Thursday 27 June 2013

Gondolas and heavy traffic on the Grand Canal in Venice

When you say Venice, I think of canals, gondolas and romance. Venice is in fact a maze of canals, most of them very narrow except for the Grand Canal, cutting the city in two parts by a big S. The Grand Canal is curved. There are all kinds of boats on the Grand Canal: water taxis, public transport, private owned sailing and pleasure boats and gondolas.

Is it fun taking a gondola? We think it is more a typical Venice attraction the town and entrepreneurs exploit. We just didn’t take one, 90 euro for 30 minutes is a bit exaggerated. The wooden poles you see in the water are there to dock the gondolas and small boats. They offer us great opportunities to take pictures.

The Grand Canal has so many nice bridges, historical houses, statues, churches and monuments on the banks that you don’t know where to look first.The Canal is almost 4km long and sometimes 90 metres wide. The amazing church with the dome is the Santa Maria Della Salute.

Als iemand Venetië zegt, denk ik aan kanalen, gondels en romantiek. Venetië is in feite een doolhof van kanalen, de meeste heel klein en smal, behalve de Grand Canal (Grote Kanaal), die de stad in twee snijdt met een grote S. Het Grand Canal kronkelt als een slang. Het is er druk met de plezierbootjes, watertaxi’s, openbaar vervoer en gondels. 

Is het leuk om een gondel te nemen? Voor ons is het een typische attractie in Venetië die de stad en ondernemers uitbuiten. We hebben het dus niet gedaan, 90 euro voor 30 minuten is gewoon overdreven. De houten palen in het water staan er om gondels en kleine boten aan vast te maken. Ze gaven ons wel de gelegenheid heel toffe foto’s te maken. 

Het Grote Kanaal kent vele bruggen, historische huizen, standbeelden, kerken en monumenten op de oevers, je weet niet waar eerst kijken. Het Grote Kanaal is bijna 4km lang en soms 90 meter breed. De ongelooflijke kerk met koepel is de Santa Maria Della Salute.. 
 
Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice Santa Maria Della Salute

Grand Canal Venice Gondola

Grand Canal Venice Wooden head

Grand Canal Venice Gondolas

Grand Canal Venice

Grand Canal Venice

Previous Italy article: Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Anguillara Sabazia

Previous River article: Airboat trip on a river of grass, Everglades National Park

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9 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, this is amazing! My favorite is definitely the first one! Also the gondolas all docked. I have always wanted to visit Venice, too bad it is sinking so fast!

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  2. One city that I would like to visit. It is quite amazing to have canals for streets.The colours are nice.

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  3. Wonderful minds of the people who built the city. I heard from my sister in law that the gondolas are expensive to ride on. Photos re lovely.

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  4. The old and the new Venezia.
    I like better the old one.
    Your photos are lovely but the top one is heavenly wonderful.

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  5. prachtige reeks!
    zalig om daar rond te dwalen en verloren te lopen in de steegjes

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  6. Venezia+gondolas, these two are born toegther no? beautiful picture+presentation!

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  7. daar hebben jullie goed aan gedaan, om niet met de gondel te varen voor Euro 90.-. Als zich heel veel toeristen eraan houden, dan vallen de prijzen wel, maar ik ben bang dat de Amerikanen en Japanner zich er niet van laten afhouden.
    Groetjes Dietmut

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  8. Your shots of this amazing place are wonderful! Have to wonder if these were taken with your new camera. Hope you are enjoying it and getting more familiar with it. Lots of fun. When we were in Venice, I did take a gondola with a singer down the grand canal and through many of the narrow , winding canals. I have to say that i loved it and was one of the highlights of Venice for me! also love hearing the stories of the gondolas, and the gondoliers.

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