txt: Venetians fear for their cultural heritage - Tom Kington - THE GUARDIAN, www.taipeitimes.com - "Jobs have disappeared to the mainland, tourists now outnumber residents and locals fear the Queen of the Adriatic is in danger of losing her soul "
As the remaining carnival confetti was cleared from the narrow, labyrinthine streets of Venice last week, residents emerged here and there from behind closed doors to watch bleary-eyed revelers stream down the Strada Nuova on their way back to Milan, London, Tokyo and beyond. At the Casino, housed in a palazzo perched on the Grand Canal, organizers totted up the numbers — 1 million visitors; hotels 95 percent full and 100,000 packed into St Mark’s Square to watch a woman dressed in white wings descend on a wire from the bell tower of St Mark’s Basilica.img: confetti - Lallyna on flickr
