I came to Venice for the first time in 1968 and was lucky enough to make the acquaintanceship and then the friendship of two Venetians Roberta and Franco who remain my best friends here after almost 50 years.
A simple compliment goes a really long way - for a guy to just come over and say 'You have great hair' or 'I really like your dress ' and then just smile and walk away. That's a great move because he's sort of putting himself out there by doing that but it won't lead to any embarrassment if the girl isn't interested.