Friday, November 10, 2006
10/2006: Venice: 'tips for St. Mark's Square...'
If you have a bird phobia, give it a miss as it is swarming with flocks of greedy, flapping, disease-ridden pigeons. You can buy bird seed to feed them, if you must.
There are always queues for the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale; they are longer in the mornings when the day trippers arrive, so visit in the afternoon if you can. The queues will still be there, but shorter.
Avoid the well-dressed touts who offer you a free trip to Murano as you will be strong-armed into an expensive glass factory; pay the few euros, use a vaporetto (water bus) and choose your own glass factory to visit. It will still be expensive but at least you will pay through the nose under your own steam.
You can’t buy a ticket for entrance into just one museum in St Mark’s Square, but have to pay €12.00 for a ticket that will give you entrance into all of the museums in the square; Palazzo Ducale, Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologica Nazionale and Sale Monumental della Biblioteca Nasionale Marciana. Reduced price tickets are available for a family of 2 adults and two children.
The fee for entrance to the Basilica is €3.00.
If you have a bird phobia, give it a miss as it is swarming with flocks of greedy, flapping, disease-ridden pigeons. You can buy bird seed to feed them, if you must.There are always queues for the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale; they are longer in the mornings when the day trippers arrive, so visit in the afternoon if you can. The queues will still be there, but shorter.
Avoid the well-dressed touts who offer you a free trip to Murano as you will be strong-armed into an expensive glass factory; pay the few euros, use a vaporetto (water bus) and choose your own glass factory to visit. It will still be expensive but at least you will pay through the nose under your own steam.
You can’t buy a ticket for entrance into just one museum in St Mark’s Square, but have to pay €12.00 for a ticket that will give you entrance into all of the museums in the square; Palazzo Ducale, Museo Correr, the Museo Archeologica Nazionale and Sale Monumental della Biblioteca Nasionale Marciana. Reduced price tickets are available for a family of 2 adults and two children.
The fee for entrance to the Basilica is €3.00.
10/2006: Venice: 'gondolas and gondoliers...'
Sinister looking men in blue and white striped, jerseys, black trousers and dark glasses are lurking on every canal and will be happy to ferry you around the canals for around €80 for 40 minutes during the day and €100 at night (maximum of 6 passengers). It is possible to haggle and negotiate a better rate, it depends on how much business they’ve had that day. Singers and accordion players are extra. If you have a word of mouth recommendation so much the better – ask at the hotel, or if you have time, ask disembarking passengers, as the quality of gondolier varies greatly. Some will point out places of interest, but I did hear of several who spent the whole time talking on their mobile phone, ruining the planned romantic trip of the couples in their gondolas.
Sinister looking men in blue and white striped, jerseys, black trousers and dark glasses are lurking on every canal and will be happy to ferry you around the canals for around €80 for 40 minutes during the day and €100 at night (maximum of 6 passengers). It is possible to haggle and negotiate a better rate, it depends on how much business they’ve had that day. Singers and accordion players are extra. If you have a word of mouth recommendation so much the better – ask at the hotel, or if you have time, ask disembarking passengers, as the quality of gondolier varies greatly. Some will point out places of interest, but I did hear of several who spent the whole time talking on their mobile phone, ruining the planned romantic trip of the couples in their gondolas.
10/2006: Venice: 'cheaper snacks...'
Locals keep the costs of lunch down by standing, or perching on bar stools, at the counter of a bácaro (a small bar/café). A choice of snacks are on offer including tramezzini (fat white crustless sandwiches sold singly at around €1.50 each), panini with various fillings (from about €3.00) and usually a main dish of risotto or pasta at around €10.00. Even the famous and eye-wateringly expensive Florian café on St Mark’s Square has a small stand-up bar where prices will be less than those on the terrace. Of course you don’t get to gaze upon the splendour of the square whilst sipping your cappuccino, or listen to the band – or have a pigeon drop a ‘gift’ on you for that matter.
Locals keep the costs of lunch down by standing, or perching on bar stools, at the counter of a bácaro (a small bar/café). A choice of snacks are on offer including tramezzini (fat white crustless sandwiches sold singly at around €1.50 each), panini with various fillings (from about €3.00) and usually a main dish of risotto or pasta at around €10.00. Even the famous and eye-wateringly expensive Florian café on St Mark’s Square has a small stand-up bar where prices will be less than those on the terrace. Of course you don’t get to gaze upon the splendour of the square whilst sipping your cappuccino, or listen to the band – or have a pigeon drop a ‘gift’ on you for that matter.
10/2006: Venice: 'dining is expensive....'
Restaurants are overpriced and the quality of food is generally not up to the standard experienced in other Italian cities. It seems as though restaurateurs don’t have to try too hard with their food because there’s a captive audience. The general rule seems to be the closer to St Mark’s Square you are, the more expensive and less palatable the food will be. Portions in general are meagre too. A primi platti (first course) of pasta in Italy will often be substantial enough for a main meal. But here I’ve been served a tiny portion of pasta, which means I have to order a second course of meat or fish (secundo platti) – and so the bill mounts up. The cost of a first course in a basic restaurant starts at about €8 and the second course from around €10 upwards (the sky’s the limit), an antipasto (appetiser) will be about the same price, so will dessert. Even in the most humble of places, you won’t see much change from €30 if you include wine and water. Often, on top of the bill is a cover charge, a tax and a service charge. If the restaurant has tablecloths, you can double that, and as for the expensive (and VERY expensive) options – they are only for those with bottomless purses.
Restaurants are overpriced and the quality of food is generally not up to the standard experienced in other Italian cities. It seems as though restaurateurs don’t have to try too hard with their food because there’s a captive audience. The general rule seems to be the closer to St Mark’s Square you are, the more expensive and less palatable the food will be. Portions in general are meagre too. A primi platti (first course) of pasta in Italy will often be substantial enough for a main meal. But here I’ve been served a tiny portion of pasta, which means I have to order a second course of meat or fish (secundo platti) – and so the bill mounts up. The cost of a first course in a basic restaurant starts at about €8 and the second course from around €10 upwards (the sky’s the limit), an antipasto (appetiser) will be about the same price, so will dessert. Even in the most humble of places, you won’t see much change from €30 if you include wine and water. Often, on top of the bill is a cover charge, a tax and a service charge. If the restaurant has tablecloths, you can double that, and as for the expensive (and VERY expensive) options – they are only for those with bottomless purses.
10/2006: Venice: 'oh dear, so dear...'
Venice has been a major tourist centre for over 500 years and in that time its citizens have ruthlessly honed their skills in parting visitors from their cash. Expect to spend a lot of money. Venice is a city that definitely lives up to the hype. It is romantic, it is charming – and it is very expensive; in fact it is legitimised larceny.
Venice has been a major tourist centre for over 500 years and in that time its citizens have ruthlessly honed their skills in parting visitors from their cash. Expect to spend a lot of money. Venice is a city that definitely lives up to the hype. It is romantic, it is charming – and it is very expensive; in fact it is legitimised larceny.
