venice

[Jason O'Lewa]

i have been studying venice and learning how strange it must be to have canals instead of roads
it looks sweet in pictures but it would be harder to get acros the street because you have to use a boat
i suppose you could swim but thats not so easy if its hard current I dont know if it is or not.

my dad said you can catch fish instead of ordering pizza you put a fishing rod out the window I know he was kidding though

i can not imagine that kind of a place to live where there are hardly any cars you take boats everywhere.

[Phil]

Feb 7, 2009 16:43:45 GMT -5 Jason O'Lewa said:

my dad said you can catch fish instead of ordering pizza you put a fishing rod out the window I know he was kidding though

.

I think Jason knew I was kidding when I said that. His research on Venice has turned up some very interesting facts. Almost every what we would consider a city block is an island and there's houses and buildings on them. It almost looks like the buildings are coming out of the water but I think they're build flush to the surface of the island creating that appearance when it's really the island on the water.

And your car and bicycle is a boat when some people do swim across the canal as a way of crossing the street if they're properly dressed to do that.

There are a few small roads but automotive traffic is not quite non-existant but its close to that.

[Classicblast]

That whole concept is pretty fascinating. I think it would be a neat place to spend a week I don't know if I'd care to live there.

I don't know much about Venice but I'm sure it's a nice place for tourists.

[Blastgirl]

I have always been fascinated by Venice. It seems so interesting to have water ways instead of streets.

[Jason O'Lewa]

i wish I could see it just for that reason

[Mahnarch]

Heh...I've done a ton of research.
Let me let you in:

When you travel to Venice you'll notice that there are few access roads - slash - bridges.
If you Google.Map it, you'll basically see one.
That's it.

Once inside (within 10 yards) you'll see a large parking area.
You park. After that, you're on foot.

The city of Venice was actually, at one time, above the level of the sea. and built upon solid ground.
With recurring continental drift and oceanic swells, the city started to sink below sea level - similar to the U.S. city of New Orleans, LA.

First, basements started to flood and the buildings crumbled.
To combat this the city started to dig and secure building foundations with cement and hay (yes, the horse feed) to support them under constant erosion.

The one time city streets began to fill with water and became waterways. Necessitating in boats, or gondolas, for travel.

The buildings you see today weren't built to "look like they came out of the sea". They were built before the sea was there.

If you were to enter some of these building and open the doorway to the basement you'd be met with floor high water.
If you were to dive under the water, you'd find basements long abandoned by residents that left things behind in the mid to late 1800s.



I'll try to dig up a vid or two for you.

[Kimm]

That sounds real interesting. It's amazing they could withstand the pressure since theyre actually under the water. I seriously have not studied Venice that much I always thought they were a series of islands that had buildings on them I didnt realize they were more above ground at 1 time. Within a traceable time too being that the buildings are still there.

[Jason O'Lewa]

Cool are those maps something I can search?

[Mahnarch]

Kimm: Venice, to me, is both awe inspiring and scary.
Imagine if you'd bought a house and knew that, every night you laid down that there was an ocean under you....
...and fish.
Eck!

Jason: You can look up Venice on Mapquest or Google Maps.

I couldn't find the original videos I had on my old computer but, here's some interesting news to watch.

I also forgot about the wood pilings that they use to hold the buildings up with, since the foundations washed away.

Venice Video 1

There are links to other, continuing videos on that site, as well.