There are a number of well-known visual images of Venice: Piazza San
Marco; San Giorgio or Santa Maria della Salute viewed across the water
from near San Marco, or San Marco viewed from those locations; the
Grand Canal and the Rialto; the Bridge of Sighs; and a picture of a
small canal complete with bridge and gondola. These images, while
representing aspects of Venice, fail to convey a complete impression
of the city.

So, of course, we had filled in the blanks in our imagination. We had
seen some of the "Venices of the North", places such as Amsterdam and
Bruges. This helped us suppose that there would be routes through the
city usable by motorised vehicles. This is true only if the motorised
vehicle is a boat. The streets are narrow, very narrow -- some less
than 2m in breadth, and few more than 4m. Definitely pedestrian
routes. And even if you had a vehicle which would fit the streets, the
canal bridges would be a problem: most of them have steps so they can
be made high enough to allow clearance for boats (in the case of the
Grand Canal, high enough for galleys).

It is difficult to find places much more than 100m from the nearest
canal. Deliveries are by boat and thence, for those premises not at
the water's edge, by handcart. This, for people used to road access,
is quite strange. Stocking a shop, restaurant, bar, or hotel is quite
a big deal. It might explain why most businesses in Venice are
relatively small: economies of scale have less impact. For the
household, too, there are differences. Refuse disposal is also done by
handcart, so a weekly dustbin service does not make sense; people
leave out small bags of rubbish each night. I wondered how Venetian
families manage their shopping. In most prosperous places, people get
into their cars, head for the shopping precinct, fill the car, and
drive their purchases home. That's not an option for Venetians, and I
don't know what they do. There is also a challenge for people using
prams or pushchairs, or those with mobility problems, in that they
have to negotiate many steps on most journeys. In sum, a number of
aspects of daily life in Venice differ from the norm in other European
cities.

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PB
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