My Venice is a city of contrast–contrast that lives in its narrow alleyways, in the crazy light of the sunset, in the smells of saltwater and fresh seafood, in the surprising silences when you turn a corner. It’s a contrast that lives in Venice as both an international hotspot and a small village at the same time. It often feels as if Venice is moving to the beat of two different drums.

In the off-season, the canals are still, crystalline; in the on-season–among the sound of gondoliers singing ballads, the hum of motorboats and the chatter of tourists–the canals’ choppy waves lap against the streets where locals and tourists jostle for space. It often feels as if this chaos is bursting at the seams of my city: this much tourism is a lot for such a small, immutable city. As such, Venice is one of the hardest cities to truly get to know. Even for me, who has lived here my entire life, it is a continuous discovery.