August 27.
Italy.
Venice.
Local time: 09:12.
The sky was a brilliant blue, with fluffy white clouds. The morning sunshine was especially pleasant and warm.
As a famous tourist and industrial city in Italy, Venice truly had a character all its own.
Many factories stood in the western suburbs near the mainland, while to the east, closer to the coast, lay the classically beautiful city center of Venice.
Man-made canals ran alongside the streets. Their water flowed in from the Adriatic Sea, clear enough that brightly colored saltwater fish could occasionally be seen swimming through it.
There were tour boats for visitors, speedboats for thrill-seekers, and, more than anything else, small private boats.
The canals were broad and bustling, making the streets seem even more crowded by comparison.
At that moment.
On SR11, a main road in the Marghera district of Venice...
"Oh merda (Damn it)! Questi idioti (You idiots)! Sbrigati (Hurry up)!!!"
"Beep!! Beep!!"
A yellow-and-white taxi that looked like a Volkswagen Beetle was practically stuck in place on this "main road."
The taxi driver, sporting a goatee and an old-fashioned white cap, lowered his window and leaned out. He waved his left hand as he cursed, while his right hand hammered the horn in the center of the steering wheel.
The problem was that SR11 might have been called a main road, but it was actually only a two-way street.
It was rush hour in Venice, and traffic was heavy in both directions, so the taxi had no choice but to inch along in line.
After venting his frustration, the driver finally felt better and settled back into the car.
Then, in heavily accented English, he said to the passenger in the front seat, "Sorry you had to see that, haha. We Venetians are actually very good-natured. Today's