Venice Italy! | Grand Canal, Gondolas & History!

📖 ITALY! HERE WE COME!

After an incredible railway adventure through the Swiss Alps, crossing towering bridges, winding through mountain tunnels, and enjoying some of the most spectacular scenery in Europe, I was finally heading into ITALY!

And today, we’re finally checking another incredible destination off my travel bucket list!

VENICE, ITALY!

But first, I had to make my way through Milan.

And wouldn’t you know it?

MILAN FASHION WEEK!

Models, designers, expensive clothes, and people dressed to impress!

And then there’s NorthAmericanDarrell!

Cargo shorts, comfortable shoes, a bucket hat, and a backpack!

A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE!

Let’s just say nobody was asking me to walk down the runway!

After Oktoberfest and the Swiss Alps, Fashion Week wasn’t exactly my scene.

Besides, Venice was only about two and a half hours away by train!

AND THIS TIME, I WAS GOING!

I’d actually visited Italy a few months earlier, exploring Naples, Rome, and the incredible Colosseum.

In Naples, I stayed in a hostel for twenty-eight euros a night, enjoyed incredible pizza, and even visited the National Archaeological Museum!

ME! Visiting museums!

Apparently, Italy was turning me into a sophisticated traveler!

I also took a thirteen-dollar train from Naples to Rome instead of paying sixty dollars for the faster option.

But after a twenty-hour train journey in Vietnam, I’d abandoned my original European rail plans and headed home.

And somehow?

I MISSED VENICE!

One of the biggest destinations on my bucket list!

Not this time!

I boarded the train from Milan and headed toward Venezia Santa Lucia railway station.

And after arriving, I asked someone a simple question.

Where’s the Grand Canal?

He pointed to my left.

“You mean THAT one?”

IT WAS RIGHT OUTSIDE THE TRAIN STATION!

Welcome to Venice!

What an incredible first impression!

Beautiful historic buildings, boats everywhere, and one of the world’s most famous waterways stretching out before me!

But here’s what fascinated me most.

THE WATER IS THE ROAD!

In Venice’s historic center, boats replace cars!

Water taxis, delivery boats, construction barges, public transportation, and gondolas!

Everything moves along these canals!

Imagine ordering something online and having your delivery driver arrive in a boat!

And I witnessed something I’ll never forget.

An actual funeral procession traveling along the canal.

A casket transported by boat, with family members following.

It was strangely beautiful.

A reminder that Venice isn’t just a tourist attraction.

It’s a real city where people live, work, and experience everyday life!

And the history?

INCREDIBLE!

Venice began developing during the fifth century as people sought refuge on islands in the Venetian Lagoon.

They eventually built settlements supported by wooden foundations driven into the muddy ground.

Most people see a swamp and think…

Maybe we should build somewhere else!

NOT THE VENETIANS!

By the Middle Ages, Venice had become one of Europe’s greatest maritime trading powers!

Its merchants accumulated extraordinary wealth through Mediterranean trade.

And centuries later?

Here I was, exploring its narrow passages, beautiful bridges, historic buildings, and spectacular canals!

The Grand Canal, incredible palaces, gondolas, and architecture unlike anywhere else I’ve visited!

But honestly?

I was just as entertained watching the everyday boats navigate the waterways!

Venice even has traffic jams!

The difference is nobody’s yelling at you from a pickup truck!

And of course, we need to talk about the food and drinks!

APEROL SPRITZ!

Bright orange, refreshing, and practically everywhere!

People relaxing beside the canals, enjoying their drinks, and watching boats drift past.

Forget Milan Fashion Week!

Give me an Aperol Spritz, a slice of Italian pizza, and somewhere to sit beside the Grand Canal!

NOW THAT’S MY KIND OF ITALIAN ADVENTURE!

A spritz beside the water could cost five to eight euros or more.

But the atmosphere?

ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT!

I enjoyed those spritzers so much that I started making my own versions when I returned to Arizona!

Soda water, wine, fruit, orange slices, and a little creativity!

Sitting beside a cactus isn’t quite the same as sitting beside the Grand Canal…

But after a couple of spritzers, who’s complaining?

Looking back, I’m incredibly glad I returned to Italy and finally experienced Venice.

From the ancient history of Rome to the incredible food of Naples, Italy had already given me some unforgettable adventures.

But Venice?

VENICE WAS SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

A city where history, architecture, daily life, and transportation all come together on the water!

Another major bucket-list destination checked off!

But Venice was also my LAST STOP in Italy on this European adventure.

And the following morning?

I had another enormous railway journey waiting!

My destination?

PARIS, FRANCE!

More than five hundred miles away, with approximately FOURTEEN HOURS of train travel ahead!

Apparently, crossing the Swiss Alps hadn’t satisfied my appetite for sitting on trains!

But that adventure deserves its own episode!

Join me for Episode FIFTY-THREE, when we leave Venice behind and head toward the City of Light!

And don’t forget, you can watch my actual Venice videos, including the Grand Canal, gondolas, and incredible waterways, on the NorthAmericanDarrell YouTube channel!

This is NorthAmericanDarrell!

Solo slow traveler, freedom-driven global geoarbitrage storyteller, and a legend in my own mind!

Visit NorthAmericanDarrell.com to READ, WATCH, and LISTEN to my adventures!

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

CHEERS, EVERYBODY