Is Venice Doomed? (Part 2)

In Part 1 of “Is Venice Doomed?” several problems were outlined that lead to the conclusion that Venice is disappearing beneath the waves of the Venetian Lagoon. These were: 1. Geography and Geology2. Human Intervention3. Building Techniques4. Water Extraction5. Continental Drift6. Tides/Weather7. Global Warming8. Shipping/Tourism On its own, general subsidence into the mud has been

Is Venice Doomed? (Part 1)

In this post we look at the reasons why people decided to live on an inhospitable island in the middle of a shallow lagoon and the causes of why Venice could eventually disappear. In the next post, the effects will be discussed and in the third post, we’ll look at proposed and existing solutions. So,

Torcello: the ‘Original Venice’

Picture: The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the church of Santa Fosca on Torcello, taken from the island of Burano Torcello is one of the many islands in the Venetian Lagoon reached by the Vaporetto waterbus, Line 12, from Fondamenta Nuove or San Zaccaria on the island of Venice itself … … it’s about a 45-minute journey

Modena: Cheese, Vinegar and Ferrari

We were staying in Bologna, a beautiful historic city with many sights, sounds and tastes to enjoy – all good reasons to base ourselves there for a two-week holiday in May 2019. But also, Bologna railway station is at the crossroads of rail tracks that run from east to west from Turin and Milan to

Trains, Tracks and Stations

“Let the train take the strain” So ran an old advertisement for British Rail where the implication was why drive, when sitting back and relaxing on a train required no hassle, no effort. no strain. Let the train take the strain! Certainly, while in northern Italy we prefer to let train travel take the strain

Delightful Cesenatico

(pronounced: chez-en-attic-oh) While staying in Bologna in Emilia-Romagna for two weeks in May 2019 we had taken train trips out to Ravenna, Modena, Mantova, Parma and Ferrara. However, after so many churches and museums we decided we were finally ‘frescoed out’ and needed a bit of sun, sea and sand! The obvious choice in this