1 . Nowhere in Italy _______ a crisis more beautifully framed than in Venice. Neither land nor water, the city lifts like a mirage from a lagoon at the head of the Adriatic. For centuries it has threatened to vanish _______ the waves of the acqua alta, the relentlessly regular flooding caused by rising tides and sinking foundations. But _______ is the least of its problems.

Just ask Mayor Massimo Cacciari, professor of philosophy, fluent in German, Latin, Ancient Greek. Ask about the acqua alta and Venice _______, and he says, “So go get boots.”

Boots are fine for water, but useless against the flood _______ causes more concern for Venetians than any lagoon spillover: the flood of tourism. Number of Venetian residents in 2007: 60,000. Number of visitors in 2007: 21 million.