I love Venice just not the Gondola Pimps

Yesterday, we went to Venice which is just a short train ride from where we live.  It was truly amazing.  We took a water bus through the Grande Canal which is the main river that cuts through Venice in a backwards "S" shape.  While on the boat we got to see both the police boats and firemen boats.  I can't imagine the firemen being called often in a city that floats on water, but we saw them none the less.  After we got off we weaved our way through the narrow, maze-like alley streets back to the train station.  On these narrow backstreets were also narrow canals in which you crossed on small archway bridges.  I found these smaller, narrow canals to be extremely romantic and beautiful.  They looked like they were straight out of a movie.  The food there was also to die for.  They had these amazing warm pizza and sandwhich wraps with thick, warm, doughy crust that I fell in love with.  The gelato and pastries were also delicious.  We ate our way through most of Venice.  You could tell that everything was homemade unlike the fastfood in America that is cooked quickly and greasy.  We did see quite a lot of gondolas as well, but unfortunately didn't ride one ourselves.  They are rather expensive not to mention the gondaliers are extremely annoying.  They shout at you and constantly try to get you into their boats.  In fact, they very much reminded me of the pimps in Las Vegas.  They would stand in groups wearing their tight striped shirts with slicked back hair and look you up and down as you passed trying to lure you to their boats.  We do plan on visiting another time while we're here so maybe next time they might actually get our business.  I feel like it's a requirement to ride the gondola if you visit Venice no matter how expensive it seems so we'll see.  Either way, Venice is truly a sight not to miss.