Letting the days go by--water flowing underground...

...Into the blue again, in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground...

AND ITS RISING! Thats right-- the city of Venice is sinking very slowly into the marsh in which it rests. The city is built on top of millions of wooden piles that were sunk into the marshy ground about a thousand years ago. The wooden foundation used to sink at the rate of approximately seven centimeters per century. Although that doesn't sound like much, it adds up. At that rate, it would have sunk 70 centimeters over the years. However, in a recent study, the group that tested the water levels estimated that it sank a whopping 24 centimeters in the last century alone! Although the Venetian government believes that study is inaccurate, their own recent study shows that the city is going to sink between 20 and 50 centimeters by 2050. That's pretty intense! The ground floor there is already close to the water level. Take a look at this boardwalk set of stairs for example.

And thats at the season low! From the picture you can even see that the water level has come above even the paved walk in the high water season, as evidenced by the seaweed all over the steps there and the dirt traces the current has left behind. I was told that these used to lead to a dock that has long since been devoured by the marsh. Its really pretty unbelivable once you see the hard facts staring back at you.

As one might imagine, the Venetians are quite concerned. To attempt to contain the water level at its present height and keep the city above ground longer than it would have, the government is placing hinged gates with pumps at the entrance of the lagoon. Even with that project having been done sometime in the next 4 years, the city still continues to sink, and thus far the common belief is that by 2055 or so, a significant portion of the city's walkways, plazas, and ground-level floors will be submerged all indefinitely. Many engineers, architects, businessmen, the government, and citizens are hard pressed to find a solution to the problem by that time, or the city will become another one for the history books--only seen in the past. Thus far, nothing has come up, but I hope something does, because in looking to the future one day, I'd like for my own children and grandchildren to have the opportunity to walk the very streets so many have before. It really is a quaint, majestic, and extremely romantic city, and it would really be a shame to not be able to experience it.

On that note, here's what came out of my experience:

While a good number of sights are available to explore in the city, I don't think I'll ever forget the smell of Venice. It, and the fact that the city is now almost completely geared toward tourism catering, is the bad side of it all. Keeping in mind that the city is in fact built on a marsh, you can expect some pretty boggy odors, but add that to the fact that historically people dumped their waste into the canals running through the city for several hundred years and you can begin to imagine what it might be like when the water level sinks and the hot sun releases the odor from the water resin left on the city walls. If you are away from the water and in the plazas or shopping walkways, the smell is non-existent, so don't let that description above deter you from coming. It is still HIGHLY recommended!

Anyway, we spent 2 and a half days in the lagoon, and only 1 full day exploring Venice. The other was spent island hopping around Venice to the Murano, Burano, and Torcello islands. I wasn't able to get around and see much, but here's a bit of what I did catch glimpses of.

St Mark's Square and Basillica:


From dusk till dawn this place is HOPPIN'! There's always someone doing something in the square, whether it be just passing through, feeding the massive pigeon population, listening to the very talented restaurant musicians, snapping a photo or two, or just looking around and soaking in the view of the surrounding buildings, tower and church.


There's several other neat buildings around, and its fun to pop out of some of the streets onto a bridge (if you can get over that smell). It really is a city paved with water; check out this picture from on top of one of the many bridges.



There are a lot more I'd like to share, yet can't offer much discription about them other than the fact that I found humor in them and or simply like the shot. Unfortunately, however, I'm gonna have to leave you all in suspense for a while.

I visited the islands surrounding Venice as well that weekend, and the stories, pictures, and descriptions of that (and the others from this segment) will come in the next post.

**SIDE NOTE** In "real-time" its just about Thanksgiving time right now, and I'm going to travel to London to spend the break! I'll be sure to take tons of snapshots there to share too. But in keeping tradition, I'll continue to update on here in a chronological date sequence, so you can follow my journey step by step as it has been up to now.

Peace, Love, and giving thanks,

B Ezie