travelstop

Thursday, May 19, 2005

The sinking city- Venice

Venice was simply SPECTACULAR. I just love the place because people are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. Now back to the history of Venice.

Before sea faring was known, Venice used to be a place for sick people and outlaws but after people knew how to sail, it became the port of call. Referring to Chpt 6 of SS textbook, Venice had lots of foreign talents so the place is full of buildings of different cultures and remember Marco Polo? He was the only man recorded in the history of China to be allowed into China. When Marco Polo came to China, Genghis Khan was the ruler then, the Chinese didn’t feel threatened by him because he was quite petite so Genghis Khan being ambitious wanted to conquer the west too therefore he gave Marco Polo a pass to enter China whenever he wants on one condition, he wants to know the route to Rome. When Khan got to Rome, he realized that the Roman Empire was too powerful thus he abandoned his plan.

A bit of digression there, now lets get back to Venice. The island of Venice is sinking due to the strong current of the Adriatic Sea which washes away the soil. It’s like the Sea is slowly swallowing up the island. What a pity! Currently, the 1st level of most buildings has been abandoned, that’s how bad it is. One more thing, Venice is the smallest state in the world while Vatican City is the smallest INDEPENDENT state in the world so it’s different.

Most of us went on the romantic Gondola ride and enjoyed the man-powered boat (the water STINKS though) moving into the canal, seeing the Venetian’s way of life. Following that was a tour of the city and our tour guide, Vincent, brought us to the cheapest market there and showed us this special tie perfect for Male bosses. On the outside it looks like a normal everyday tie but when you open up the back of the tie you will see (GASPED) a picture of a voluptuous naked woman. I am not sure if anyone bought it but it sure is a great present for the boss! There was also a glass-blowing demonstration which is Venice's specialty so the Murano glass there is beautiful and cheap.

That’s all for the day.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home


 
Free Website Counter
Free Website Counter