Yep, I would like to hear someone say that to me. And yes, I watched The Tourist last week... I watch anything with Johhny Depp, Angelina was a lovely bonus. It was a cool movie, quite thrilling more than anything, I loved the sights of Venice.It ignited my interest in sinking city, the majestic architecture and all that water... man! it must be amazing to experience it. I'm also wonder how the city's natives live... I've always imagined Venice to be crazy expensive, packed with rich pensioners and tourists.
In every city I travel to, I always try to go a place where I'll experience the place rather than just the tourist attractions.
I'll just have to finding affordable ways of visiting the place, I've added it to the bucket list.
Photo by WPS
the center of venice is very touristy, but if you wander off the beaten track and get lost in the side streets (and i mean, you can REALLY get lost in venice) you'll see glimpes of the real / old city, where people still hang out in the courtyards outside their houses and kids are going to school etc.
ReplyDeletei stayed in a b&b there which was run by a family who had lived in venice for generations. the daughter told me that the city is losing its authenticity as many real venetians have been forced to move to the mainland because it's becoming too expensive to live on the island. same old sad story.
i loved it the first time i visited, but found the place quite sad the second time i went there. i think you can be quite captivated by the romance of it all, but after a while that veil lifts and you become as irritated by the tourists as the locals are. at times it just felt like a giant disneyland...
BUT you still have to see it. even thinking about it now i'd like to go back again.
It's comforting to know that there are still some families that are original to Venice that still live in the city... but its also sad to hear that they have to move because the escalating cost of living there...
ReplyDeleteLike you said, its the same old sad story that a lot of the worlds' beautiful places eventually face.
You are really lucky to have been there TWICE.
I hope to visit the city before they officially turn it into a theme park... I am really fascinated to know about how they live with all that water around :-) and of course, the architecture.