I got back from a week in Venice today. Ask me anything.

[Taxloss]

Go on.

[amazona]

1. is it true the Cokes are $6?

My Italian friend insists the Cokes are $6. I think he is pulling my leg.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Taxloss]

3. It isn't true.

Of course, in the uber-swanky bars and cafes, they might be, but it's not the rule. A bottle of beer is about $4, typical for a European city.

[amazona]

13. I Knew It!

May have to lean on him a little to invite me to some of those uber-swanky bars and cafes he undoubtedly inhabited.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[SmokingJacket]

2. Is it beautiful?

Should I go?

Does it smell?

[Taxloss]

4. It is astonishingly beautiful. Indescribably so.

It's the details, the corners, that get you; the grand squares and chrches are amazing, but it's the domestic beauty of the place that sets it really apart.

It smells a bit damp in parts. anyone who lives near a canal or river would know the smell.

[SmokingJacket]

6. All right then. I'm going.

You've convinced me.

I'm getting my Italian books out.

Last time I went to Italy (Sicily) my biggest regret was that I didn't know more Italian.

[Taxloss]

10. I recommend it heartily.

This was my second trip; if anything, better than the first. But go out of season; it's horrible in the summer.

[Huckebein the Raven]

5. How was the weather ?

Wish I could go to Venice

[Taxloss]

8. Great weather. Cold (2C-6C) but sunny and bright and clear.

eom

[Bitter Betty]

7. Did you visit any museums

and if so, what works of art do you recall most vividly?

[Taxloss]

9. We went to the museum in the Basilica, which has ....

... four gilded bronze horses - larger than life size - that are about 1800 years old, looted from Constantinople. They look like they were made last week; amazing. Personally, I also enjoyed the map rooms in the Ducal Palace and in the Correr museum, and in the latter a tiny one-bullet pistol concealed in a bible.

[Gloria]

11. Any flooding or damage visible?? I heard a report not too long ago

about how the place is really sinking fast.

They've got plans to try to help shore it up, but odds are Venice will eventually disappear.

My most vivid memory of Venice was sitting in a club on the Grand Canal, overlooking the water, with "Smoke on the Water" playing.....yeah, it was way back in '73!

[Taxloss]

12. There is some flood-defense building work on the Piazza San Marco

but no damage.

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. I spent 10 days in Venice in October of 1991...

It was amazing. Also my second time there, when I learned that three days is not enough.

Have you ever seen the old 1970s movie with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland "Don't Look Now"? A creepy story (great sex scene) and lots of beautiful local scenery.