Italy.

This is a city of channels and palaces standing in water.

There are no cars in the city itself. All movements are made by the water. You arrive to the city to Tronchetto, leave your car in the parking, take a boat and go to the city.

It seems that nothing has changed in the city for last few centuries. Of course there are tourists with cameras wearing the shorts and street traders selling T-shirts but palaces look like they haven't see the person with a brush for last 100 years.

First thing that we saw when we were sailing around Venice were huge liners standing in the port and then next to them little houses and churches at the coast in XV-XVI centuries' style. Approaching the city center we saw old wooden poles standing right in the water like hundreds of years before.

We left boat for more stable land and went to Piazza San Marco past Palazzo Ducale. This is a place of doves. Don't hesitate to buy food from street traders and feed doves this will be the most excitement thing you've got in Italy (unfortunately doves eat nothing except traders' food).

There is the Campanile (The Bell Tower) on the Piazza. By the words of our guide you can see it from the sea and from Piazza San Marco only. All streets in Venice are too narrow and the walls obstruct the biggest tower in the city.

Then we took a trip to venetian narrow streets. When you lift your face up you see only blue sky and clothes drying on the ropes. Sometimes it smells and we recall that there is no sewer system in Venice.

The other side of Channel is far less crowded than the city center and you can walk around without ruffle or excitement. We bought ice-cream, listened to street musicians, examined book stalls. We bought pizza in the small restaurant but it was not the best, really.

The weather in Italy may change in a few minutes. All day sun shone but in the evening shower started. We sheltered under Palazzo Ducale colonnade. The rain in Venice is a show everyone has to watch. Streams of water fall down from the sky. It's enough to stay 5 seconds on the open space to be sopping wet. From time to time somebody crosses the piazza without an umbrella with the storm of applause. Doves shelter on the top of buildings. The river flows along the empty piazza. Sometimes it seems to us that shower is almost to stop but in a minute it comes up with a bang.

The rain stopped at least and after dinner it get dark. I've never seen before the scene that was more strange than Piazza San Marco in the night. The space that was crowded with people is empty and dark (really dark). We had a lot of difficulties looking for our boat.