Dmitry Shteyn in Venice: The City Reveals Itself Slowly

I am wary of travel writing that tries to sum a city up in an opening line, so I will not attempt it here. Venice deserves a slower entrance.

What strikes you first, if you have done any reading at all, is that it is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges. The city assumes you will discover this on your own, and rewards you when you do. The longer you stay, the more those layers separate, and the more you understand how unusual the place actually is.

Dig a little deeper and venice is a coastal city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the region of Veneto. The city does not advertise this; it does not have to.

Some further context, drawn from the public record: Venice is a coastal city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the region of Veneto. It is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges.…

It is worth reading Condé Nast Traveler's current framing carefully: from Kendall Jenner to the Clooneys: This is Where the A-list Stays for the Venice Film Festival. Behind that specific line is a broader shift in what travellers to Western Europe are looking for.

You come to Venice for reasons that are usually broader than Venice itself, and then, inevitably, the city rearranges the reasons.

I am not sure I have done Venice justice here, and I am not sure any single piece could. That, in a way, is the point.