Venice is one of the most often visited places on earth. The tourists have invaded this tiny island and this trend shows a steady growth. I visited it many times before but last weekend, for the first time ever, I visited in the winter time. I thought that the pouring rain will discourage the tourists and I shall have Venice to myself but I was so wrong! Many tourists, Italians and internationals, visit this place irrespectively the weather conditions. If you ever wanted to know how is winter in Venice and whether it is worth to try, read this post.
Venezia in wintertime, Italy
The literature
For me and many other readers, the literature is what attracts us to this particular city. I loved a wonderful piece of prose titled Watermark in English and Fondamenta degli Incurabili in Italian. If you haven’t read this book I strongly encourage you to do so. In my opinion, this is the best book about Venice ever written. Josif Brodsky, the author, Nobel Prize winner, spent in Venice seventeen winters in a row. He always visited the island in the worst possible weather: foggy, rainy and with the high level of water called in Italian aqua alta.
The famous bookstore called Aqua Alta, Venice, Italy.
Evocative, suggestive and despite the horrible weather conditions the books praises the city of Venice. It’s all about the water – the author is convinced about the importance of this element in our lives. He sees beauty everywhere and last weekend in a pouring rain I saw exactly the same thing.
Travel with books
I often follow footsteps of my favourite authors and I was excited that I will finally visit Venice in winter. Reading aloud the quotes from Watermark was a truly fascinating experience. I swear I felt the smell of seaweed the moment I stepped into the city and saw the first canal. I was totally amazed how intense the emotions evoked by this book were. I can sincerely say now that I consider Venice one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. In wintertime, of course.
Excellent food of Venice, Italy.
