Fairest among women – Venice – formerly powerful and rich.
You are still impressive, Lady Venice, but… only from a distance 
The years pass rapidly, Your skin withers, becomes more parchment and thin and finally bursts and drops off with the lumps of plaster. Meanwhile the time arrives more and more with the waving years. And Your cosmetologist is already losing his heart in despair. There are plenty of more younger potential clients.
Year after year the population decreases for several thousands. The rest is trying to make the last profit from Your remaining Glories setting unthinkable prices for half-hour muddy channels travel,
singing songs for their guests,
blowing glass for them
and carefully getting the organized travellers into the places that still hold their facades – such and such person used to live here and somebody there…
Not lives, but used to.
A lousy damp mold creeps up from the stairs through the gorgeous snow-white marble of the Procuration, and there are no cosmetic aids equal to stop it because it has the powerful allies – time and salty damp.
You are trying to stick up with your former glories – You reverted to the ancient carnival,
but the time-water are inexorable.
A curious travellers only needs to turn off a beaten path and here comes the other side of Venice.
The teeth crippled by the see-age, and there are no more strength, money and desire to renew them.
But even there the atmosphere is still filled with the charm.
People flatter You, Venice, admire, but You understand that it’s only out of courtesy since to admire You is the fashion. You know yourself for sure that the past is dead. You sadly look on everyone from the hight of Your greatness, but still take the compliments – because You are a Woman and will be a Woman even under 40 meters of drumly and salty water.
You still cooks wonderful and happy not only to feed your loyal admirers, but to do it tasty.
You used to be one of the most beautiful and rich ladies in Europe,
but Paris, Vienna and Rome had better luck – they were not whelmed two times a year, their feet stayed out of the acid green solution. While You struggled with this lagoon again and again… but there is a limit.
There are just some remnants of streets and walls of your great men – Mycenae, Angkor and Machu Picchu, – but what would You, Lady Venice, leave behind You? Only water!…
And millions of pictures taken by the admired generations of travellers.
More about Italy:
Italian Cuisine: Our Gastronomic Feat in Florence
My God, How I Love Italy!
Our “Thorny” Way to Lake Maggiore in Italy
April 26, 2012 at 10:02 am
Great Pics!!
April 26, 2012 at 10:16 am
I felt like reading Shakespeare with how you describe Lady Venice! Made me sad somehow…
April 26, 2012 at 10:57 am
Oh, this is very strong comparison!
Thank You.
April 26, 2012 at 10:16 am
Victor, such a lovely post and tribute to a beautiful lady.
April 26, 2012 at 10:28 am
So true and so sad. Only a few more generations will get to experience Venice. The fact that it is wasting away makes visiting even more special.
April 26, 2012 at 11:00 am
So we have plans to visit it again and again.
April 26, 2012 at 12:32 pm
Wonderful impressions of Venice!
April 26, 2012 at 12:39 pm
But a little sad. I am afraid to save Venice is impossible
April 26, 2012 at 12:40 pm
You can see the beauty of it now & have the memories of it later, so I don’t think it s sad. Everything ends one day…
April 26, 2012 at 12:38 pm
I love your description of Venice, a city I love and think is beautiful.
April 26, 2012 at 12:58 pm
I love it too.
April 26, 2012 at 1:18 pm
What a lovely, poignant tribute to a dying beauty.
April 26, 2012 at 1:48 pm
HI Victor, I love Venice so much! It was one of my favorite cities that I visited in Italy. Rome was my second. Your pictures are absolutely amazing! It was nice to see what I saw a few years ago, nice memories came back to me. I see you have a twitter, I’ll be more than happy to follow you! This is mine: @adri_thoughts
Adriana
April 26, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Reblogged this on Found Round & About and commented:
Awesome photos of Venice!!!
April 26, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Reblogged this on The big picture view for Tisha and commented:
Awesome photos of Venice. It is an interesting take on the state of the city of Venice, though. I think it is a city that is alive thru history. You can feel it around you when you are there….
April 26, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Great pictures Victor – reminded me of my visit there and my ride in a gondola – thanks!
April 26, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I have read Your posts about Venice and next time we’ll be living, like You, inside the city and visit Burano.
April 26, 2012 at 3:07 pm
I love Venice…Great shots Victor..Thanks!
April 26, 2012 at 3:24 pm
Fantastic photos Victor. Food looked great too!
April 26, 2012 at 10:11 pm
You bet it taste too.
April 26, 2012 at 6:01 pm
Such beautiful pictures you have captured the feeling of decay and desolation behind the once vibrant city. The photo of the empty gondolas tied up beside the empty tables of the cafe makes a very strong statement.
April 26, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Yes, my wife is very proud of this shot. Thank You.
April 26, 2012 at 9:17 pm
I love Venice. It is such an awesome place to visit. The food, the culture, the setting, the architecture. Absolutely fantastic.
April 26, 2012 at 10:10 pm
Absolutely.
April 26, 2012 at 11:06 pm
A great lady, Victor? Never! Survive, thrive – at any costs – that’s not the hallmark of a lady, no, but of a ravishing beauty – beguiling, seductive … For me, she’s a fantasy, a wild and vivid fantasy – the manifestation of man’s most fervid dreams, of power, and corruption, greed and hedonism.
But you know I love your elegy, Victor – the homage you pay to our mistress – your words, and your choice of photographs true to its theme. Bravo!
April 27, 2012 at 4:50 am
Thank You for the bright quotation from Your post about Venice – very strong post. I like Your style.
April 27, 2012 at 6:44 am
So you’re not going to argue with me, Victor? You agree she’s always been a wanton woman, our mistress?
April 27, 2012 at 8:24 am
What for to argue? Every one has privat opinion and impression. Here is mine.
April 27, 2012 at 8:56 am
Good man – loyal to the end:)
April 27, 2012 at 2:59 pm
Nice images, don’t have Venice on my list maybe after Rome and Florence. I have
heard also it is not a great place for tourists.
April 27, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Why?
April 28, 2012 at 8:28 am
My wife read an article written by the “mayor” of Venice saying that tourists should go someplace else. She has also heard that it is dirty an unfriendly. For me it is a priority thing. My wife has never been to Florence and neither of us have been to Rome or Southern Italy so that will probably be our next try to Italy. However, we plan to go to South Africa, Spain and Scandinavia before we go back to Italy. At 67, well how much more time to any of us have?
April 28, 2012 at 9:43 am
You must to see Florence or San Gimignano, for example. And Venice too, but not in summer.
April 27, 2012 at 3:56 pm
What poetry! It was wonderful to read along and have the pictures too. An excellent visual & mental blog post!
April 27, 2012 at 11:45 pm
I only saw these pictures on the movies. How I wish I could visit this place soon.
April 28, 2012 at 7:44 am
Great photos! Like them. You must have gotten up very early to see the San Marko square so empty!;)
And the state of the buildings’ facades, you know, when we were in Italy I got a feeling that this is just the Italian style not to do anything with them.
April 28, 2012 at 9:47 am
No, this is not Italian style. Florence, Sienna and San Gimignano are very different.
May 2, 2012 at 3:17 am
Ok, won’t argue. We just saw a lot of buildings in need of renovation while travelling Venice-Verona-Milan and then to Switzerland, so I stopped being surprised at it after all:))
April 29, 2012 at 2:33 am
Absolutely beautiful pictures! I love Venice and after a recent visit there, it has become one of those places I would gladly return. Yumy on the food pictures too.
April 29, 2012 at 7:35 am
Beautiful homage Victor! I feel the sorrow too! We went a long time ago and dream of returning sometime. Love the photos!
May 2, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Great story Victor with excellent images. I really felt that I was back in Venice again.
May 2, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Thanks for the closeup journey… I love Venice!
May 2, 2012 at 9:30 pm
Thanks for taking us along with you!
May 2, 2012 at 9:46 pm
Hm… Very original comment. Thank You for being with me
May 3, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Beautiful and sad. I was there as a kid, can’t remember the ugliness. Should I leave it like that or revisit?
May 3, 2012 at 9:59 pm
Revisit of course! Before it is too late.
May 4, 2012 at 1:26 am
A very evocative post, Victor. Your photos and words weave a wonderful and terrible image of decline. I felt saddened and also glad that I have seen Venice in previous times.
May 4, 2012 at 4:10 am
I hope to see it next year.
May 6, 2012 at 12:24 am
I came across this post after seeing that you had liked my post on the gardens at the Bellagio. Your post is so tragically beautiful that I feel a renewed urgency to see Venice before she is forever lost. Thanks for sharing! and thanks for the like on ‘Round the Bend.
May 6, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Gorgeous photos and evocative text, Victor. It is sad, the future of Venice. Inevitable?
May 6, 2012 at 5:44 pm
I said almost the same thing. I’m afraid the downfall of Venice is inevitable as it slowly succumbs to the ravages of time and the sea.
May 6, 2012 at 11:14 pm
I am afraid, yes, Sophie.
May 7, 2012 at 9:22 pm
Wonderful words and pictures, Victor! I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award today. Thank you for all your excellent posts. I really enjoy them. http://marionretires.wordpress.com/
May 7, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Wonderful words and photos as always, Victor. I enjoy your blog so much I nominated you for the Versatile Bloggers award to day. Thank you for sharing your travels with us. Good luck. http://marionretires.wordpress.com/
May 7, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Thank You, Marion.
May 8, 2012 at 5:29 pm
Having read Venice, the Tourist Maze, it was especially interesting to read/look at this post. Thanks for that!
May 8, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Venice. This will the top of my travel list! Thanks for sharing..
May 9, 2012 at 4:45 am
Enjoyed this post very much! Thanks for sharing, and thanks also for visiting my blog.
May 9, 2012 at 12:00 pm
The photos are amazing. Your post is so beautifully sad. Thank you for sharing. I hope I get to see her someday.
May 9, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Your photos are as beautiful as your writing, I love visiting Venice, and I feel as if I have visited it once more! thanks for sharing your work.
May 9, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Awesome photographs. Like the perspective of addressing the city. (what lens did you use?)
May 9, 2012 at 10:33 pm
Very simple lens. Only amateur cameras.
Thank You.
May 9, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Still it is a place of magic where dreams appear in the mist and footsteps echo on the cobblestones. I feel that if I had missed Venice , there would be an empty place in my heart.
May 9, 2012 at 10:36 pm
We missed too and gonna repeat our visit.
May 16, 2012 at 8:53 am
What a great post! It kept my interest all the way through; I found myself looking forward to the next photo…and then the next. Never been there but you sure made me WANT to go, before it is too late!
May 16, 2012 at 9:10 am
Yes, yes, make haste
May 26, 2012 at 6:01 am
I am in love with the 3rd, 4th and 5th photo…You captured exactly how I picture Venice to be when I imagine being there; it is going to be the 1st place I visit overseas
May 26, 2012 at 9:09 am
Welcome to Europe
December 27, 2012 at 6:35 pm
After visiting Venice years ago, you find for such a small place you never really have enough time to explore the winding streets, the hidden cafes and the timeless beauty of this amazing place. I’ll be back for sure!
December 27, 2012 at 11:26 pm
I agree completely.
June 7, 2012 at 12:49 am
I was also very sad to see how Venice is crumbling. I’m so glad to have visited her twice now. I hope that she can be patched up for future generations to come. Love your photography and the way you write.
June 7, 2012 at 5:01 am
We plan to visit Venice second time, for Carnival.
September 11, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Hi Victor! I really appreciate the job that you’ve done with your photos. They catch the decadence and magic light of Venice.
You look like a very cultivated traveller. I like how you have developed your own personal experience with Venice.
As an Italian madly in love with that city, I think that it’s very hard to understand how the charm of Venice works.
In an instant you are caught! Walking in its streets, discovering its artistic treasures and sailing in
its canals gives you butterflies in your stomach. But as with every passion, you must nurture it with
respect and quality time…
September 11, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Thank you, Seleste. The comments like yours are the most valuable for any blogger. My conception is not only to tell about any visited place but to transfer what I was feeling in that particular moment in that particular place. And I try.
October 24, 2012 at 4:51 am
How did I get to your blog? I don’t know, but I like what I saw and read. I will be in Venice (ancient temptress) for 3 months early next year. You have inspired me to make a trip to Bologna, and then to Dozza, what a gem of a town. Thank you for your very personal touches, they are a breath of fresh air.
g’day from Australia. Yvonne
October 24, 2012 at 5:40 am
Thank you very much, Yvonne, and wish you good journey!
January 28, 2013 at 7:57 am
What a beautiful and bitter-sweet way to talk about her! I enjoyed it a lot through your eyes. Thanks!
Yulia
January 28, 2013 at 8:08 am
Thank you. Now you only have to visit her in person.
March 21, 2013 at 8:30 pm
Beautifully written. And great photos. I like how you capture that, in sum, the decay Venice is experiencing enhances her charms rather than diminishing them. It’s an inherent contradiction that, until you experience it in person, is hard to explain…but once you go, makes perfect sense.
Degeneration leading to regeneration and wonder. Love it!
March 21, 2013 at 11:31 pm
Thank you.
I wish good luck to your young Italian blog.
March 21, 2013 at 11:47 pm
Thanks! We’ve been around forever but are new to this travel blogging WordPress thing…am enjoying reading about everyone’s adventures. Look forward to more of your insights!
March 28, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Amazing post! This is what I call a critical review. Photos are great, too!
May 2, 2013 at 11:09 am
I love this city even though it’s true that time is changing its feature, but that is the reason why people love this city: because it is going to die sooner or later (hopefully in a light year
May 2, 2013 at 12:12 pm
We must be hurry. Next year we go to Venice Carnival. I have bought the medieval costume.