With this post I wish to thank Guido Moltedo for “painting” Venice and the Venetians so well. The only point I may disagree upon is when he writes about the city being dirty. Actually, now it is not. It’s not only my impression as a local, it is the opinion of both first-comers and repeaters: the first thing they actually notice is how unexpectedly clean the city is. Yet, the rest of the article is more than enjoyable and I fully subscribe it. Here following a couple of quotations:

(…) Of course, for those who spend the best hours of their lives locked in a metallic box, it must be impossible to perceive even the existence of a real city, one without cars, where everyone walks or uses boats. A city of houses without lifts, in the middle of a lagoon and floating on the water. Yes, there is something inexplicable and unbelievable to foreigners in the stubborn and silent attachment Venetians have for their bizarre city (…)

(…) Just like all beautiful Italian cities, and perhaps even more so, Venice has an incomparable chemistry of artistic and architectural beauty that merges with the lives of its inhabitants. The art treasures are the body, the inhabitants are the soul. If Pompeii and Ostia Antica have the appeal of ancient history, Venice or Florence or Siena enchant visitors with history that continues in modern times (…)

(…) If in the future democracy comes to mean a high standard of living for the vast majority of people, in an eco-friendly and sustainable development system, then Venice will embody more than any other city that possible utopia (…)

The original article is in Italian and is published in the book “Venezia, strana città” (October 2010)