According to a BBC report, Venice is still sinking, even though the rate has dropped to just 4mm per year – a combination of actual sinking into the lagoon and the rise in sea levels.

 

A huge set of sea barriers to protect the city should be ready by 2014. These, in theory, will halt the annual flooding. They will not stop the city’s slow sinking, though.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-17445936

 

Venice is one of those cities that everyone should see at least once in their lives. I have been fortunate to visit five times, the first way back in 1967. On a clear sparkling day, when the late afternoon sun floods over St. Mark’s Square and into the Basilica of St. Mark’s, turning the mosaics to a brilliant burnished gold, there is no more amazing city on the planet.

 

Sadly, the increasing annual autumn flooding coupled with the huge numbers of day trippers mainly from the old Eastern Europe make for a very sad sight. I was last there with my then-bf about 8 years ago. And this is what we witnessed.

 

 

Compare that with a few years and a few months earlier.

 

I spent a week in Venice in November. Not the best weather, but very few tourist and prices are reasonable. I stayed on the Lido, but next time strongly suggest a stay in Padua. Just a short train ride from Venice, many college types, gay night life, great art of its own and very picturesque. Staying in Venice itself can be dull at night or I just don't know where to hang out.

As to Venice sinking, I could not help but notice that many of the buildings are sagging to one side or the other., and need bracing. I think the foundations are going to go long before the city sinks.

Agree that there's not much to do in the evening, unless you find a good restaurant. A bellini at Harry's Bar is delicious way to start - but only for the association. The guest book includes comments from Ernest Hemingway, Charlie Chaplin, Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, Arturo Toscanini, Truman Capote, Orson Wells . . . Sadly the bar itself is boringly decorated in 1970s plastic style and has little atmosphere.

 

If opera or concerts are your thing, La Fenice is one of the world's most gorgeous opera theatres. And there are short concerts almost every evening on the upper floor of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco where the walls and ceiling are covered with massive Tintoretto frescos.

 

One more suggestion, but for lunch. A few steps from Harry's Bar is the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal. The set lunch on the terrace right by the Grand Canal is a stunning experience, and far cheaper than eating there at night.