Vicenza Province (Veneto)

Despite the high tides, giant cruise ships, and suitcase-wheeling tourists, Venice has not been declared an endangered World Heritage site. Whether that’s good news or not is up for debate.

A new pedestrian safety initiative from the northern Italian city of Padova gives “doom-scrolling” a whole new meaning. 

The melancholic Mazzorbo area was once known as the “laguna morta” (the dead lagoon). But at the turn of the 21st century, it became the main stage for one of the wine world’s biggest stories. 

When Venetian aristocrats of bygone eras sought to escape the heat, they chose the Brenta, transforming the area into a wonderland of opulent estates between the 16th and 18th centuries.