Venice, ItalyAaron Tuck

The Basics

• Venice could be considered a very abnormal city, compared to what we are used to. There are almost no cars in Venice and long canals weave throughout the city. In order to get around people must walk or use some sort of water transportation to navigate the canals.

• Venice is actually 117 small bodies of land, almost like small islands, with almost 400 canals running through. There is one very large waterway known as the Grand Canal and it functions like any other city’s main street, and cuts through the heart of Venice.

Location

• Venice is located in the northeast of Italy, along the coast.

• There is a body of land called Lido that protects the city from a large portion of the Adriatic Sea, making it much less likely for the city to be damaged by the water.

Weather

• Being on the coast and in the Southern area of Europe, Venice has a very moderate climate. Summers are humid and winters are often foggy and damp. It is not uncommon for it to rain throughout the entire year. Because of its proximity to the ocean and the high amounts of rain, Venice can sometimes experience heavy flooding.

Travel

• Many people wonder how people in Venice are able to get around in Venice with there being no cars. The city was built this way on purpose and has many alleyways and bridges to make walking an effective way to get around.

• The most common form of travel in the canals are boats known as vaporetti. They are basically long boats that essentially busses on water.

• Gondolas are also used mostly in the smaller canals. They are thin three to four person boats that are rowed. These are often considered very romantic and are commonly used by tourists and lovers.

Cuisine

• Being so close to the water, seafood is a very large part of Venetian meals. A very common meal is cuddlefish and a rice that has been colored using its dye.

• It is very common for people in Venice to eat a small meal between lunch and dinner known as cicchetti. It is very similar to appetizers here and can be eaten as a small one course meal.

Festivals

• In Venice there are two main festivals that the entire city partakes in. The larger of the two is known as Carnevale and takes place 40 days before Easter. Most people decorate their own masks and costumes for the 10 day celebration that takes place in the streets all over the town.

• The other celebration is called Redentore Regatta which takes place on the canals and bays. People gather on boats that fill the bay and late at night there is a fantastic fireworks display. Then the decorated boats go through the city and make there way to the opposite side bay and sit there and await the sunrise.

Sources

• http://goitaly.about.com/od/veniceitaly/p/venice.htm

• http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-redentore_festival.htm

• http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/1

• http://www.veneto-explorer.com/facts-about-venice.html

• http://www.venice-tourism.com/en/visit-venice.html