January can also provide the greatest luxury one can experience in Venice: solitude.
These days it’s possible to sit peacefully in a favorite campo, to lounge and read a book in a cozy café, to amble along a pretty fondamenta without gingerly sidestepping any overstuffed suitcases on wobbly wheels.
Almost all those annoying hordes of loud tourists in warm-up suits and fanny packs have departed, leaving behind streets and bridges that are easily navigated, uncrowded shops and museums, empty seats on the vaporetto, available tables in restaurants, and in some places, lower prices. Not to mention a much greater sense of (dare I say it?) serenity.
Alas, Carnevale is only about two weeks away…
