Venice-Gondola Dreams And Acqua Alta (High Water)
Venice is a city built on the water, a working, living city, and everybody gets around in boats. NO CARS! All the traffic is waterborne- All the emergency services--water ambulance, police boats, fireman; garage collection boats, Fidelity armored cash couriers. All the delivery-boats that deliver goods of every sort; and all the postal service delivering packages and letters. What a cool place. Put it on your Bucket list.
Knowing that you have a finite life creates an urgency to the minutes that you live. Had to go to Venice (once) in the winter!
My sole currency from their language—"espresso"—was already spent. I used it twice.
Many moons ago, the dollar was 870 lire and I was twenty-two. I would have only "done Venice" in the summer. But there is no better time than winter—without the one-day instant tourists, aka the 80%ers who inhabit the lagoon for less than a day via cruise ship.
The Venetians, on the other hand, have such lovely language for each of the lanes and streets: fondamenta (along a canal), sotoportico (a covered passage), corte (courtyard), riva (a wide fondamenta along the lagoon), calle (street), rio (canal), and campo (square).
Last year this time, I was in VENICE BEACH.