Venice Italy

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.

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.

Tourism in Venice reaches its peak during Carnavale, the annual celebration before lent, where millions of visitors come from around the globe to take part in festivities. Other attractions include St. Mark's Basilica, also known as "The Church Of Gold". The cathedral takes its names because it houses a golden altar measuring 40 square feet and set with thousands upon thousands of jewels. Hundreds of other treasures culled from centuries of wealth and privilege also remain inside.

The gondola is the primary mode of transportation throughout the canals, not to mention the enduring symbol of tourism in Venice. Though speedboats have become more commonplace nowadays, they are unable to drown out the traditional songs of the gondoliers, with most of these ballads reciting tales of true love or the magnificent history of Venice Italy itself.

And a storied history it is. Like Genoa, Venice used its waterways to develop into a powerful city, a hub for trade and commercial exploits, until it dominated a large portion of the Mediterranean, the Adriatic and hundreds of vital trade routes. The city thrived for centuries, becoming a center of the arts that made all others pale in comparison. Bellini, Titian, Tintoretto and Longhi all called Venice home at some point, and their works live on in the many galleries and museums spread throughout the city's maze of canals. The Academy Gallery is surely the most famous, where many of the city's masterpieces are displayed. Take a gondola ride down the famous Grand Canal and it will lead you to Ca' Rezzonico and Ca' d'Oro, the former famous for its ornate ballrooms and aristocratic balconies, the latter for providing shelter for the great works of Titian, Mantegna and Carpaccio.

The pageantry and history of Venice Italy are still alive and well for the time being. And don"t worry about getting lost, either - it is said by locals that there are no wrong turns in Venice. See for yourself.