Venice is a by-word for the excesses of mass tourism: congestion, dirt, noise, loss of character, meretricious souvenirs, the squeezing out of local people, huge boats in the Canale della Giudecca. Yet, like most tourist destinations, away from the honey pots – the Rialto, Piazza San Marco the Bridge of Sighs, the Doge’s Palace, the Riva Degli Schiavoni, the fashion house shops – another city rests at ease with only footsteps, cooing pigeons, a timely church bell and the occasional boat to disturb the silence. Theme park Venice is not the totality of the city by a very long way.
Photo: Rio de le Romite, Venice, October 2011