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A very crowded journey
Last summer, exploiting the fact that less tourists was around due to CoVid, my boyfriend and I decided to visit Venice. Our reasoning was pretty straightforward: I had never seen Venice before, and he had went when he was a child, 6 years old, and didn’t remember anything, so which best period of a pandemic one, when the travels are reduced, to visit a city always overcrowded?
Can you imagine our disappointment when, walking out by the main station we saw people? A lot of people. An uncountable quantity of people walking, screaming, talking and stopping boats. At that point we stared at each other and began to think we did an error.
We discovered later that, for Venice standards, the city was practically empty. This didn’t reduce the shock. Mine, at least.
So we walked along the emptier streets we could find in the center of the city and avoiding people as much as possible. Nevertheless, there was always someone around or noisy tourists pushing you to go in the desired direction. It was so terribly annoying!
After the mental stress of the first day and half (I absolute hate being in crowded place and my boyfriend too), searching online we found out the existence of a neighborhood called “ghetto ebraico”, literally Jew ghetto. It was next to the train station and the online description told about a characteristic place, without relevant monuments to look at. So, it seemed to us to be a nice place, even if not particularly interesting, to spend the last afternoon in Venice.
It was the best part of our trip. Obviously in this neighborhood the peculiar and rich architectures of the San Marco area were completely absent, but the city felt more authentic. Old people spoke in dialects, boats were parked below houses, whose doors opened directly on the channel, a woman was hanging clothes on the line while her son run toward the father that came back home from work. This last one scene seemed like a old movies from 70s.
In the end, this last experience saved the whole trip. This bath of real life after a city apparently thought for tourists only was really a breath of fresh air.
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2 Replies
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Ah Venice! 🥰 I’ve been a few times, but the best time was a few years ago in December – it was misty, dark and cold…but no tourists! delightful!
Very impressed with this writing @Lu_Corde – you are really coming along.
Have a look at my comments and ask if anything is unclear.
> he had went when he was a child > he had GONE when he was a child,
> when the travels are reduced > when travel is reduced
⚠️ Noun: ‘Travel’ refers to the activity of travelling in general. Travel is usually uncountable.
I am interested in travel.
when travel is reduced
It is sometimes used in a plural form in spoken English, when it means a long tour in which several places are visited, or refers in general to the travelling that a person has done.
I have met many interesting people on my travels.
Is he back from his travels yet?
>At that point we stared at each other and began to think we did an error. > we had made a mistake (Why do you think we should we use past perfect here?)
You can use ‘error’ but with the verb make (make an error) However, it is more common to say: make a mistake
✅ It was so terribly annoying! – love it! 🙌
> Jew ghetto > Jewish ghetto
> the online description told about a > the online description spoke or talked about a
🤗
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Thank you for the feedback!
The present perfect is needed because the action has an effect in the present (I’ll send you my presentation this evening!)
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