13 Useless Machines

This is so cool. I've never really known what Venice looks like, aside from movies like Indy 3, The Italian Job, and Casino Royale, and they just show the internal sections. What's with that whole square island of wonder? Time to revise the travel dream.

Photos are nice, but Venice suuuuucks.
The awe of it quickly dwindles once you're there b/c everything looks exactly like everything else except for the big spots.
Doesn't help that all of the tourist trap stores really sucks away any kind of romantic atmosphere the place might have.

LisaL, sounds like Paris Syndrome to me. Conflict always arises when expectations are grand.

"That whole square island" is in fact Venice's cemetery.

Venice does NOT suck, I went there twice, and sure if you go with a tourist/romantic mind it's no good, too much souvenir shops, and way too much tourists in the known spots. You have to get away from the usual circuit and discover the city and the islands by yourself. If you're not interested in architecture, history, food or beauty don't bother, visit Paris or something like that...

I went to Venice with NO expectations, and it was great. I didn't do the gondola thing - too much money - but when you travel on the bus down the canals or wander through the side streets, it's wonderful.

I didn't have any expectations when I went. I actually really didn't want to go to begin with.
It awed me for about an hour, and after that, I just wanted to leave. We did break away from the tourist-y areas but that didn't help much either b/c it still all looked exactly the same as everything else.
*shrugs*
I thought Verona was a much better area to visit. Hated the fake Romeo & Juliet spots my DH insisted that we see though.
Trieste(sp?) was the best place we went to in Italy. Well, the castle there? Not sure what it's called. Very pretty w/ the giant garden that we got to walk through.