No one ever falls into the Venice canals?
Jun 3rd, 2005, 07:27 AM
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No one ever falls into the Venice canals?
This is NOT a troll post! I've never even seen it posted here before. But, I must put my disclaimer in here... I've never been to Venice, so what I see from the pictures looks like the sidewalks just end at the water. I've never heard of anyone falling in. Being a non-swimmer, I'm wondering about this. I'm sure someone can answer this for me!
Jun 3rd, 2005, 07:33 AM
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Jun 3rd, 2005, 09:19 AM
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Dear nb:
My sister and I did a bar and cichetti tour in Venice. We then proceeded to drink even more wine after the tour with the group of 4 others. We were very HAPPY, trying to find our way back to our hotel. My sister kept asking "How do you know where you're going?" I said I didn't really but just kept going in the direction of San Marco. Luckily we found our hotel and didn't fall in a canal. The only bad thing was the hangover the next day in Florence at the Uffizi and Accademia.
Have fun and don't drink too much wine!!
Michelle
My sister and I did a bar and cichetti tour in Venice. We then proceeded to drink even more wine after the tour with the group of 4 others. We were very HAPPY, trying to find our way back to our hotel. My sister kept asking "How do you know where you're going?" I said I didn't really but just kept going in the direction of San Marco. Luckily we found our hotel and didn't fall in a canal. The only bad thing was the hangover the next day in Florence at the Uffizi and Accademia.
Have fun and don't drink too much wine!!
Michelle
Jun 3rd, 2005, 09:26 AM
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I was recently visiting Capri. I was walking around and saw a small stairway going upwards in between two houses. I started backing up, trying to see where it led to. I backed into a low stone wall, lost my balance and came periously close to tumbling down into a fair sized ditch. This was a 9 am in the morning but I fear my DH (who was not my travel companion on this trip) would have suspected too much wine! There are many amazing sites in Venice that one MIGHT back up to see better so be careful! and have a great trip. SueC1
Jun 3rd, 2005, 09:36 AM
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Yes - it is perfectly possible to fall into a canal. It generally happens either to people who are reeling drunk or not looking where they're going. And yes - it could be quite disgusting - and I suppose if the canal were esp deep and there was no one nearby you might drown.
Similarly, in New York if you walk along the edge of the curb and don;t look where you're going - or back up without looking - you could fall into the street and be run down by a cab. And, if there were no one nearby you could bleed to death in the road.
I would guess the chances of each happening are about equivalent.
Similarly, in New York if you walk along the edge of the curb and don;t look where you're going - or back up without looking - you could fall into the street and be run down by a cab. And, if there were no one nearby you could bleed to death in the road.
I would guess the chances of each happening are about equivalent.
Jun 3rd, 2005, 09:45 AM
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nbBrown-not to put a downer on your trip, but do not think that people have not drowned in the Grand Canal, or that the jam-packed water traffic on the Grand Canal is not a huge problem for the city of Venice-it is, and powerful vested interests are intent on keeping the status quo.
Here are three articles in the past year from the Guardian that you might want to read on the subject:
www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-29-2004-58579.asp
www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-14-2004-59308.asp
www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-14-2005-65709.asp
Last summer in Venice, a gondola capsized and a year old Dutch baby was saved from drowning in the nick of time. According to the article, 7 people have drowned in the Grand Canal since 1992.
Vaporettos all have life jackets, and I believe gondolas do as well, somewhere in their compartments-but no one is required to wear a life jacket while on the water boats, or on gondolas, of course.
Since I was on an Alilaguna vaporetto in Venice a few months ago that was nearly hit twice in dense fog on the way to the airport, I have given some thought to this; had we actually been hit and in the water, I would have had a life vest, but it wouldn't have done me much good since the water temp. was probably around 30-40 degrees or so-I would have had hypothermia and gone into shock in minutes. It was very scary when it happened, and it happened oh so quickly. The lesson to be learned from this is not to go out on the lagoon in a vaporetto when you see that there is dense fog, which typically occurs very early in the morning, and burns itself off later-regardless of whether the vaporetto goes out in it or not.
I do think you're right to think about these things, particularly since you're not a swimmer, and the water traffic during the summer season in Venice is far worse than in the winter.
Here are three articles in the past year from the Guardian that you might want to read on the subject:
www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-29-2004-58579.asp
www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-14-2004-59308.asp
www.buzzle.com/editorials/2-14-2005-65709.asp
Last summer in Venice, a gondola capsized and a year old Dutch baby was saved from drowning in the nick of time. According to the article, 7 people have drowned in the Grand Canal since 1992.
Vaporettos all have life jackets, and I believe gondolas do as well, somewhere in their compartments-but no one is required to wear a life jacket while on the water boats, or on gondolas, of course.
Since I was on an Alilaguna vaporetto in Venice a few months ago that was nearly hit twice in dense fog on the way to the airport, I have given some thought to this; had we actually been hit and in the water, I would have had a life vest, but it wouldn't have done me much good since the water temp. was probably around 30-40 degrees or so-I would have had hypothermia and gone into shock in minutes. It was very scary when it happened, and it happened oh so quickly. The lesson to be learned from this is not to go out on the lagoon in a vaporetto when you see that there is dense fog, which typically occurs very early in the morning, and burns itself off later-regardless of whether the vaporetto goes out in it or not.
I do think you're right to think about these things, particularly since you're not a swimmer, and the water traffic during the summer season in Venice is far worse than in the winter.
Jun 3rd, 2005, 10:44 AM
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The number of visitors to Venice is totally not the point, Ira. The point is, accidents happen, the overly congeested waterways of Venice is a HUGE problem for the city, and people who don't swim need to be cognizant of these facts.
Jun 3rd, 2005, 11:08 AM
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We did see someone fall in the canal during our trip to Venice in Jan 2004. Or rather, we didn't see how she ended up in the canal but we saw her being pulled out of the water by several helpful people. It was quite a shock!
