Hopping the next cheap flight to a fabled land was beyond their wildest imaginings, but today, save jet lag, space has been conquered so utterly that even retirees take trips to Beijing. The conquest of time has not been as complete. Film and photography capture time, even manipulate it, and video and still cameras are the weapons of choice of the tourist. Venice should be such a place. Great lengths have been taken to make it seem timeless.
Modern development is barely visible on the islands.
Once sinking, the wooden pilings below the city have been shored up. The great mansions and campo of the city are being renovated with American capital. Such efforts are partially successful. Venice has no cars, no billboards, not even the garish neon signs that have taken over other canal cities, such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Naturally enough, however, all the efforts at preservation cannot keep Venice as it was, and tourists would be dumbfounded if that were the case.