VENICE, ITALY
When:
September 11-14, 2020
Weather:
Warm and sunny :)
Accommodations:
Hotel Antico Panada. Two minute walk from the Piazza San Marco. Great location…ok room.
We were originally booked to stay at the Hotel San Zulian which, unbenounced to us, is actually part of a group of five hotels that are all managed by the same people. Because tourism was so low when we visited, we were instead moved to the Hotel Antico Panada. Even with all guests being funneled to this one hotel, we were told that it was still only functioning at 50 percent capacity.
The first room we were given was not accessible in the least. Even using the “wheel trick”, we still had trouble getting me into the bathroom. I was so disappointed and had a minor breakdown in response…why am I so quick to blame myself whenever I run into a situation where something doesn’t fit my needs? John was assertive and asked if there were any more suitable rooms available. The second room was not “accessible” in the traditional sense…but it was MUCH better. There was plenty of space to move around, but if my wheelchair had been a quarter of an inch wider I would not have been able to fit into the bathroom. The toilet and sink worked just fine, but I did have to be lifted into the shower. End of the day lesson…don’t be afraid to ask.
Sights/Activities:
Just for starters, Venice was one of the most incredible places I’ve ever been. From the moment we stepped onto the first vaporetto and started cruising down the main canal, I was taken. I literally kept looking at John with my mouth open and saying, “what IS this place?”. Everywhere you look is stunning and could be a postcard…which explains why I took like 700 photos over the course of our four day trip. We spent lots of time just walking/rolling around enjoying the sights, sounds, and flavors of the city. On day 1, I think John lifted me up and over close to twenty bridges…crazy. We got a little smarter in the following days and used a city Vaporetto (similar to a bus, but on water!) to hop from one accessible pocket of the city to another…see map here . The vaporetto is accessible, but with close to 400 bridges, almost all of them with stairs, I would not call Venice a wheelchair friendly city. We visited the island of Murano via vaporetto and caught part of the glass- festival. Watched a glass-blowing demonstration and drank several aperol spritzes…duh. Hopped off the vaporetto at the Isola di San Michele on the way to Murano and visited the cemetery there. I find cemeteries beautiful and fascinating, and this one did not disappoint…minus the mosquitos…SO many mosquitos in all of Venice, so beware! Met some new friends on the boat back from Murano. Andrea and Joao are from Portugal, and were touring Venice as well. Andrea also uses a wheelchair, so we connected over that. We met up with them several more times over the course of our trip, including at sunset on the rialto bridge, for an amazing gondola ride (our AMAZING vaporetto drivers lifted me on and off the boat IN my wheelchair!), and for drinks on San Marco square our last night in Venice. We hope to visit them in Portugal one day! Stopped at the iconic Basilica di Santa Maria, which was beautiful but NOT wheelchair accessible. Definitely asked for help getting up and down the giant staircase :) Bought some beautiful art from a street vendor. His work was a bit more abstract….we fell in love with the way it captured the feeling of Venice. Visited St. Mark’s Basilica and I am not exaggerating when I say that it may be the most beautiful building I have ever seen, both inside and outside). The gold ceiling mosaics…the floors with their varied intricate patterns…even the outside with all the different types and colors of stone. Try to see it in both shade and sunshine if you can. I found the colors and patterns of the stone used for the outside of the building popped more in the shade…but the mosaics shine more when the sunlight hits them…beautiful at every time of day! I think I took about a hundred pictures. We didn’t go to as many museums as we may have pre-COVID…but I think we got a beautiful taste of the city. Speaking of “taste”…memorable food included: Cicchetti (Venetian form of tapas…we had tons of tiny delicious sandwiches with all sorts of toppings), cuddlefish with squid ink, pistachio pizza, fresh pasta with ground-duck meat sauce, plenty of aperol-spritzes, and the most delicious slushies we’ve ever had in our life.
Equipment Used:
Husband (and random volunteers) to help lift me up and over MANY bridges. Didn’t need a freewheel as the pavement is actually quite even in Venice.
Overall Accessibility thoughts:
Here’s why it’s difficult and vulnerable for me to write about disability. Everyone is SO different. John and I were able to do Venice, but it would be a bigger struggle for others based on their unique situation. I seem to always feel like I’m either too disabled or not disabled enough in order to participate in something or speak into it…but those are some thoughts for another time.
I’d say if you can do stairs (like, quite a lot of stairs), or you have someone who can help you to do them, you can do Venice for sure. If you can do one or two stairs, certain pockets of Venice are accessible without having to go over bridges. As I mentioned above, you can use this map to show you where to hop on and off the vaporetto down the grand canal in order to access different things. The yellow dots are vaporetto stops, and you can see on the map in dark green the places you can access from each vaporetto stop without going over a bridge. Pretty handy! Definitely requires planning…but we used it lots!
Also, we had a very different experience in Venice because there were very few crowds. It would be pretty challenging to get through the small alleys and on and off of vaporettos if it were super crowded. But if you’ve got a dream to see it…make it happen :)