Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Meeting Orientamento Venice







Alright, no more bitching about airlines, here is the story about the race I went down to Venice to participate in.

This race is as unique as the city itself, so first, a bit about the city. It is a little known fact that Venice was constructed prior to the invention of either the right angle or the wheel. "Roads" are 1 m wide and are laid out in a rigid pattern based on chaos theory. The only vehicle that can get through is a wheelbarrow. Venice was also apparently constructed prior to the invention of engineers, who would have told the founding fathers that they were idiots for even considering to build a city in such a ridiculous location.

Venice is lovely though, no question about it. Here are a few pics:





The major routes are all canals, no wheeled vehicles can access the city at all. The side roads are all pedestrian only, for the simple reason that they are so narrow not even bicycles could get through. Here is an example:

This is not an exceptional "road", it is actually quite normal for Venice. The runner is Adrian Zissos, by the way. He and Charlotte McNaughton from Calgary were the only other Canadians in the race. Adrian was at the 2005 race also, you can find his report here http://www.barebones.ca/2005%2011%20Venice%20O%20Meeting.pdf
Adrian likes taking photos of bewildered tourists who are puzzling over their maps of Venice. He has some amusing examples at this link, it is worth checking out.





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