He keeps a pair of high rubber boots at home and another in his office. If he's out with a client when the lagoon waters happen to roll in, an aide sloshes out to bring him another pair. One evening I left my studio with two clients from South America. For Venetians, the relentless high tides eat away at more than the wooden doors and shutters of ground-floor apartments. The water remains in your soul.
City officials dispute that.
They argue it's Venice's high cost of living and not frequent flooding that is mainly to blame for the dwindling of the population from 175,000 a half century ago to some 70,000 now. But the decades-old debate on how to save Venice is wearing down those who do stay. Trouble is, everybody seems to have a different idea about what should be done. In fact, not all agree on what the problem is. Others argue that some years are simply more punishing than others.