Originally Posted by
JMN57
Italians have a phrase "la dolce far niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing). I tend to associate it with being in the country, the beach or smaller towns/villages. It's not doing nothing and being bored but doing nothing and luxuriating in it. And it doesn't mean doing nothing as in a vacuum but rather doing for the joy of it. Venice is one of the few "big" cities where la dolce far niente comes naturally. Not at the hectic tourist points that tourist both flock to then complain about but rather in the back streets where you can be the only person on the street and it looks as if you've been transported back 400 years. Where you can just wander about and appreciate the beauty and tranquility of Venice and the micro of the moment is everything.
Totally agree. With my Brainy Smurf hat on I'd say, though, that the article "la" isn't really used (I mostly used the phrase 'dolce far niente', though it's not a phrase I've always employed) and, in any case, it should be "il"
Originally Posted by
PWMTrav
This is going to sound awful, but ah well. Those places you named in the first post? This is Venice, and here they are, circled. Spend one morning in that circle, see those things, and then get out of that circle and never go back. Wander around that much larger area and see what you see. I will note that I did not circle Ponte Rialto, because it is useful to cross the canal. But if you were to never see it because you kept going east, or you only glanced at it because you passed it going north, that would also indicate you're doing some excellent wandering.
Preach!