I 've dreamed of Venice my whole life. I looked at colorful albums, I looked at guides. Sometimes I even felt like I knew every bridge in absentia in this city, every canal, every subrack. My first encounter with Venice crashed into memory forever: standing with a fading heart aboard a boat and watching round domes and steeple bells approach. Venice is the city I fell ill with. And now I know for a fact that this disease is not being treated. My first impression is around water, and buildings grow from under it like mushrooms. In fact, churches, houses and palaces are built on small islets fortified by thousands of piles. City streets, rii are channels, on them it is important to swim gondola, on wide "avenues" carry motors and rush "city buses" - ferries. From the noisy and bustling square of San Marco I will not go anywhere: it, crowded with tourists, is the heart of Venice. Napoleon called this square Europe 's most elegant living room. I 'm pouring into a different-language galley crowd. In the early days, I walk along tormented tourist routes. I 'm on the balcony of St. Mark 's Cathedral. From above, everything is like a palm. On San Marco Square nothing changes for centuries - bell tower, cathedral, Palace of rain. And only the famous clock tower built in 1496 was closed for restoration. And what a magnificent bridge Rialto, the one that floats over the water, I say, the most beautiful on the Grand Canal. By the way, once it was wooden, in the 16th century it was decided to rebuild. They announced a contest in which Michelangelo himself participated, but not he won, but unknown Antonio de Ponte. Don 't believe someone who says, "I didn 't like Venice!" This man is simply devoid of imagination. Venice needs to be seen, but not under the supervision of an ever-rushing tour guide, but itself - to consider the unremarkable stone of ancient masonry, a quiet canal, a low church. Venice needs to be heard - a shoulder of water in the canals, screams of gondoliers, stealing pigeons on San Marco. It is necessary to catch the unique aroma of this city - the spirit of the old, mixed with the smell of water and the aroma of the most expensive coffee in the world in cafe Florian. In Venice you just have to fall in love - once and for life. And it doesn 't matter under what circumstances...What can you say about Venice? Maybe you were there. Would you like to visit this city of love and romance with me?