Traveling to Venice was an utter nightmare. After being delayed out of Paris, we had to switch trains twice, once about a half-hour after our first train out of Nice, then another time in Milan. It was interesting to pass through Cannes, but we didn’t spot Vincent Chase or Billy Walsh pimping Medillin – we didn’t even stop in the town, just rolled through it.

Unfortunately, we missed our connection in Milan. With train tickets, this is typically not much of a problem. Since there was a train to Venice every hour, we just got on the next one per the instructions of the conductor at the terminal. One problem. The other hundred or so people who also missed the Venice train had to get on as well and the first class cabin was completely full. I spent the first hour and a half of the two-hour trip standing in the hallway. Once people got off in different cities, seats opened up for me and Alli in a cabin with some folks from Canada we had befriended along the way. (Amazingly, we managed to run into them later in Venice on the busiest bridge in the city.)

We made it to Venice and made our reservations for Florence immediately while we were at the station. We then got on the public boat (amazingly expensive for public transportation – €6 each one way compared to €3 for both of us to take the subway in Paris) and made our way to our bed and breakfast in the Dorsoduro neighborhood.

Again, we found ourselves extremely fortunate in our choice of lodging. Ca’ San Trovaso was a place that was recommended by another hotel that was totally booked. After looking in briefly, we quickly reserved the last available room and hoped for the best. We were not disappointed, finding a very cozy yellow house, complete with a Russian-speaking Meryl-Streep-look-alike manning the front desk. It was late when we checked in, but we managed to find a pizza place open and finished it off with our first gelato of the trip before crashing after an extremely long day-and-a-half of travel.

The next day, we explored the city, which was fantastic. My brother didn’t like Venice much when he visited it a couple years back, but we absolutely loved it. The canals, the bridges, the piazzas and the personality of the city all contribute to a charming, romantic experience that is virtually impossible to duplicate because I don’t know of another city that exists like Venice. Wired Magazine named it one of the 10 places you must visit before it disappears, which is pretty likely considering the rising ocean waters combined with the fact that it is sinking as well. We managed to walk around much of the city, which was a welcome quiet compared to the hustle-and-bustle of Paris. No cars or scooters to compete, just boats, whose hums provide a gentle texture to the air. I loved the history of the city, the architecture and the narrow passageways that connect each street. Alli loved all the laundry hanging out to dry and the colors of the flowers.

As we crossed the Accademia bridge on our way back to our hotel that evening, we both managed to catch pictures of this beautiful sunset over the Grand Canal…

…and even then, it is hard to capture the appeal of this unique city.

And what would a trip to Venice be without a gondola ride? The answer is, of course, about €80 cheaper. But it is something worth experiencing, and we enjoyed our tour of the historic city from that perspective, given by our skilled (although he spoke little English) gondolier, Paolo. Our second day, we explored the parts of the city we hadn’t seen yet, traveling up to the Northern part of the city after the gondola ride to take a look at the very unique farmer’s and fish market, where Alli found courage enough to hold a crab for the picture at right with one of the vendors. We also found the best gelateria in all of Italy, ‘Il Doge’, which we visited several times, sometimes twice in the same day. We also saw many dogs throughout Italy, ones that were much more behaved than ours. They would sit patiently outside shops and wait for their owners, sometimes following them into the shops where they are welcome, other times sitting quietly outside like watchdogs.

All these things contributed to the unique personality the Venice offers visitors. While it’s true that the areas like St. Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge are extremely crowded with tourists, you can find pockets of peace and romance still evident in this city. You can’t help but wonder what this city was like even 10 years ago, before travel became as easy as it is these days. I can’t imagine it would be any less charming than we found it this summer. Of all the places we visited, Venice was my favorite and was a stark contrast to our next city, Florence, which I didn’t like much at all.

UPDATE: Check out Alli’s overview of Venice.