TRAVEL / Grand Canal

Canal. not a very attractive word for me at least. Growing up in the Philippines, canal (kanal) denotes a really grotty gutter ; ditch where unpleasant things end up to. Just picture the scene in Les Miserables' when Hugh Jackman rescues the guy in a very black and impossibly shit-filled sewer. But hey the canals in the Philippines are small and cute yet big in number. Theyre everywhere. 

Anyhow , this Grand Canal in Venice is breathtaking on the other hand. I mean just look at the photos. Larrend managed to capture the real moment with the clouds opening up to reveal the faint sunlight. It was a heavenly scene akin to picture books and Impressionist paintings. We felt like we traveled back in time with the preserved buildings and cathedrals and the absence of vehicles. The quaintness and grandness all at the same time would make one shiver in awe. How life back then is so much different from now and yet we are here stepping the very same pavements that Charlemagne and Napoleon Bonaparte touched . Also, how this beautiful place suffered the wrath of the black Death around 1340's is unimaginable. I am ardently wishing that no war or tragedy will befall to this beautiful pearl of a city because everyone deserves to experience this small city in their lifetime.