Posted on 11/13/2016 5:33:45 AM PST by C19fan
Dozens of Venetians waved maroon and yellow flags and carried empty suitcases on Saturday during a symbolic demonstration to highlight an exodus of residents from the lagoon city, where tourist hordes can make everyday life challenging. Images of narrow Venetian alleys clogged with visitors during the All Saints holiday weekend filled Italian papers last week, rekindling a debate about limiting access to the city through a booking system. Venetians have long complained that food shopping and other daily errands have become increasingly tricky as the city focuses on meeting the needs of the more than 20 million tourists who are estimated to visit it every year.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
And even if all of the Venetians moved elsewhere, the city would remain a tourist attraction. I don’t think the tourists are coming to see the people who liver there now.
Those same Venetians have bread and breakfasts and rent out their guest rooms to tourists.
Living above an open sewer surrounded by packs of feral tourists would prompt any rational person to move.
I’m surprised the author didn’t blame global warming in the headline. :)
Kind of like the Jersey Shore; the summer folks are a PITA, but the money doesn’t hurt.
It is a very charming and clean city. Just expensive as hell. I’ve been there about 20 times and never had a bad time. It is crowded on holidays, but I’ve also been there several times when the place was virtually deserted.
True of any major tourist destination. The,Internet and the multitude of cable TV shows on out of the way spots has really ruined many destinations. In Hawaii, all the secret, hidden locations nobody knew about 30 years ago are overrun,with people today.
Tourism for its own sake doesn’t do anything for me. Either I’m content living in Dullsville or maybe life isn’t so dull after all.
Who wants to share a tourist destination with twenty million tourists, anyway? And how big is the Muslim problem in Venice?
As the great Booker T. Washington once said, “Cast down your bucket where you are.”
And as I like to say, “Why should I travel? I’m already here!”
Granted, it is a beautiful place to see. But would you wish to live there? I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed my times in Manhattan, Paris, and London, but among those three the only one I think I would enjoy living in would be the last (and only assuming a mid six figure income).
Nice place to visit...once. After 2 days I was ready to leave.
I’ve lived in a tourist destination - hence I will never be one. I have no desire to travel to someone’s home town just to look at their way of life like visiting a zoo. I have a dislike of travelers in large groups.
A German TV movie series based on an American-born writer's cop novels set in Venice, Italy. Subtitled, of course.
The crowds were tolerable before the cruise ships entered. Sometimes two huge ships will be docked at the same time. Soooo many people. That city is amazing. Highly recommend for anyone who likes to travel.
“True of any major tourist destination. The Internet and the multitude of cable TV shows on out of the way spots has really ruined many destinations. In Hawaii, all the secret, hidden locations nobody knew about 30 years ago are overrun,with people today.”
Thanks. Food for thought. (.... Speaking as one who likes hidden locations, and would regret their becoming famous and well-trod.)
Sort of like walking through a huge piece of art.
Sounds like living in Charleston, S.C.
My work took me there & I usually wore a necktie. Got stopped all the time by tourists asking directions. Annoying.
What’s exotic to some is ho-hum to others. Why travel?
I lived there for a week in the winter and a week in the summer for 10 years and it wasn’t bad at all. It is actually pretty low key as far as tourist destinations go and the place empties out in the evening so you can actually get into a restaurant at night. It is not a major city like you seem to think.
I agree the cruise ships made things worse, but some people think it is crime-ridden and filthy and that is not the case at all. Many other places in Italy are that way, but not Venice (so far).
” I have no desire to travel to someone’s home town just to look at their way of life like visiting a zoo.”
I’m sure that’s not why people go to Venezia. Watching the natives isn’t the draw; it’s the centuries of history. And perhaps imagining how the doge’s lived in the 7th or 13th century.
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