While reading The Tourist Maze I became interested in the psychology of the tourist and his/her persistance in searching for a personal relationship with venice that would satisfy an image or myth of the city. Davis and Marvin describe in detail the set of annoyances, obstacles, and jams that tourists trudge through in mobs, while at the same time dreamily determined to find and frame their image of venice. The authors write,

"As anyone who has ventured out into the town's back sreets can testify, it is almost always easy to frame a camera or video shot - or just a personal memory, for that matter - that will combine some or sometimes all of the elements of "Venetianness" that allow one to say, "I'm here, I'm in Venice." This is a place where, after all, "unlike just about anywhere else on earth, the most important thing is simple physical presence."

I'm interested in the persistance and capacity for tourists to mentally block out, frame, and tint their experience in Venice to match their dreams, to convince themselves that they have some personal ownership and connection with the city.