Is Venice Worth Wading Through Endless Crowds?

It was in the summer of the year 2016 that I visited Venice for the first time. Movies have a knack of portraying fantasy as reality. I had naively dreamed, inspired by several movies, of walking around in Venice calmly, taking in the architecture, eating pasta from a cosy café and most of all, riding on a gondola in beautiful turquoise coloured water. The dream pretty much shattered as soon as I stepped out of the boat that took me to the city. Everywhere I looked, I was overwhelmed, not by the sight of architectural marvels, but of people all around me, clicking away as though Venice was at the risk of vanishing right then if not photographed immediately. It was quite difficult to process all the activity all at once. But then, I accepted it and blended into the crowd, snapping random photos and being baked slowly under the hot sun. I was heartened by the sight of newly married couples, blissful to be celebrating their honeymoon in one of the most romantic cities in the world.
The city resembled a maze. Wherever we walked, the streets seemed exactly alike, with canals and bridges everywhere we looked. I felt sure that I would have gotten lost if not for the local guide with us.  I really enjoyed the gondola ride though, even though the boatmen were happy to charge a fortune for it. The ride gave me an opportunity to take in all the sights of Venice that made it truly magical, without elbowing through a mass of bodies. The buildings, with steps leading right into the water, were like nothing I had ever seen before.
My thoughts wandered off to the people who lived there, a place so beautiful but crowded all throughout the year. I felt an urge to dip my hands into the gorgeous green water, but lost it when the boatman sadly informed me that the water formed a waste disposal area for tourists and locals alike. However, the sight of the bridges looming above the water, on and on, made me realise what made the city unique. In a moment of cliché, I thought of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’.
In the end, I felt quite sad about leaving. I realised that the crowd, the souvenir shops, and the dirty water nevertheless were part of the charm of Venice. When I look at the photos again, I realise why everyone was in such a hurry to take photographs. They now remind me of a city, visiting which became a dream come true for me, even though it didn’t go exactly as I had planned. Looking at them makes me yearn to go back there again.