Venice, Italy - City on Water

Venice, Italy - Picture I took

Venice, Italy - Picture from Internet

Venice, Italy is a very unique place to go. I enjoyed a lot of aspects of this city on water. Within Venice, there are many small shops, hotels, restaurants, etc. You can also go on a gondola ride. (For those that don't know what a gondola is, it's in the picture below of what looks like a canoe.)

But one thing I would like to compare and contrast is a "too good to be true" analogy. A lot of times people think of Venice or Paris, and they build it up to be this great fabulous place. (Don't get me wrong, they're not completely wrong about these places and how great they are.) Although, if you look at the picture of Venice, Italy I found on the Internet and then compare it to the picture that I took personally. You will notice the difference in the color of the water. In pictures they try to enhance the beauty and hide the flaws. Venice is a remarkable city, but one thing that I never expected was the water to look so disgusting and to have such a gross compelling smell.

In my own experience, I did go on a gondola ride and I had to hold my breath most of the time. Some areas smelled worse than others, depending on how close to buildings you are or if you're more out in the open water. Again, I don't mean to say that because of this Venice is a terrible place. However, my point is that pictures don't justify the essence of what you see within the images. 

Venice, Italy - Gondola

If I were to give any kind of advice when traveling to Venice, it would be to stay away from smaller alleys. These smaller alleys tend to have a stronger smell. Also, just beware that every corner you turn on may suddenly have a powerful stench.

My advice on a more positive note would be to check out as many shops as you can! There are so many to see and each one is a little different than the other. P.S. the gelato is amazing as well!