VENICE 

What can be said about this city that came into existence by accident? By all normal standards it still should not exist, but it does, and the fact that it does is a testimonial to both the craziness and the tenacity of humankind. Not only does it exist, it is a source of happiness for thousands of visitors, gondoliers, lace-makers, hoteliers, restaurateurs, and glass blowers. Venice originated as a settlement of people who were fleeing from the attacking barbarians. The safest refuge that they could find was a few uninhabitable islands in the lagoon off the mainland. They hid there and that was how the city of Venice was born. They did not just live there; they and their descendants worked hard, and over the years created the world’s most beautiful city. Of course, whether it will still be there a few years from now is quite another matter. The city is sinking into the waters at a frightening rate of about two and a half inches every ten years, and at the same time, the damp climate, mould, and pollution in the town, are contributing to the city's decay. Estimates are that, if no action is taken soon, a third of the city's art will deteriorate to the point that no amount or method of renovation could cure it. And this will happen within the next decade or so. Clearly, Venice is in peril.  

Venice will be the high point of almost every tourists visit to Italy. The city seems to have been built with the tourist in mind. There are no traffic jams and speeding vehicles, and the cities main streets are mostly canals. This means that your best means of transportation will be either by foot or by boat, and both these methods are ideally suited to a holiday. But having claimed the city as the tourists delight, it is also a fact that Venice would be an even better city if there were no tourists. It is he who is the cause of most of the pollution, both materially and by way of noise. Besides the tourists do not come in small numbers, they descend on the city in the thousands every year crowding the squares and making navigation almost impossible. The actual physical press of human bodies can only be detrimental to the city’s fine architectural and artistic treasures. But , life goes on, and the determined people who built the city, and sustained it these hundreds of years, are sure to find a way of keeping their city alive whatever the threats to its existence may be. They must as tourism is their chief source of livelihood. 

The best seasons to visit Venice are in the months of May, June, September and October, the climate is mild and even with the crowds the city is exceedingly pleasant. Avoid Venice in the summer months of July and August, the oppressive heat of the Adriatic along with the press of the crowds make the canals a sweltering and foul-smelling stew. The cost of a visit to Venice can be a drain on your finances, be sure you make all the necessary enquiries before booking your tickets. Tourism has been the main industry, in fact the life-blood, of the city of Venice from the nineteenth century onwards, but this has caused an outrageous rise in the prices of just about everything, so much so, the local inhabitants are leaving the lagoon city and going across to Mestre a nearby industrial complex. 

Now, finally, the city fathers are trying to undo the damage that the water and the tourists have brought about. In 1993, after a 30-year interruption, the canals were again dredged. This was done to decrease the water loss and reduce the unpleasant smell that was brought in with the low tides. It is an exercise that must be carried out periodically if the city is to survive. In an effort to restrain the other 30-year-old dilemma of the inhabitants migrating to Mestre, state subsidies are now being offered to the citizens of Venice as an inducement not only to stay, but also to restore their collapsing buildings.