I visited Venice in 1999, before the Euro and before cell phones. We took the overnight train from Rome to Venice, and arrived exhausted as the sun rose, having slept sitting up in a 6-person car with four complete strangers (all male, so there was no way I was falling asleep). Arriving that early, we were able to wander the city alone and see it the way few people do. Our day lasted well into the night, and ended on San Marco Piazza with a bottle of wine and watching a free concert. We tipped the last of our lira.