Sunday, April 10, 2011

Day 3: Europe - Italy - Venice

When I saw Venice, I am reminded that Italy regarded water as their wealth. Venice is a water city in itself - built on an archipelago of 117 islands formed by 177 canals in a shallow lagoon, connected by 409 bridges. During the olden times, most of the transportation or travelling was done on water. Many believed that Venice will sink due to the infrastructure that is sitting on water, with centuries of clay slowly eroding day by day. I've heard that when I was 20, and I am still able to visit this enchanting city. On another note, when there are high tides, people require wooden planks stacked around the city to move around.

Venice is famous for its ornate glass-work, known as Venetian glass. It is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skilfully made. Where else to witness exquisite skills but the glass factory. Strictly no photos allowed inside due to copyright infringements.

This glass factory delights visitors with live demonstrations of the ancient art of glass blowing and has a showroom where you can purchase Murano glass pieces at mind-blowing prices as well.

We ended the trip on a gondola ride to experience the life of the Venetians, although I didn't get to hear the gondolier singing to make it all look more romantic.