On to Venice

Category: My latest Europe trip | Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:24 pm

From Vienna it was on to the history and canals of Venice.

We passed some really beautiful towns and countryside on the way.

One of the first things we did when we arrived was to take a gondola ride, complete with champagne and music.

Venice is a very old city. It is built on reclaimed land (in fact, it is not built on 'land' at all, but the entire city is either on small islands or, those over water, are supported by timber struts.)

Many of the buildings are totally supported by specially prepared timber staunchons. Eg, the cathedral in the city square is supported this way, by over 1.2 million staunchons as it's foundation.
As we visited the cathedral there were staff there whose job it was to ensure that not too many people entered at any one time. We were split into 3 groups, only one 'on site' at any given time. This was because, we were told, the cathedral is slowly sinking into the mud (or the staunchons are!) so there was a weight limit.

The city is a maze of canals and there are only 2 ways of getting around - by boat (of which there are thousands!) and walking.

Cont next message..............

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