Bella Venezia!

Exploring Romantic, Accessible Venice

By Dave Krook

Shauna Lynn Petrie at Rialto bridge

On a continent checkered with beautiful old cities, Venice stands out as one of the most memorable destinations in Europe. Here you have a city that consists of a hundred islands in a lagoon connected by some 400 bridges and laced with over 2,000 alleys. The streets are made of water — all transportation, public and private, is by watercraft.

In spite of the miracles of modern engineering, the city is slowly sinking, but the Venetians are doing everything in their power to preserve the buildings and beautiful palaces, which date back to the Middle Ages and the early years of the Renaissance, when Venice was a centre of wealth.

My wife, Shauna, and I were enchanted by the romantic visions of Venice, including gondolas floating lazily down a canal under the moonlight on a soft summer evening. The wonders of this jewel of a city kept us in constant awe.

Venice is surprisingly accessible, but it can also be astonishingly expensive. Shauna, who is a T4-5 paraplegic, and I arrived at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport last November. We were there for a 14- day Mediterranean cruise scheduled to depart from Venice. We had booked a wheelchair-accessible water taxi to take us to our hotel. The driver, who looked like an Italian movie star, guided us over the lagoon and then through the maze of canals to the Hotel Danieli, located right on the Grand Canal. It is a truly amazing experience to arrive at a big city hotel in a motorboat. Equally amazing was the cost — 130 euros (over $200 Canadian) for a 20-minute ride! (We found out later that we could have taken the Alilaguna, part of the public transportation system, for 12 euros each for a one-hour ride.) The hotel cost 450 euros per night. We had been in Venice for less than an hour and had already spent over $900!

Petrie at one of Venice's ramped bridges

We quickly set out on the town. We headed to the Grand Canal, where we were able to purchase a three-day Vaporetto waterbus pass — 25 euros for me, and no cost for Shauna because she has a disability. Vaporetto #1 runs every 10 minutes and takes about 45 minutes to go from one end of the Grand Canal to the other, a distance of about three kilometres, making about 15 stops along the way. It is an excellent way to begin soaking in the richness of Venice, as many of the most magnificent palaces are found along the Grand Canal.

The Vaporetto is accessible; however, when it is fully loaded, which is generally the case, the deck is below the level of the dock. As passengers disembark, the boat rises, and when the deck and dock are level, that’s when you can roll a wheelchair off.

We got off the waterbus at one of the “must see” spots, St. Mark’s square, the site of the Basilica, where St. Mark’s bones are buried. This piazza is the best place in Venice to people-watch or, if you are so inclined, to feed the pigeons. You can buy a bag of feed for one euro, but be forewarned — once you open the bag, you will be swarmed. They say that the feed is laced with birth control, but it’s hard to believe!

Another popular stop is Rialto, home of the famous Rialto bridge. The bridge is not accessible; however, we had a wonderful time wandering the surrounding streets, looking at boutiques. You will be impressed by Italian fashion sense and the quality of the merchandise. Periodically, we came across an arched bridge with steps. At that point, we had to turn back and explore in a different direction, but eventually we ran into the same problem. That was when it was time to get back on the Vaporetto and go to another stop.

One of our favourite stops was Academia. We cruised the streets for a while before finding a modest restaurant with an outdoor terrace at the base of the Academia Bridge. There we enjoyed a delicious pizza and drinks while watching the gondolas coming and going and the young lovers strolling across the bridge. Nothing could have been more Venetian.

More than anything else, Venice is an experience. There are countless churches, palaces and museums to be visited. However, if your time is short or your budget is tight, your time is better spent getting lost in the city — and you will get lost. Don’t worry about it — Venice is not a large city and you will generally find a sign directing you back to the Grand Canal. If not, ask a Venetian.

On the second night, we stayed on the cruise ship. On the evening of the third day in Venice, our ship sailed, making its way slowly down the Canale Del Guidecca, passing many of the elegant palaces with which we had become familiar thanks to the Vaporetto. We were just as awestruck as when we arrived in the water taxi. Our cruise ship would visit 10 more ports over the next two weeks, each one interesting, unique and memorable. However, Venice would prove to be our favourite.

Dave Krook and Shauna Lynn Petrie live in Mississauga, Ontario. They are avid travellers who research each destination they visit. They recently created Sea Wheels Inc., an organization devoted to assisting persons with disabilities with their travel arrangements

IF YOU GO

Informahandicap Venezia has an excellent series of six pamphlets, each focusing on a particular area of the city. A map shows the best route for people using a mobility device. Also indicated are accessible toilets and which bridges have lifts. E-mail informahandicap@comune.venezia.it.

There are some bridges along the Grand Canal that are ramped. There are also four bridges with lifts, but they require a key. Keys are available at any tourist information office or by contacting informathandicap@comune.venezia.it.

The official City of Venice website can be found at www.comune.venezia.it. You'll find info about accessible public toilets and tourist attractions, suggested itineraries and more.

For more information about accessible travel in Venice, write to Shauna Lynn Petrie at spetrie@cruiseshipcenters.com, visit www.AccessibleCruiseAndVacations.com or call 1-866-244-6395 ext. 321 or 905-271-7245.