Marghera,(Venice) Italy

Marghera — or more precisely, the Venice cruise terminal complex that serves both Marghera and its illustrious neighbor — occupies the industrial mainland opposite the lagoon city, providing cruise passengers with their first or last glimpse of La Serenissima from a perspective that medieval doges could never have imagined. The relationship between industrial Marghera and historic Venice is one of the great juxtapositions in modern travel: on one side, the petrochemical plants and container terminals of a working twentieth-century port; on the other, the campanile of San Marco, the domes of the Basilica, and the palazzo-lined Grand Canal that constitute the most improbable and beautiful urban achievement in human history.

Venice requires no introduction — it is the city that every other waterfront settlement on Earth is measured against and found wanting. But approaching Venice by sea, as generations of traders, pilgrims, crusaders, and travelers have done since the fifth century, provides an experience fundamentally different from arriving by train or car across the causeway. The ship navigates the marked channels through the lagoon, passing the barrier islands of Lido and Murano, and Venice materializes from the water like a vision — the pastel facades, the forest of bell towers, the golden angel atop the Campanile catching the light. It is a view that Turner painted, Byron celebrated, and that continues to generate genuine emotion in even the most jaded traveler.

The culinary heritage of Venice is Adriatic seafood elevated by centuries of spice-trade wealth and cosmopolitan sophistication. Sarde in saor (sardines marinated in sweet-and-sour onion, pine nuts, and raisins) reflects the Venetian merchant's knowledge of Middle Eastern preservation techniques. Risotto al nero di seppia (risotto blackened with cuttlefish ink) is dramatic and deeply savory. Fegato alla veneziana (calf's liver with onions) is the classic trattoria dish. The cicchetti tradition — Venice's answer to tapas, small plates consumed standing at bar counters called bacari — provides the most democratic and delicious eating experience in the city: polpette (meatballs), baccalà mantecato (whipped salt cod), and crostini topped with every conceivable combination of seafood, cheese, and cured meat, washed down with an ombra (glass of wine) or a spritz.

The attractions of Venice — the Basilica di San Marco with its Byzantine mosaics, the Doge's Palace, the Accademia Gallery's Bellini and Titian paintings, the Rialto Bridge, the winding canals navigated by gondola — are familiar to the point of cliché, yet retain an undiminished power to astonish. The lesser-known pleasures are equally rewarding: the Jewish Ghetto (the world's first, established in 1516, and the origin of the word "ghetto"), the island of Torcello with its seventh-century cathedral, the glass workshops of Murano, and the colored houses of Burano. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection, housed in the American heiress's unfinished palazzo on the Grand Canal, provides a perfect twentieth-century counterpoint to the medieval and Renaissance treasures elsewhere in the city.

Cruise ships arriving at or departing from Venice use terminals at either Marghera (on the mainland) or the Stazione Marittima (closer to the historic center), depending on vessel size and current regulations regarding large ships in the lagoon. Venice is also served by Marco Polo Airport (fifteen minutes from the mainland terminals) and the Santa Lucia railway station. The city is a year-round destination, though the shoulder seasons of April to May and September to October offer the best combination of pleasant weather, manageable crowds, and the luminous Adriatic light that makes Venice glow. Acqua alta (high water) flooding occurs primarily from October through January but rarely disrupts a visit for more than a few hours. Venice is expensive, crowded, and slowly sinking — and worth every penny, every elbow, and every inch of its magnificent, impossible existence.