What DOESN’T Venice have?

We popped up to Venice for the day and found it very, very refreshing. Of course, you see the Grand Canal as you walk out of the train station, so there’s that, but as we walked around the city, down the big touristy streets and through the maze of little side ways, there was something else different. There was a peacefulness about it even where it was crowded, something that made it feel a bit more ageless, less hectic.

Michelle eventually figured it out: no cars.

It’s obvious if you think about it, but I guess we hadn’t. A whole city without a single car in it. Imagine how nice that’s going to feel.

Sure, there are boats of this kind and other, but they’re mostly on the one main Grand Canal that snakes through the city. All the sideways and byways are dead-ends, where gondolas and motor boats are quietly parked until needed.

It was so serene, it makes me want to flood Seattle.