One of the day trips we took as a program was to visit Venice and explore the city. We started out the day by walking through the narrow city streets and learning about some of Venice’s old architecture. One thing I learned from our Professor was that the foundation of the whole city is built on wooden petrified stilts that go into sandbars. Apparently, Venice is sinking due to being built on sandbars and is predicted to be underwater around 2100.
Another thing we did was take a Gondola ride through the “streets” of Venice. Something that is so interesting about Venice is that there are no cars here, only boats taking you from place to place. While we were on the boat, I got the chance to talk with the Gondolier. I learned that he has been doing this for 28 years and that his whole family is in this business as well. Italian culture is very family oriented, especially when it comes to the business world.
While being in Venice, I got the opportunity to learn a lot about the history of how this city got started. Since it is surrounded by water, it was a huge trade hub back when the rise of Venice was happening. After the fall of the Roman empire, Venice was the place to be in Italy. It was really cool getting to explore this city and be educated on how Venetians lived in the past and in the current day!
