Last week, I found myself in a vaporetto, or water bus. The pistachio-colored waves gently rocked it back and forth as I climbed on board. After a day of rain, the sun had emerged, albeit cautiously, allowing me to fully revel in the history dripping from the brick-and-mortar buildings.
I was in Venice, a city with eons of history, spectacular art and breathtaking scenery where more than 20 million people visit per year, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.
I sat in an open-air section in the back, stuck in a rare moment of complete calm. Little did I know I was about to get a firsthand experience in just what it meant to have hordes of people from all over the world in your immediate company. In a city that functioned purely on winding canals and narrow walkways, the term “tourist” suddenly leaped to life and turned my moment of complete calm into complete chaos.