Simply..it's a miracle....

 ..not only that it still exists, but that it works as well as it does.

Venice that is.

Deliveries, ambulances - yellow with blue flashing lights, rubbish collection - steep fines if you get it wrong! Repairs, sewage, I was aware of working vessels on the canals day and night. Washing hanging out to dry. One of the nicest sounds was the voices of children going to school in the mornings in the street below our apartment.

This issue is one of the most contentious of all..

We saw a swallow in Venice, and yesterday I spotted the first one here. I wonder if they will nest with us again...