In 697 AD, the twelve founding families of Venezia (Venice), refugees from wars (sound familiar?) chose it’s location as a safe harbor. Eventually, this strategic location led Venice to become a major financial and political powerhouse in the area; a staging site for wars and trade. Based on our experience, they still are a powerhouse in trade, at least the tourist trade.
We got off the bus to Disneyland, whoops Venice, in one of the ugliest spots we have ever gotten off a bus at the outskirts of town. We bypassed the monorail that would take us into town, opting instead to walk for about a half a mile of ugly over the first of many bridges and then found ourselves in a a cross between Fantasy Land and New Orleans Square. Yo ho, yo ho!
Raised on Disneyland, it was hard to comprehend that Venice, like Dubrovnik, was real https://chosenfugue.wordpress.com/2018/11/12/croatia-1-dubrovnik-on-the-rocks/, especially, since like Disneyland, we were trapped in a series of lines and crowds, carried along to the next attraction, unable to identify distinct landmarks (no Matterhorn!) to make our way home as every storefront window had the same souvenirs. Any wrong turn, or any right turn could lead you right into a canal.
Although we were off season, we arrived on the very crowded Sunday of Carnival, so like Disneyland, there were plenty of characters walking around, getting their pictures taken, they were all Goofy.
And there were rides, canal rides, we of course did not take one, having used our E tickets for the Flixbus to get to Frontierland at the edge of town.
With 400 bridges linking the 118 islands of Venice, there weren’t any scooters, bicycles or cars to dodge, which was good because we could not do much lateral movement due to the shoulder to shoulder crowds carrying us along. By Monday, the streets were emptier and we were able to cross almost all 400 bridges as we time-traveled throughout the city
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After a day or so we started to wonder how many people fall into the canals, specifically drunk or selfie seeking tourists. Our research was inconclusive (we did not try), but there will always be fools like this to test the waters https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italian-authorities-venice-canal-intl/index.html . The canals sparkled aquamarine, masking how filthy and polluted they are since sewage and industrial waste goes directly into the canals. Falling in risks catching a severe infection. Katherine Hepburn fell into the canal during a scene of the 1955 “Summertime” that left her with a permanent eye infection.
Flooding has been an issue in Venice. Fortunately, we didn’t experience that. In fact, a week after we left, due to the dry winter and tidal effects, the canals almost went dry. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/01/world/europe/venice-mose-flooding.html?searchResultPosition=1
Low water in the canals does not just lead to a huge smelly wetland, but it also significantly impacts all functions of the city since the canals are the only transport system for people (boat taxis), trash collection, food deliveries, ambulances, basically everything in town relies on the canals to function.
Venice, like Disneyland, is an incredible man-made achievement, that is definitely worth a one time visit. Venice, though unlike Disneyland, was built to be a city not an amusement park, and is being overwhelmed by tourism. We felt fortunate to be there during the off season, but also a little guilty for contributing to the decay. (well to our credit we did not spend or do much). On the flip side, Venice, like Disneyland, financially depends on tourism (well not to our credit we didn’t spend or do much) which Venice is beginning to better manage for their survival. Venice, like many of the places in Italy, was another reminder of the incredible beauty we can make, and how carelessly we take care of it. The rise and fall.
Chosen Fugue 
I spent time in Venice in 1997…when I returned for a visit 15 years later I was disheartened by the level of commercialism in the city.
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