The long decay of a sleeping Beauty

my good bye to Venice

Some more or less finishing words on Venice. I am not sad to leave by the way.

It’s a huge open air walking museum that’s rotting underneath and all around. It’s build on mud and the lagoon water, mostly raised on fundaments standing on wooden pillars that are corroding away. Due to rising water levels and foolish decisions of corrupt politicians, it’s by now flooded 60 times a year. So it’s basically a rotting swamp. One with a very charming facade though, that’s unseen in the world. When it comes to bygone beauty it throws every other city under the bus.

But I am here for a month now and my first impression of being smitten by the silhouette of it and the fantastic panorama and canals is is overridden by the reality of the narrow back streets and the fact of living in a dying swamp that’s visited by legions of tourists at any time of the year. The small island that’s manageable by foot, sees more tourists in one year than the whole country Brazil. Most tourists come for a few days, so they never get to see the real thing. The energy is more on the dark side but has its serene moments. I guess that’s why they gave the city the name „la Serenissima“. There is something unhealthy in the air and I don’t mean the even in winter attacking mosquitoes. The overall vibe is sadness and unsavability. Venice is unsavable, it’s sinking gradually. And with it it’s beauty and history. There is no optimism, only decay and futility. It´s not a place of hope for a new future, but a place of old world ruler ship that`s gone long time ago. For someone like me it´s not the right place.