Travel to Venice
Now you can travel to Venice again. Because the city is opening up. We are coming out of our quarantine and with sleepy eyes, we greet our neighbors in the campi and on the streets. I feel like the bear in April, when he stumbles out of the den, hungry, stiff-legged, and confused. Is this really what it was before… Before the isolation… Before the lock-down?
There are people in the streets… Lots of people, but it’s different. Something isn’t like it was before.
It’s the language. While I used to understand 20 -30 % of what they were saying, now I understand it all. And I can’t say I like it.
- Daddy… I want ice cream. I want ice cream! I want ice cream!!!
or
- 7:50 for the Vaporetto, are you sure? 7:50..? That’s a lot. You sure about that? Wasn’t it 5 euro or 4:50… Or even 4? 7:50 is a lot, really. 7:50… I could pay 4 or even 5… But 7:50… You sure?
It was better when we didn’t understand.
I remember when I traveled to Venice, the first time.
I didn’t speak very much and the dialect here was way out of my reach. I didn’t understand anything. I remember riding the Vaporetto. It was wonderful. The peace, watching the water rushing by, admiring the city…
Now I have to consider the latest political development, the sports results, all kinds of economical difficulties, and everybody’s personal issues.
So, the tourists are back, but they are all locals. And by locals we mean Italian. Cause from June 3, the Italians can travel again. They can travel from one part of the country to another without having to motivate why. And that has boosted a bit of national tourism.
It’s not enough to put the tourism industry in Venice in motion, not even close, but it’s something… A first cough of the big engine to tell us that it’s ready.
So, now you can travel to Venice without any restrictions.
As of June 4, about 15% of the hotels in Venice were open and ready to welcome anyone who would like to travel to Venice. And it’s expected that before the end of June some 60 – 70% of the hotels will be open.
To visit Venice there are as of now no restriction whatsoever. Not from the Italian authorities. Anybody can come, just book a ticket and go.
The borders are all open. Having said that, many of our neighbors, still have restrictions. While France has opened its borders for Italians and other EU members, Austria, Slovenia and Germany are waiting. Many countries are supposed to open on June 15, but we will have to wait and see.
Anyone can travel to Venice now. Italy does have any restrictions on incoming traffic.
Museums and attractions are opening up slowly.
Anybody who travels to Venice will find that the Peggy Guggenheim is open. And so is the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and the Doge’s Palace. The latter only weekends as for now. In June, the Basilica will open for visitors again, but the museum of the Basilica is open, as is the Belltower. Things are moving.
June 2 is a national holiday in Italy, the feast of the republic. So the long weekend starting from May 30 became the first big event, after the pandemic. The Italians who traveled to Venice were hysterical, like the calves on their first day out in the fields, after the cold winter inside the stable. It was incredible. And obviously, much of the social distancing went out the window… People were literally dancing in the streets.
Now let’s just hope that it isn’t too soon… Or too late. There are estimates that around 15% of the hotels in Venice will not open; not now and not ever. Is that good? Or is it bad? Do we want Venice to have fewer tourists?… Fewer crowds? Or do we still want to have a job to go to, to be able to pay the rent?
This is a difficult balance. And something that everybody has to contemplate now… Do we want an economy that is sound and let us earn the money to live? Or do we want to stay safe in a living environment with sea levels that stay reasonably low? Do we want to die from the disease, the cyclones, and the poison we spread around… Or do we want to die from starvation?
How do you answer something like that?
Or is there a way to not die at all?
