Venice
Venice is a place that has always held an appeal to me, a place to visit at some point. An Italian jewel on the Adriatic coast, a destination on the Orient Express back in the golden days of luxury train travel that various nations and operators are trying to re-create (though not, it appears, dear old Blighty). A major Mediterranean cruise destination all year round, depositing on most days tens of thousands of loud Americans, manically smiling Japanese and wealthy Chinese, all frantically scrambling through the narrow streets to get the obligatory gondola trips (and squabbling over queue jumping), madly snapping selfies with or without sticks to hold their iPhones, and blocking the bridges (and everyone else's chance of crossing the canal) while they do so. Meanwhile harassed tour guides, waving little flags and/or umbrellas, yell incoherently in multiple languages as they try to keep their groups together and interested in the commentary. Little back st...
