The Death of Venice

A story from Newsweek On Air: On Nov 14 at 3 PM a coffin will be carried through Venice to symbolize the death of the city. In recent years so many Venetians moved out of the city that for the first time since late 19th century the local population has fallen to less then 60,000. The number of "tourists" in the city is 55,000. The quotation marks are intentional - we are not talking about daily visitors who roam the narrow streets and canals, snap pictures and ride in gondolas. For a number of year it has been trend for German, British and other western Europeans to visit Venice and stay. They buy the old houses and shops, while rough economy drives the locals out. In more recent years there's increasing number of Americans in the sinking city too. While I don't particularly care if I buy souvenirs from an Italian or an American, Newsweek's reporter emphasizes what's being lost: she went to buy the famous Venetian mask at a local store, had her face measured and was told to return in a few days. When she came back and tried the mask which fitted perfectly, the woman shop-owner wouldn't let her take the mask until she danced in it. There was classical music though clonker speakers and a male assistant was called from the back room. Only after they spun over creaking floorboards was the mask deemed fitting and the sale completed. That part of Venice dies with departure of its native people. To Meg and me, Venice will always be a perfect memory, a floating palace of our dreams from happy times.