As I walk around the harbor, I see architecture that is Italian to the hilt. I can't read the signs because they're all written in Italian. I hear Italian music playing throughout the area. The stunningly convincing Trompe L'oeil facades of an Italian village stretch out to either side of me. In the distance I see Ponte Vecchio Bridge. I walk down a side street and find myself surrounded by even more elaborate Italian architecture, the buildings lining a system of canals that are alive with gondola traffic. Just amazing!
The most impressive thing about this area is the fact that the Italian apartrment buildings that I thought were just for show are actually a part of the Hotel Miracosta, the ONLY hotel built inside a Disney Theme Park. We figured this out when we looked up at one of the windows and we saw a little old Japanese writing at a desk. Not exactly Italian *hehehe*.
When the two gondoliers aren't intent on navigation (no motors or tracks here), they spend their time hamming it up for the guests, but not so much as to detract from the stunning atmosphere of the area. We had a nice gondolier who who break into a rousing version of Santa Lucia at any moments notice. He also did his best to each us Italian. Japanese-Italian, it is the language version of Pietro!
