POWERHOUSE JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD (IN 80 DAYS)

Week 8 (Day 49): VENICE (ITALY)

Our Powerhouse Journey Around the World continues. We have now travelled 943 miles from London and find ourselves in the beautiful city of Venice.

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy that is made up of a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges.  The city spans an area of 160.1 sq miles and has a population of 270,843.

The City of Venice (Venezia) welcomes around 50,000 tourists a day and is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world for its art and architecture. Venezia is a city of small islands with a maze of canals that thread through it with more than 400 bridges to allow for the flow of foot traffic.

For the most part, Venezia is considered one of the safest cities in Europe. Violent crime is quite rare, and unlike Rome, Italy's capital city, police are not that visible, even though Venezia is highly populated with tourists each year.  Some of the most popular tourist attractions include The Grand Canal, Piazza San Marco, Saint Mark's Basilica, The Rialto Bridge and Vecchia Murano Glass Factory.

As Venezia is a highly popular tourist destination, caution and common sense should always be used.  There is a certain amount of pickpocketing, so it is therefore always best to keep all your belongings in secure pockets and bags.  As always apply Powerhouse Self-Defense's rule of PROI: PREDICTION of misplaced situations, that is being aware of anything that appears out of context.  RECOGNITION of potentially harmful behavior.  OBSERVATION of your surroundings.  Look for street signs and landmarks.  Know exactly where you are at ALL times.  INTUITION: Trust your gut and when in doubt, both feet out! 

VENICE CRIME 

As previously mentioned, Venezia is one of Europe's safest cities, with very rare incidences of violent crime.  However, an ongoing crime problem is the offer of counterfeit designer bags and belts sold by unlicensed street vendors.  Unfortunately tourists tend to play right into this by purchasing knock-off items such as Prada or Louis Vuitton. However, it is not only sellers, but also the buyers of these goods that are subject to heavy fines. Venice has implemented a program called "Bad Bag" that warns tourists not to buy bags from street vendors. The local police are on the alert for these types of sales and if you are caught purchasing them, you may very well be taken to the police station. 

EMERGENCY SERVICES NUMBER: 112

VENICE FUN FACTS:

1.  Many famous people were born in Venice, including the Playwright, Giacomo Casanova, the Explorer, Marco Polo and Composer, Antonio Vivaldi.
2.  Only 3-4 Gondolier Licenses are issued each year.
3.  When at the markets, you should NEVER EVER touch the produce. You must tell the vendor what you want and they will give it to you.
4.  Venice contains 7,000 chimneys, that come in 10 different styles and shapes.
5.  Venice is sinking at the rate of 1-2 millimeters a year.

OUR POWERHOUSE JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD CONTINUES. WHERE WILL WE BE NEXT WEEK?

Jennifer Riis-Poulsen is the Founder & CEO and also a 2nd degree black belt, who formed Powerhouse Self-Defense as a response to the ever-increasing statistics on emotional and physical attacks on females each year. She made reducing these statistics a mission and personal goal and has set out to develop a comprehensive, HOLISTIC personal safety and empowerment program focused on awareness and powerful techniques to build courage and confidence. For more information visit http://powerhouseselfdefense.com