Venice (Venezia) is one of the world's greatest pedestrian cities. Whether it's sparkling in late spring sunshine or shrouded in winter mist, this city will enchant you in every way.No automotive vehicles are permitted within the city of Venice, which lies offshore on a series of islands. Everything in the city is transported by boat from the mainland and through the cities many canals to its destination. The fact that there are no cars, buses, or motorcycles on Venice's narrow streets make it a perfect place to walk around and enjoy the old city sights.Each church boasts a magnificent selection of paintings by famous Italian Renaissance masters such as Bellini, Tintoretto and Titian. Each church is quite literally a mini-art museum, with some churches having each wall (and even ceilings) covered by fantastic paintings like a patchwork quilt.
Even more enjoyable, perhaps, is walking through the narrow streets of the old city. In places the streets are so narrow you can stretch your arms out and touch the buildings on either side of the street. There are streets down which the sun never shines (a benefit in the hot Italian summers). This is all part of the charm of Venice, which has retained much of its old character.
The city has done a good job withstanding the march of time. Walking down the streets it is not hard to imagine you are seeing the city as it was seen by Marco Polo and other famous historical figures in centuries past.
In Venice Italy, even the ambulances are waterborne. The addresses are numbered in an erratic fashion - to put it diplomatically - and often times the city appears to be nothing more than a confluence of boats and gondolas lugging confused looking visitors to parts unknown. Many Venetians have fled the city, looking for a break from tourists and the city's overwhelming prices. The history of Venice Italy is unclear. The city was first formed by refugees escaping from barbarian hordes, weary evacuees who gave up their land for the possibility of freedom upon the nearby islands deemed uninhabitable by many at the time. Like their ancestors, the Venetians are running again.
Here's some news: The Venice Biennale announced its full "official" roster today, a full 82 in the national pavilion, biennale-sanctioned Giardini proper. While this isn't strictly news -- we in Canada have known Steven Shearer was to be our rep for months -- the full buffet table spread, all in one place, is always nice to see. Which you can do, here, if you care to.
Every year, the city's water levels rise. The muggy summer air cooks the canals and scrapes the paint and enamel from the city's finest pieces of art. Faithful to its origins, everything in Venice seems to be in peril. This has - logically - spiked tourism in Venice, which for years has been the sole means of support for the historic city, so at least you can rest assured that the high prices you"ll encounter will be funneled into programs to renovate the city. Because, despite its continual decay and a layout so confounding it makes your eyes spasm, the city is still one of the most beautiful destinations in the world.
The show is to be cringe-inducingly titled ILLUMInations -- an international, state-sanctioned art event; get it? -- and is curated by Swiss historian and critic Bice Curiger. Further cringing or just general bizarreness is also due the official statement by biennale president Paolo Barrata, who gl;eefully mixed metaphors, called the event a "great pilgrimage ... to a wind machine." Huh? Anyway, he also offered his support -- I guess -- of his curator, invoking legendary 1999 biennale curator Harald Szeeman in calling the past dozen years of the event "the happy travel from Harald's beard to Bice's cherry red lipstick." Only an Italian could get away with that.
