Venetian Vacation 浪漫水都 ── 威尼斯

What images come to mind when you think of a trip to Venice? No doubt you imagine yourself taking a romantic gondola ride along narrow canals and under delicate bridges. Perhaps you picture the beautiful old buildings and famous works of art that have made the city one of Europe’s leading tourist spots.

Venice was built on more than 100 islands and has about 150 canals. The best-known of these, the Grand Canal, functions as the “main street” in the part of the city most popular with visitors. The canal winds through each of the six districts that comprise this historic city center before reaching Venice Lagoon.

One of these districts, San Marco, is home to many of Venice’s main attractions, including St.Mark’s Basilica. This spectacular church has five main arches and some extraordinary onion-shaped domes. It is decorated with priceless treasures, many of which were stolen from other countries when medieval Venice was a leading sea power.

St. Mark’s Basilica stands at one end of St.Mark’s Square. Napoleon called the square the “finest drawing room in Europe.” Tourists have been going there for centuries to visit its celebrated café and get a taste of the party atmosphere.

The best time to visit Venice is during the clear spring days of March and April. From June to August, the city is hot, sticky, and crowded with tourists. Autumn is quite pleasant, but winters are cold. Floods are common in November and December, presenting Venetians with one of their most difficult and ongoing problems.

It is well-known that Venice faces an uncertain future. The city is sinking into the sea, its historic buildings are falling to pieces, and the famous lagoon is badly polluted. Unless solutions are found soon for these complex problems, the “Queen of the Adriatic,” as Venice is sometimes called, will not be able to sit on her watery throne for very much longer.

想到威尼斯一游，你的腦海中會浮現出什么畫面？毫無疑問你一定會想象自己乘坐浪漫的平底船，沿著窄窄的運河航行，從一座座別致的橋下穿梭而過。也許你還會在腦海中勾勒出那些讓威尼斯成為歐洲一流旅游勝地的美麗古老建筑和藝術名作。

威尼斯建在100多個小島上，擁有大約150條運河。最有名的運河就是“大運河”，它位于市區游客最多的地方，并發揮“大街”的功能。這條運河在構成這個歷史上的市中心的六個行政區間蜿蜒穿流，最后流入威尼斯湖。

行政區之一的圣馬可是許多威尼斯主要旅游景的中心，包括圣馬可大教堂。這座雄偉的大教堂有五道大拱門和數座壯觀的洋蔥形圓頂。教堂用很貴重的珠寶裝飾，其中許多是在中世紀威尼斯稱霸海權時從其它國家掠奪來的。

圣馬可大教堂聳立在圣馬可廣場的一端。拿破侖稱此廣場為“歐洲最美的客廳”。幾個世紀來，游客們紛沓而至，領略此地著名的咖啡館并感受歡樂的聚會氣氛。

3月和4月晴朗的春日是拜訪威尼斯最適合的時間。從6月到8月，這兒潮濕悶熱，擠滿了游客。秋天的氣候宜人，冬天則寒冷。11月和12月常有水災，給威尼斯人出了一個既最難解決、又拖延最久的問題。

眾所周知威尼斯的前途未卜。這座城市正逐漸沉入海中，歷史名建筑正破敗消失，著名的瀉湖已遭到嚴重污染。除非能盡快解決這些復雜的問題，否則這座被稱為“亞得里亞?；屎蟆钡耐崴钩牵挥枚嗑镁碗y保它的水上寶座了。