Let me start this post by saying that the first time I visited Venice was twenty years ago on a group guided tour in 2005. The tour was a typical one, Venice – Florence – Rome, with a few other stops (Assisi, Pisa, and Perugia). Every city had its own special charms, but Venice was far and away my favorite. The thing I remember most was the silence. Venice is a pedestrian only city, so there were no traffic sounds. It seemed surreal. The fact that the silence surrounded one of the most beautiful cities on earth, filled with majestic cathedrals, renaissance masterpieces, gondola-lined canals, mouth-watering food, and friendly people, made it simply unforgettable.

Fast forward twenty years. Xia and I were traveling through Europe for the summer. It was Xia’s first trip to Europe and the place I was most looking forward to sharing with her was Venice. So, why the good, the bad, and the ugly? First, because I can’t resist a good pop culture reference. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s Italian film director Sergio Leone made a series of western movies starring screen legend Clint Eastwood (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). The films were hugely successful and inspired other Italian directors to emulate their success. Collectively, the genre became known as Spaghetti Westerns, a term that I’m sure Italians today would find extremely inappropriate, if not totally offensive, but it was a different time.

The other reason I appropriated the title of Leone’s third film is that Venice has changed over the past twenty years. It is still one of the great destinations in Europe, but it has become a victim of its own popularity.

Let’s start with the good. Venice is still filled with remarkable treasures that should not be missed. St. Mark’s Basilica is one of the world’s great cathedrals, an architectural marvel that has stood at foot of St. Mark’s Square for nearly 1,000 years. The stunning building is crowned by the Triumphal Quadriga, or the four horses, ancient, gilded copper equine statues that have graced the terrace of St. Mark’s since the 13th century. They were brought to Venice from Constantinople by Venetian troops returning from the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Today, the horses on the terrace are actually replicas. The originals have been moved inside to the Basilica Museum to protect them from pollution and can only be seen by taking a behind the scenes tour, which also allows you to go out on the rooftop terrace for a closeup look at the replica horses. The behind the scenes tour also is the only way to get a look at the Pala D’ Oro, a magnificent 6-foot by 11-foot panel that sits directly behind the main altar. It consists of nearly 300 silver panels that are coated in 24 carat gold leaf and encrusted with nearly 2,000 precious stones. It is one of the priceless relics of the catholic church and most visitors never get to see it.

Continuing with the good, the gondola lined canals are still magnificent. Taking a gondola ride through some of the side canals is still a romantic way to spend a half hour with your significant other, and the view of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge is still awe inspiring.

Now for the bad news. Twenty years ago, you could take a stroll along the Grand Canal and enjoy wonderful views, streetside trattorias and pizzerias with delicious food, and wander into any local church and see renaissance masterpieces on the walls. Today, the main walking paths are crowded with shoulder-to-shoulder tourists, the restaurants have long wait lists to get mediocre food. The wave of immigration from the middle east has altered the food scene dramatically. Restaurants that advertise pizza and kebabs don’t fill me with confidence that I will be getting authentic Italian food. Prices of everything have skyrocketed. That half hour gondola ride will set you back 90 euros. You have to plan on lengthy wait times to get in to see any of the main attractions and the crowds make it difficult to get any good pictures.

Finally, the ugly. The throngs of tourists have also attracted more criminals into Venice. Vandals and thugs scrawl their gang signatures and other graffiti on the walls of magnificent buildings that have lined the canals for centuries. You also need to be very wary of pickpockets throughout the city, and some areas have become so bad that the city has posted signs letting you know you are in an area where pickpockets are particularly active. Then there are the legal pickpockets. If you are a person that likes to pay cash, there are CHANGE markets on almost every street in the main tourist areas that will gladly change your US dollars for euros. Our advice is to avoid these like the plague. We fell victim to one place that advertised a terrific exchange rate in their window, but by the time they had subtracted all of their fees and surcharges we ended up getting about 60 cents on the dollar. When we argued that the final amount was ridiculous and tried to cancel the transaction, they told us there was nothing they could do and refused to give us our money back. Whenever possible, use a credit or debit card, where the exchange fees are much lower. If you do need to use cash, get it from an ATM at a bank. The banks give a much better exchange rate than privately owned ATMs.