See Venice....

Though I can not recall the exact circumstances, I believe that the first time I heard about Venice was in some sort of children's book which aimed to teach kids about various countries and cities. Anyway, the idea of a city built on water, where people journeyed by boat instead of car in order to reach their destinations, excited my imagination and ever since it has been one of my goals in life to one day see this city with my own eyes.

Well, it took nearly thirty years, but I've finally done it: I have spent the last few days in Venice, along with my folks, having returned home on Sunday. Did the city live up to the image I've had of it? In a word: Yes.

I shall not tire you, Dear Reader, by going into detail about the more touristy-aspects of the journey; the museums we visited and so on. While I enjoyed doing these things, they are of secondary importance. No, more than any other city I've been to, the individual buildings within Venice, though well worth looking at, are not as important as the city as a whole.

Venice is unlike any other city that it has been my pleasure to visit: The omni-presence of the water, the sight of the buildings which seem to have been built on top of it and the lack of any traffic; not even a bicycle, on land, makes it a unique experience.

Navigating within Venice is not easy. Granted, this does not mean much coming from me, since I have the sense of direction of a Marcus Brody, but the city is a veritable maze; turn a corner and you'll soon find yourself lost.

That is part of Venice's charm though, walking its streets and crossing its bridges, gazing at its many palazzi, its easy to see why this magnificent city has excited the imagination of some of the World's greatest storytellers.
As for me, though I have no intention of shuffling off the mortal coil anytime soon, I feel that I can now understand the old saying "See Venice and Die".