Venice is an amazing city, no doubt, but after spending the better half of the last few weeks reading blogs and articles on what I needed to know before coming here I still feel that I was a bit unprepared. I am originally from Puerto Rico but now live in the USA and although things are different in PR than in the US there are a lot of similarities due to PR being a US territory. Looking back now, the problem with everything that I read was that the information was either dated or biased. I think it’s time to create a straightforward, easy to comprehend list of notable key differences and debunk a few myths about Venice. To clarify, when I say Venice I mean the actual canals where all of the cool stuff to see is at not Mestre or the city like areas around it. Of course, as with everything, this is based on my own experiences and perhaps yours was different. Feel free to share your experience as well:

1. Your legs are your primary form of transport: Venice, at least most of it, does not allow cars nor bicycles. The only other method of transportation is by sea where you can take a water taxi or public transport boat which are pricey. Prepare to walk everywhere and over long distances! The locals have an expression, “the more you walk, the longer you live.”
2. Water is gold: In the US, water fountains are on every corner and you can pretty much pickup a bottle of water on every corner for about $1usd. In Venice, water fountains are very few and far between. In fact, I don’t recall seeing a single one! If you get thirsty (which you will after walking all day everywhere) you’ll need to buy a bottle of water which average at about 3 euros which is about the same price as you’d pay for a drink or beer here so you’d be better off getting hammered throughout your stay but that will also prove troublesome because…
3. You need to go on an archeological expedition to find a bathroom: Ok, perhaps that was a bit over the top but truth be told there isn’t a bathroom on every corner, at least not an accessible one anyways. Unlike the US where there’s a toilet pretty much everywhere (pretty soon all Fords will come with standard backseat urinals), Venice has limited bathrooms available. No stores have bathrooms for customer use and even some restaurants don’t have bathrooms. In fact, bathrooms are such a pain in the ass to find that a common question you will find yourself asking when deciding at what restaurant you will choose to eat will be “do you have a toilet?” Now that we mention restaurants, let’s debunk something…
4. Venice isn’t cheap but it isn’t batshit insane either: One of the most common things I’ve read on nearly every single blog or article is everyone bitching and moaning about how expensive Venice is. If you’ve ever been to any major US city than the prices in Venice should not be any surprise (I live in Atlanta now). In fact, I spent twice as much money in the same amount of time in Miami (Florida) than I did in Venice doing just about the same shit. If anything, Venice is a bit cheaper because alcohol is a lot less expensive than it is in the US (major cities). You can get a nice cocktail at a nice restaurant for about 4 euros (approx $4.51 USD). Tell me where the fuck in Atlanta can you get a top shelf drink for $4.50 that isn’t some shithole? I’d be lucky if I can get rat poison on the rocks for that price back home! I am under the assumption that people are comparing Venice to other parts of Europe but if you’re from the US and you’re comparing apples to apples than please realize that you are actually getting more for less in Venice than back home. Continuing with the topic of restaurants and bars…
5. Tips are a lot less: In Venice, tipping isn’t commonplace because most restaurants and bars automatically add both a service charge and cover charge to your check. Service charges range between 10-15% but I’d say 12% is the most common. As for the cover charge, honestly it’s a BS charge that you are billed at most places if you decide to eat at their facilities vs taking it elsewhere. Not all places charge it BUT be very wary of the places that don’t as they tend to upcharge everything and by a lot if you decide to eat there. If you decide to eat outside with a view, here is my personal favorite to debunk…
6. Venice Does Not Stink Nearly as Bad as The Critics Say: There, I’ve said it! Every single person I know that has been to Venice bitches about the “nasty ass smell” that lingers in the air. I will say it once; Venice does not smell like fucking roses but it does NOT smell like a rotting corpse either! In actuality it smells like any fisherman town I have been to such as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Please stop spreading this BULLSHIT!!!

To be continued, When in Rome…

Written by: Del Rivers