass and lace demonstrations. It is apparent that this city runs on tourism alone - aside from these things, there is not a lot else to do or see. The majority of retail stores were occupied by restaurants or souvenir shops; most selling identical "genuine" Murano glass products.
The most interesting part of our time in Venice came from one particular gypsy on the Rialto Bridge. Poised to take a selfie, a gypsy with a bunch of roses approached us despite our reluctance to speak to him. He then forced the roses onto Roslyn and offered to take a photo of us, which has resulted in a really awkward photo where we both think the guy is about to steal the camera, and Roslyn is holding roses she doesn't want. Once he has taken the photo he gives us back the camera. He would not, however, take the roses back. "Just gift, just gift. Bring you good luck" he said, right up until we tried to walk away and suddenly he wanted money. He ended up getting the equivalent of around AUD$15 from us for 3 red roses, that by the end of the day had all keeled over.
Highlights:
- Walking tour with a local guide, because Italian law bans anyone who doesn't live in Italy from running tours...
- San Marco Square
- Gondola ride
- Murano Glass demonstration
- Lace demonstration
- Rialto Bridge
- Getting scammed by a gypsy on Rialto Bridge
- Our first tastes of pizza, pasta (including Venice's specialty squid ink pasta), gelato and limoncello
- Gypsies everywhere, the significant majority all trying to sell selfie sticks
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