Venice is really the only place that is like Venice. Sadly, it is small and ever full to the brim with tourists. In addition, it is sinking and all kinds of efforts are being made to delay the inevitable. That being said, one must see Venice. It is not necessary to have a gondola ride, use the Vaporetto, which is Venice's public transport system - only in this case the bus is a boat! You take the number 1 vaporetto from Piazzale Roma (near the train station) and buy a ticket to Saint Mark's Square and take the direction that goes down the Grand Canal. It is lovely. If you are lucky, you can get a seat right up front and all of Venice opens up before you. The line to get inside the Church is astronomical - at least an hour wait at the best of times unless you have purchased an excursion or are prepared to pay to get in ahead of the line. Not sure of the price for this because the view from outside was so lovely it was enough for me. Cassio and his mum visited Venice about 10 years ago and did go inside. The most remarkable thing he mentioned is that due to flooding and a lot of foot traffic, the marble floor is exceptionally wavy and there is a large difference in height from one part to the other. Some stores are considerably less expensive than others for basically the same thing, so it pays to spend some time window shopping first.
Look at the passenger in this gondola. He really has the right attitude and bearing.
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