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Venice, there really is no other place like it in the world, although some other countries like to think there is: the Greek island of Mykonos has a Little Venice, London has a Little Venice (10-minutes down the road from my flat actually), and even Venezuela (i.e. the South American country) means "Little Venice". The city of Venice is split between mainland Italy (where most Venetians live), and 118 islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon a few kilometres off the mainland, that oddly enough seem to resemble the shape of a fish when seen from above. Those tiny islands are separated by around 150 canals and connected by some 400 bridges! There is no such thing as a car or a scooter or a bike in this part of Venice - just a lot of pedestrians (most of them tourists), and getting hopelessly lost and disoriented is inevitable (and half the fun! :) Venice has a long and rocky history, and after once being an independent republic it has since been handed between Italy and Austria at least twice as the result of battles and treaties. But today, it sits in northeast Italy and is really only threatened by the waters that surround it (more on that below).

Monday, 14 September 2009
  • Interlaken > Venice
  • Wander
  • Wander some more
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
  • Wander
  • St Mark's Square
  • Burano
  • Wander

 
 
This was our transport to Venice! Well, it would've been if I could afford it. Instead we had to contend with a couple of shitty trains both full of bloody kids for several hours from Interlaken.
 
It was raining when we arrived, and although there are no cars in Venice they do have taxis - water taxis :)
 
Like I said above, constantly under threat from the water!

 
 
Venice in a nutshell: Canals, old buildings, gondolas, bridges, and a maze of streets. The buildings of Venice are constructed on closely spaced wood piles. The piles penetrate a softer layer of sand and mud until they reach the much harder layer of compressed clay. Under water here the wood does not decay due to the absence of oxygen, and instead is petrified as a result of the constant flow of mineral-rich water around and through it, so that it becomes a stone-like structure - most of these piles are still intact after centuries of submersion! The buildings are often threatened by flood tides from the Adriatic Sea, and various measures either are in place or have been proposed to address this, including physically lifting the city to a greater height above sea level by pumping water into the soil underneath the city - good luck with that!

 
 
Venetian graffiti...

 
 
Venetian gardening...
 
Venetian emergency services...
 
Venetian postal system...

 
 
Venetian garbage 'truck' hehe.
 
This reminds me of a good joke I know: A man ran after the garbage truck, yelling, "Am I too late for the garbage?" The driver replied, "No, jump in!" hahaha! Well I thought it was funny.

 
 
Venetian fruit stall...
 
Venetian supermarket (complete with what appears to be shaved horse meat or something - Mum was horrified hehe)...

 
 
Venetian tourists...
 
(many of them hopelessly lost)...

 
 
Venetian shops, a lot of them selling a myriad of Venetian masks that are worn during the Carnival of Venice...

 
 
A Venetian shop catering to the Asian tourists...
 
And a Venetian shop that only opens sometimes, and sells God knows what!

 
 
Venetian luxury transport - the gondola...
 
Venetian thrill-seekers...

 
 
Venetian English...
 
And of course Italian ice cream - nice!
 
"Here, get your lips around this!"

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