VENICE ITALY

Venice shimmers with an essence as alluring as the visions of a romantic imagination. Mists rise on the canals and glimmer in the sunlight as if lifted from an impressionist's canvas. A city of islands, its dignified buildings and warm, confident people thrive now as surely as they did during 1,000 years of sovereignty over the seafaring world. Today, it isn't merchants who flood the canals and winding streets, but enchanted travelers from every corner of the globe. They come in search of that which has inspired artists, composers, writers, and poets for centuries. Vivaldi, Titian, Hemingway, and countless others criss-crossed the world to reach this Adriatic muse. Byron, with characteristic passion, literally threw himself into the heart of Venice, swimming often from his home on the Grand Canal to the resort of The Lido.

As improbable a city as ever was built, Venice is made up of 117 islands with 200 canals and over 400 bridges. It was created in the first millenium by men who fled the mainland barbarians and defied the sea to establish this lavish city on a lagoon. Venetian creations along with treasures looted from across the Mediterranean and Asia adorn every surface you walk, rest, or gaze upon. Just about everyone who has seen it agrees that it is the most beautiful city in the world. Italian poet Pietro Aretino rhapsodized that "If the Earthly Paradise where Adam dwelt with Eve were like Venice, Eve would have had a difficult time tempting him away from it with a mere fig." Alas, the modern traveler has an airline departure date to end his Venetian affair, though surely nothing else would succeed!