Give Tripe a Chance (Day 6)

I apologise in advance for whatever I am about to write. Having just got back from a party with the invigilators from the Irish, Scottish and British pavillions I am in no fit state to write a blog, but I will do my best. You can take the girl out of Cardiff but....

So I was going to grumble a bit today. For a start I am missing a really good pie! Pie mash and peas. If it wasn't so hot I could easily eat Pie Minister out of house and home. And there are other things. Like this:

All the tourists flocking to see a tiny piece of history clad in advertising that retains nothing of it's original awe displayed in this manner. Like they're on a some sightseeing conveyor belt, not really looking or thinking, just inanely snapping away to show they've been there, done that. And then there is this:

Gigantic cruise ships being escourted through the shallows so that the lazy passengers can take pictures of Venice from the comfort of their en-suite cabins. About three or four of these monstrosities pass through the lagoon every hour at sunset playing sickening music over their tannoys to add to the 'experience'. I'm sure the cruise companies have to pay the Venetian authorities massive amounts of money to be entitled to this privelge. I'm sure that if it weren't for them, or the people crazily photographing the bridge or Sighs, riding in over-priced gondolas to tick it off the list, Venice would not be here anymore, not in the way it is today. But all this makes me sad. And I can't help feeling like I'm adding to it. It's a vicious cycle. I grew up in an area pretty dependant on tourism, where locals couldn't afford to buy their own houses, and it makes you question - is this really a city anymore, or is it a theme park?

Venice is a victim of it's own success. It has so much to offer, so much history, so many interesting stories that everyone wants a piece of the action, as do I. It is a beautiful city, that should be preserved, and everyone I know who has come here falls in love with it instantly. There is no where else like it on earth (that I have been to anyway). And if all the visitors tried a bit harder to find 'their Venice' rather than the Venice that is laid on a plate for them then it might just make it that little bit more special.

Oh, how cheesy am I?!