Transportation in Venice

Nowhere else that I have seen is the concentration of beauty such. Quite simply, every corner, every canal, every campiello, every palace, every doorway, every bridge, every calle, every narrow alley, every courtyard, every window on which the eye rests is beautiful. Everywhere is beautiful, everywhere the city is suspended in time, anything (except, the train station) that is part of the historic center on the lagoon islands (plus Murano, Burano, Torcello...) exudes beauty. Venice is also unique, without any doubt, but not "only" for being suspended over water, nor for remaining suspended in time. Venice is all these things, but it is also incredibly wonderful, it is really all beautiful. The noisy tourists are there, San Marco is often unlivable because of them, but often it is enough-incredibly-to turn a corner to find yourself in total silence, in the shadow of a secret garden guarded by a decaying palace with an elegant medieval loggia. And the placid canals of the Castello district, surrounded by empty palaces, without inhabitants or stores, when no one passes by. And the lonely bridges over these canals, and almost the unraveling of the elaborate forms of the palaces in the water, and the silence unbroken by the gondolas that skim the water, the thousands of churches with singular facades, the palaces restored or let fall apart, the shady alleys, the courtyards...I prefer the withdrawn Venice of the rii, but there is little that can be denied: what the tourists flock to is also beautiful, very beautiful (and anyway, it is worth repeating, the historic center is vast and labyrinthine, and often at the first crossroads of the tourists nl there is no longer a trace). So many surprises revealed strictly by walking, so many hidden tree-lined campielli with an atmosphere all their own, so many buildings with architecture never seen before, but beautiful, and sunsets over the Cannareggio canal, and airy views from the fondamenta. It would still be necessary to return every now and then, and wander around to satisfy a certain longing for beauty.