Today we were off to spend a day seeing Venice. The starting point for this adventure was a stop at the ferry ticket office where for 26 Euros each we got a return ferry ticket to Venice and a pass that allowed us to unlimited use of Venice public transport (mostly ferries running up and down the grand canal).

It was an interesting but not ideal day. The "not ideal" part was the weather; over cast skies and threat of rain. The gray sky made good photos difficult yet it was clear that on a sunny day the buildings, streets and canals would be very photogenic.

The interesting part was of course the buildings, but also the way of life and how everything has had to adapt to water travel. Ambulances are high speed boats, barges collect the garbage, trademen dont have small trucks or pickup trucks they have "work boats". Excavated material from building rennovations get collected by barge, and on it goes.

It was also easy to see why people are leaving Venice, it is a difficult life style compared to what one can have in a more traditional city. Yet the city fathers are reluctant to allow too much change to the city as that would jeapodize the income the local businesses derive from the 20,000,000 visitors that come to the city each year.