Venice-Gondola Dreams And Acqua Alta (High Water)
Venice, Italy · Birthday Field Note
Foreign LandWalk on Water
Older now—and so is Venice. In winter, the Floating City rewards the traveler who refuses the straight line and gets lost on purpose.
Growing old is not optional. Growing up is—and Venice still makes me feel young, enthusiastic, and vibrant, like a student.
Field Note 01 · Fifty Euros
No Gondola? No Problem.
A gondola is as far out of reach as a five-star hotel with this attitude. Fifty euros for twenty minutes? No, thank you.
I will just walk on water.
Getting lost in Venice is the only place worth going to.
Field Note 02 · Finite Minutes
Venice, Once, in Winter
Knowing that you have a finite life creates urgency in the minutes you live. I had to go to Venice—at least once—in winter.
My sole currency from the language, espresso, was already spent. I used it twice.
Many moons ago, the dollar was 870 lire and I was twenty-two. Back then, I would only have “done Venice” in summer. Now I know there is no better time than winter, without the one-day instant tourists—the lagoon’s “80-percenters”—passing through on cruise-ship excursions.
Field Note 03 · The City’s Vocabulary
Every Turn Has a Name
Venetians have lovely language for every kind of lane, opening, square, and waterway. The vocabulary is navigation, but it is also a way of seeing.
Field Note 04 · A Working Water City
No Cars. Everything Floats.
Venice is a city built on water: working, living, and moving by boat. No cars.
All traffic is waterborne: ambulances, police boats, firefighters, garbage collection, armored cash couriers, postal service, and delivery boats carrying goods of every kind. What a cool place.
Put it on your bucket list.
Three Moving Postcards
Venice in Motion
Walk on Water
Getting Lost on Purpose
A City Without Cars
Two Venices · One Year Apart
From Venice, Italy to Venice Beach
Last year at this time, I was in Venice Beach. One Venice is built on the lagoon; the other runs along the Pacific. Both reward walking, watching, and refusing the ordinary route.