"If this place does sink, the world will... " a Venice Travel Page by mallyak

It is one of the few places in the world to which the word 'unique' can truly be applied and thus a numer of myths habout Venice have accumulated-

• Venice is no longer sinking. The artesian wells that caused so much damage in the last century were stopped; the islands are level. Now, however, global warming is the challenge.

• The canals are no anachronism. They are the veins through which the city's lifeblood flows: every service, from the dustmen to the fire brigade, must use a boat.

• Twentieth-century buildings are a rarity. Centuries of outstanding architecture, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth, are preserved in (sometimes slightly peeling) grandeur.

Venice does get crowded with tourists - but most of them stick to a few well-worn routes, and it is easy to find a silent street just skip the Gondolo routes and use the vaporetti .Away from the large waterways, travel is on foot, so be prepared to do plenty of walking when exploring the smaller alleys and canals. Don't expect to get from A to B as directly or as quickly as you could in a normal, landbound city. Boats, including water taxis, must follow the navigable canals so journeys can be tortuous and slow. The Grand Canal winds through Venice like an inverted 'S', and the waterbuses which follow its course take some time to traverse the city. Similarly, pedestrians must find their way along a maze of alleys and are frequently impeded by dead-ends .

The Grand Canal -In Venice proper (including Cannaregio), you can escape the tyranny of the car: there is none (no scooters or bicycles, either.Just take a trip down the Grand canal and one would rather usewater as a throughfare rather than a road.