I just spent a week in Venice and small crowds and armed police presence made it feel like an entirely different city

I spent a week in the Italian city of Venice, mainly reporting on the 78th Venice film festival for Insider.

During my time in the city, however, I managed to see some of the famous sites, and I was shocked by how calm everything was. This picture was taken at the height of a Saturday afternoon at the famously busy Piazza San Marco

There were also no busy crowds outside of Doge's Palace - one of Venice's popular tourist sites.

And most of the City's famous shopping districts were also pretty tame but remained convivial.

Even some of the city's popular canal spots were a lot less busy.

As were some of the locations away from the historically popular tourist sites like here in San Polo.

This made navigating Venice's historically tight walkways a lot less daunting - particularly as COVID-19 remains a risk.

I initially wondered whether tourists had largely avoided the city this summer with cases of the Delta variant rising. But attendance at the film festival was high. Every morning I was plagued by long security lines at the festival entrance.

After a while, however, I began to frequently notice the presence of armed police officers around popular tourist locations.

Armed police were also accompanied by local officials in "#EnjoyRespectVenice" t-shirts, and it became clear that together they were successfully regulating the flow of tourists moving large groups along, and providing directions.

Although the city itself was less crowded, the queues to enter popular locations like Saint Mark's Basilica remained busy.

And so did the queues for the perfect selfie at the City's most Instagram-friendly spots.

For the first time ever, I can't wait to go back to Italy.

Now, the big question: did I enjoy the visit?

Yes, I did. There really is no credible challenge to Venice's claim to being Europe's most beautiful city. For me, however, it has traditionally also been one of the most deeply uncomfortable places to visit on the continent, largely down to the widely reported issues of overcrowding.

Earlier this year, it was reported that officials in the "floating city" are readying two strategies to curb overcrowding. First, the introduction of a tourist "reservation" system where visitors to the city pay an entrance fee in an attempt to curb overcrowding. And secondly, the deployment of armed guards to patrol key tourist hubs to keep crowds under control, which I have briefly outlined above.

To me, both of these suggestions are undesirable. The increased presence of armed officers has obvious and deeply concerning carceral implications, and any entrance fee to the city would effectively act as a tax on visiting one of Europe's most culturally enriching locations. But what became clear to me during my trip is that whatever magic Venice has to offer can only be absorbed when one isn't trapped in a scrum of camera-wielding tourists. 

More police and entrance fee: bad.

Less crowding: good.  

What's the middle ground here? I'm not sure but I hope the city of Venice can figure it out.