I live in Italy, but I hardly can leave home for more than 1-2 days because of animals (I have a Maine Coon Cattery and other sentient beings) so you can imagine what have I do to visit the places of my interest. But I do not renounce on travel. I organize my time so that I visit Venice and other tourist attractions of Italy in One Day Tours of my invention.
The trick is to come early in the morning, visit the best of Venice, Italy, all day long and turn back home with the last train I can take to arrive the next morning.
Normally, I sleep all night in train and am perfectly fresh and relaxed for my next working days.
The railway station of Venice (Venezia S. Lucia) is situated on the left side of Grand Canal and you can reach S. Marco Square in an hour (or some more) if you go left when you are out of the station, or you can take a bus to Mestre or to the Airport Marco Polo if you go right from it. Otherwise, you can buy a ticket for a ferry in front of the railway station and enjoy Venice from a ferry (as for me, that is the best solution).
My visit to Venice was some "strange" this time: I had to take a return train at 5:40 in the morning and had to pass all the night walking the streets and sitting in front of one restaurant where I found a wooden bank. I do not like stone banks: the stone absorbs the warmth of your body and you can fall ill easily but it's really hard to find wooden banks, in Italy.
My decision to stay at the railway station was not very happy. First, all the WCs were closed there. Second, all the doors or the station were open and there was a terrible weird draft in the waiting room. Third, they close the station from 24:30 to 5:00. The poor persons which waited for 5-hour trains had to sit on the stairs of the station all the night. I decided instead to enjoy the night views.
What can I say about the security in Venice in the night? There were many young persons in the streets all night (it was a holiday night). Nobody was drunken. They went home after the night passed somewhere in the city. "Go go, we have to wake up early tomorrow" (well, it was just "tomorrow" at 2-3-4 AM ...) There were even late tourists with their suitcases. I do not know how could they arrive in the city at that time. In a taxi?
Ferries passed all the night near me. I could not believe my eyes, I did not expect to see it, but they were even frequent enough. Two at an hour, I think.
Initially, I wanted to stay in S.Marco Square all the night because I wanted to do a lot of photos. I googled about the security in the night in Venice but did not find too much about it. There were two photographers who had this experience, but they were men and it's not the same to be a solitary woman in the night in the streets of a city, even if it's such a place like Venice where the criminal situation is calm.
So, I asked "carabinieri" (military police in Italy) what they think about my intention. They were not optimistic. It's a holiday evening, signora, it's better if you go back and pass the night in the railway station, they said. Obviously, they did not imagine the railway station could be closed all night in Venice.
Well, I thought, I need about 1,5 hour to turn back from S.Marco square, so I left it at 23:00.
I can say you, the worse part of my trip was this way back in the night. The medieval streets were not very friendly. Little groups of young men here and there were not very encouraging. Last bars were closed at the 24:30
I passed two little squares where I saw crowds of drank young persons dancing and beating one other. It was a holiday evening, you know, and I'm not an evening walker generally... I do not know what to do in such cases. Well, I slap in the crowd to take some shorts, yes. But I thought it's better if I leave. Fortunately, I do not have any problem.
So I continued my walk.
Arrived at the railway station and discovered the sad reality, I decided to walk in the nearby streets. I would like to take a ferry and to see Venice from it (I like it), but I did not know if I'll turn back in time to take my train, so I preferred to stay there. I did not know if the ferries will continue their work all night.
From time to time I could see the police-boats on their patrols, too.
The new day began at 4:00AM on the Grand Canal. Many boats began to transport goods to the warehouses and shops, to the hotels and restaurants.
I was sitting on the bank near the Canal, surprised and fascinated by the hidden life of this city that continues its battle for survival day and night for centuries, today like 1000 years ago.
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