69 woman this month | January 2012 | The Low-down: The enchanting city celebrates its Middle Age and Renaissance glory through its art, architecture and enduring spirit. A jewel of a city audaciously built on 118 tiny islands and a network of waterways, Venice is an imperilled treasure that stubbornly endures. Due to the plodding geological shifts of the continents, the city is sinking at a rate of two and a half inches per decade. A watery demise for Venice by the end of the century may be inevitable. X-factor: It’s hard to imagine impending doom when you first encounter this enchanting Italian city. With its maze of narrow streets, hundreds of bridges and dozens of canals linking its magnificent architecture and art, even a wrong turn can be thrilling. The deluxe way to see Venice is to cruise the canals in a pricey, cushioned gondola poled by a boatman. Gazing from water level, the city reveals vistas, waterfront facades, fenestration and bridge decorations. The sleek gondolas can detour off the Grand Canal into smaller, less-travelled waterways. Best for: Honeymooners. The Grand Canal, the city’s main thoroughfare, is not to be missed. In 1495, the ambassador to French king Charles VIII called it “the most beautiful street in the world”. And, fortunately, not much has changed since then. The Low-down: With an ecosystem under siege, every moment in this wild wonderland is one to savour. The Amazon rainforest covers more than two million square miles of the earth’s surface, spanning eight South American countries. Although the region has no seasons, the Amazon River rises and falls by as much as 30 feet during the year, and the variety of living things one can see changes with it. Every journey reveals new wonders. X-factor: More than a third of the world’s species, mostly plants and insects, make their home in the rain forest. But with the help of an experienced guide, you can also glimpse a rainbow of exotic creatures that includes toucans, red deer and pink dolphins. The astonishment and beauty of the Amazon lie in the intricacy of this fabulously complex ecosystem. Best for: Adventurers. Most travellers visit the western areas of the rain forest that remain largely untouched, such as the Loreto region of Peru, so they may not notice that the ecosystem is under siege. Already, 20 per cent of the forest has been cut down for timber or burned to make way for farms, with thousands more acres disappearing each day. Venice Amazon Rainforest
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