"The Queen of the Adriatic" a Venice Travel Page by csordila

In an awestruck fashion, its inhabitants used to call Venice La Serenissima - the most illustrious. Since the great car and railways bridge between the mainland and the lagoon city was built, Venice entered a new age: it became more easily accessible, and the people did come.
Today, more than ten million tourists per year visit the fascinating city with its 150 steeples, 150 canals, 400 bridges, a maze of 3,000 alleyways and about 45,000 pigeons.
Venice is a great place for walking, and much of the time no map is needed as long as you don't mind being slightly lost. Looking for someplace specific, like a restaurant you've seen reviewed and want to visit, can be more challenging. It is not easy to find your way in Venice - a perfect analogy to love: only what is difficult to conquer is actually interesting.

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There are many beautiful places in Italy, but the most special one is Venice. Venice has a lot to recommend, from sitting in Caffe Florian in San Marco to studying the art in the Gallerie dell'Accademia or the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.
Lots of things you've always wanted to see are free or cheap. Venice is a walking city for romantic dreamers who like strolling through automobile-free streets and for anyone who wants to see something really different and crumbling in a pleasing-to-the-eye.
It is really true what a Russian poet said: "I should say that, good though this place is for honeymoons, I've often thought it should be tried for divorces also."
Venice's true charm, however, lies in its inhabitants: at the fish market, vendors sing opera arias while filleting their goods, a craftswoman artfully decorates a pompous Venetian mask, a vegetable vendor skillfully navigates his full-packed gondola through the canals.

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