Two hours in Venice; nought euros spent!

Hi everyone! I’m currently on holiday with one of my friends in the beautiful city of Trieste, an Italian city close to the Slovenian and Croatian borders. I’m planning on writing about both days that we spend here, but that will have to wait until another post. For now, I’m going to be telling you about the trip I made yesterday to Venice.

My friend and I decided to meet there, since the flights from England worked out more cheaply that way, but she ended up arriving a couple of hours after me. No problem – I was keen to see this gorgeous city again, having spent five years away from it! I didn’t have time to do much, so I decided I’d set myself a little challenge while I was there. Could I get through the whole afternoon without spending a single euro? Read on to find out if I succeeded!

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16:00

It was exactly 4 o’ clock when I arrived in Venice, sweltering after two and a half hours of travelling in various stuffy trains. After leaving my luggage in the Santa Lucia railway station (I did have to pay for this!), I headed outside the building, and was amazed to find the Grand Canal right before my eyes! I’d forgotten this detail from my previous visit to the city. Keen to get as much done as possible, I made my way to the first bridge on my left – the Ponte degli Scalzi – stopping briefly to admire the beautiful façade of the Santa Maria di Nazareth church.

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16:10

I had a specific end goal – the Libreria Acqua Alta (more about that later) – but I decided to let myself run free for a bit, and didn’t resort to Google Maps for quite some time. Nor would this have been necessary if I'd head to get there more quickly, since there were signposts all over the place, pointing to the city’s most popular tourist spots.

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I knew the bookshop I wanted to go to was on the way to the Piazza San Marco, so this was the direction I followed. I had a wonderful half hour or so navigating the maze of Venetian alleyways. A lot of the time, I had no idea where I was, but I didn’t care: the coloured houses, lapping canals, and elegant gondolas were all that mattered to me in that moment.

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16:15

Along my way, I couldn’t resist stopping to browse in a couple of shops. Venice has a very touristy feel to it, and a majority of the boutiques seem to cater only for travellers, but I still enjoyed admiring the hundreds of carnival (or ‘Carnevale’, as the Italians would say) masks each had to offer.

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I also stumbled across the Lunardelli workshop, a small exhibition space featuring works made of wood and glass. Both these materials, the owner of the place explained, are fundamental to the culture of Venice: the former is used to shape canals and build gondolas, while the latter is a popular medium among Venetian craftsmen.

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16:30

A few backstreets later, and I found myself drawn to another art display! This one was on in Venice’s Salone Verde, as part of the Biennale Arte festival, and featured photographs by the Croatian photographer, Igor Grubić. They showed different homes across the world that had been created by vagrants: among these were shelters set up in abandoned factories and huts built on the sides of busy motorways. It was incredible to see how imaginative these people had been, but I certainly walked away feeling extremely grateful for the luxuries I so often take for granted.

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16:40

By this time, my friend’s plane had landed, so I thought I’d better get on and head to my intended destination. With Google Maps in hands, I sped along the streets much more confidently. On the way, I passed the Mercato del Pesce al Minuto, a beautiful arched building where a fish market is held most days of the week. There weren’t any stalls open, but I enjoyed admiring the beautiful architecture, as well as the great views from this place onto the Grand Canal (see first photo).

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Moments later, and I was crossing over the famous Rialto Bridge. This twelfth-century structure was packed with tourists, but I just managed to squeeze past them and get a glimpse of the water below.

Two hours in Venice; nought euros spent!

16:55

At long last, after countless deviations, I made it to the Libreria Acqua Alta! This little canalside bookshop was just as crowded as the rest of the city, but my goodness was there reason for it to be. There were volumes everywhere: along all the walls, in piles on the floor, and even crowded into a gondola and a bathtub! I also went outside and climbed a staircase made of them. Back on the ground, I checked my phone, and discovered that my friend was just about to arrive at the railway station! Google Maps said it take me twenty-five minutes to get there. Safe to say I was out of the shop within seconds!

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Did I succeed in this challenge?

Venice is renowned for being an expensive place to visit, but I’m proud to say I managed to get through my whole afternoon without spending a single penny (or should I say ‘centesimo’?)! Did I keep this frugality up for much longer? Unfortunately not: a raspberry sorbet at the station was too much of an enticement to turn down!


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