Wednesday 5 August 2015

Venice 2

Our second day in Venice was a bit rainy and pleasantly cool. I'll take damp cool weather any day over HOT and steamy!

We took the No. 1  vaporetto from San Marco all the way along the Grand Canal to Piazzale Roma. The water bus stops at 20 stations on it's way along the Canal..... the main local bus route through Venice.

The stone Rialto Bridge, Ponti de Rialto, has spanned the Grand Canal since 1591. But the bridge you see here is an image of the bridge on a construction cover, the actual bridge is undergoing some repair and renovation. 

The gondolas are traditional flat bottom rowing boats. Venice law says that all gondolas are painted black, and there are over 400 of them in active service carrying tourists. Gondoliers have to go through a long apprenticeship before earning one of the 425 gondolier licenses. 
Venice approved it's first woman gondolier in 2010.
Is Venice sinking? Lots of people think it is. The city has it's origins on swampy islands in the middle of a lagoon. Recent studies show that sea levels are rising, and the city is subsiding ever so gradually. One study says the city is sinking 3 to 4 cm per century, another study says 10 cm.
Better visit Venice while it's still there!


No Mafia! Venice is sacred!

More pictures to come.
If you have visited Venice, please leave me a comment and tell me about it.

7 comments:

  1. LOVE seeing your photos of Venice...glad you had such a good time there. Never been there myself, but our son went a few years back and liked it.

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  2. What fun traveling by water bus, I hope you found your sea legs OK.
    Gosh, I hope Venice does not sink, what a terrible thought.

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  3. No, I have never been to Venice! I'd love to visit this magical city, though.

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  4. Never been there, but thanks for sharing your photos! And thanks for stopping by my blog. No, I don't seem to be blogging much any more. Perhaps once the cold weather sets in and I'm indoors I'll take it up again. I do miss my blogging buddies.

    Enjoy the rest of the summer. I'm doing ok and right now am staying with my daughter. I sold my recent home and am waiting to move back into another home (which incidentally is the same one I shared with dear hubby). So full circle. Once I'm settled, I'll blog about that.

    Hope all your grands are doing well. They do grow up right under our eyes, don't they?

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  5. Thanks for sharing your views of the city. I have never been there, but it does have a long history so I am sure I would enjoy it if I did.

    Sea level rise is a global problem, and Venice is in the front line. The city's long term survival will rely on some very grand and ridiculously expensive work. Not sure Italy can afford it. Maybe the Mafia can? :-)

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  6. I'm a hot and steamy kind of guy. Too much winter, too long winters makes me that way, I guess.

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  7. I am going back to read your travel reports from your newest post, and now I am here.
    I visited Venice 20 years ago. Your photos make me miss that magical water city!

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