“Are you American?”: Woman falls into Venice canal trying to roast Google Maps
A Polish tourist’s attempt to poke fun at Google Maps’ notoriously bad navigation in Venice went viral after the bit ended with her plunging straight into a canal.
The traveler, Wika Guzenda, was filming a tongue-in-cheek clip about how the app keeps telling users to “go straight” in a city full of water. But after missing her footing on a slimy stone step, she became the punchline herself, leading to millions of views and a flood of Instagram and TikTok comments joking about trusting Google in Italy’s most confusing city.
Watch your step at the canals
Polish couple and avid travelers Wika and Kamil went viral in late September after their attempt to make a silly video mocking Google Maps' issues with Venice went awry. The brief clip shows Wika starting to walk down a short flight of stone stairs that lead into one of Venice's famous canals.
"When Google Maps says ‘go straight’ but you’re in Venice," the caption on Instagram reads.
On the final step before the water started, she slipped and plunged straight into the murky depths.
Thankfully, it's not that deep. She did, however, show herself wiping off grime and possibly blood from her legs afterward.
The Instagram video gained over 250,000 likes, while the TikTok version that omits the after shot and freezes mid-fall grabbed over seven million views.
"Bad day? I had worse," the TikTok caption says.
"The plan for this TikTok was completely different," the video description adds.
@para.we.wroclawiu Ig: wika.we.wroclawiu ✨ Welcome in my life. Plan na tego tiktoka był zupełnie inny… #venice #funny #fy ♬ original sound - Blake Floyd ????
Don't use Google Maps in Venice
Google Maps screwing with tourists in Italy's most waterlogged city is nothing new. Licensed Venice tour guide Igor Scomparin wrote about this for 2025, explaining that this old city doesn't work like any other.
"Instead of '123 Main Street,' Venice uses a complex system called sestieri (districts) with sequential numbering that can jump from building to building unpredictably," he wrote. "For example, you might find Castello 1234 next to Castello 5678, making GPS navigation nearly impossible for standard mapping systems."
Other challenges for any GPS include numerous dead ends, rising waters that periodically make some routes inaccessible, and extremely narrow passages that Google Maps will mark as normal streets.
Scomparin's favorite alternative to GPS is, of course, tour guides. However, there are also special apps just for navigating Venice, such as Venezia Unica and Venice Offline Map.
"Venice has one rule regarding steps"
Many of the comments on this self-deprecating video further chided Wika for trying to walk on slippery steps or generally telling her she got what she deserved. A surprising number couldn't seem to figure out that she meant to stop on the last step.
"Why would she go straight into the water? Is she blind?" pondered @ereinii0n on Instagram.
"She literally thought she was Jesus and could walk on water?" asked @teaguguli.
Finally, some knowing folks provided an explanation for why that last step sent her toppling.
"Venice has one rule regarding steps. if you see green sludge on the surface, don't step on it," wrote TikToker @purple_army_d.
"I thought it was a known fact that rock, wood covered with water is slippery," said @sakuralove13. "These lessons are learnt during childhood. Do we not go outside anymore?"
The Daily Dot has reached out to @para.we.wroclawiu for comment via TikTok.
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