The beauty of Venice is legendary; the reality struggles to live up to the legend. Filthy canals, over-priced shops and restaurants, herds of tourists barked into line by unsmiling guards, a near total ban on photography - about the only place you are allowed to take photographs is St Mark's Square and they'd ban that too if they could think of a way to police it - and admission prices that empty your wallet with the adroitness of a 17th century bravo but none of his charm.
As for a romantic ride in a gondola, forget it. For something like £50 an hour you are greeted by a surly gondolier who smokes non-stop, whose voice is like a frog with laryngitis and whose union rules won't let him do anything you want to do. You've heard about the charm and courtesy of New York taxi drivers? Add water and you couldn't tell the difference.
Still, people keep visiting the place because of the legend, so you might as well too, and in our first film Dawn Jones tells you about the sights you simply mustn't miss.