Veni, Vidi, Venice!

As I try to recount our 5 day whirlwind tour of Italy, I am sitting on the deck of the ship, the M.V. Explorer, with Sicily on the right and the “tip of the boot “ of Italy on the left, a 3 mile wide passage. It is hard to recollect where you’ve been when you want to keep looking where you are going, especially when it looks like this.

We took a train from the port to Venice, where we could have wandered around for days, especially in the evening when it is cooler, or at least not unbearably hot, but am not about to complain to you all about the heat! Venice stretches out for kilometers, 100 islands and 400 bridges. It is very crowded in the tourist areas, but mysterious and almost deserted where the real Venetians live. It’s not easy to live there, as its expensive having everything brought over from the mainland, and they are constantly repairing their homes from the 100 days of flooding each year. Our guide said that she couldn’t survive without her wading boots. Most of the homes have abandoned their first floors. They have their schools, their fresh food market, St. Mark’s cathedral, some more churches, and hundreds of souvenir shops and cafes. There are no cars whatsoever, but the canals are bustling with water taxis, tour boats, water buses, delivery boats and private boats, oh, and gondolas on the small canals. Will try to put a video clip of this up, but don’t hold your breath.

The first people to settle here 1500 years ago were fleeing Barbarians, who must not have seen any point in chasing after them into the marsh. The settlers used over a million trees as pilings on which they founded their city, and they  prospered with trading goods between the East and West, and they kept building. And they are still building, mainly barriers to keep the water out. Good luck with that Venice!