Gondolas stuck as Venice dries out

[Minstrel Boy]

Gondolas stuck as Venice dries out

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) -- Gondolas are running aground and hotel docks hang in midair as Italy's lagoon city Venice, more commonly awash at high tide, dries out because of good weather and an unusual combination of planetary influences.

Only the Grand Canal, Venice's biggest and most famous waterway, can still take water traffic, and the falling canal levels have given rise to terms such as "ghost town" and "desert" in local papers.

"The phenomenon is due to low pressure, that is, the good weather that coincides with the syzygy, the alignment of the moon, earth and sun," said Venice's tides office.

...

The city assured tourists that water levels would soon start rising again, restoring the romantic look they expect, and reminded Venetians they could check the water level at the city's Internet site

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/01/13/venice.water.reut/

[denverbill]

1. Strange. Seems like just last year the opposite was a problem.

I remember reading lots of stories on how Venice was planning on building some huge expensive barrier to keep rising sea levels from flooding the city.

[Squatch]

2. Past the planning stage...it's being built now.

[burrowowl]

16. Dixit

Yup! In danger of being flooded and now high and dry!?!?!

[Lisa]

3. it's just neat to see a news story with "syzygy" in it!

I hope that low water level isn't causing too many problems -- my folks reported that they visited Venice during a similar episode, and the warmer, shallow water, to put it bluntly, stank.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

6. I was there when the water was high...

It stank then too...

[Mike Niendorff]

11. lol -- that was my first thought too :)

Only place I've seen that word used outside of Scrabble.


MDN

[mr_hat]

4. Gawd, imagine the smell. Venice is merely putrid

when the water's high.

[Patiod]

5. Isn't this their slowest season

After Christmas but before Carnival? Isn't this when Venetians themselves (what few of them there are) go on vacation?

Not sure I'd want to be there now. Well, at least tourists aren't wading through Piazza San Marco.

I was there in June, and all you could smell was Jasmine.

If there's a heaven I wouldn't mind if it were Venice. If I die and awaken and find myself in US Air concourse of the Detroit airport, though, I'll know which way things went...

[montana_hazeleyes]

10. LOL

[barb162]

7. I can't imagine Venice this way; I thought the water was always

fairly deep (or the city going lower and lower into the mud )and the way they always talk of the whole place sinking....

[Vidar]

8. True. I actually regard this as good news. Venice is one of my favorites

[barb162]

12. I imagine you are correct; better mud than flooding almost every

winter. I was there only once and LOVED it

[montana_hazeleyes]

9. syzygy

That would be a great word in scrabble.

[barb162]

13. yeah, three "y"s in one word!

[PartyPooper]

14. I'm such a "purist". That's why when I want Italy, I go to Las Vegas!

The Venetian is always the same! It's always predictable. And, it's always Italian!

:D

:hi:

[jhain]

15. I read the subject line as

'Condoleezza blah blah blah dries out'
too many hours on DU...

must -go -to -sleep