6 year old skateboarder Asher Bradshaw at Venice Beach Skatepark

Asher skating on any given day in Venice. This is totally awesome. LINK: Youtube

Female 'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice

An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws -- evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire.

The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said.

The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576. LINK

Venice from Above

Dan Kitwood, an entertainment photographer from Getty, took the opportunity to make some aerial images of Venice.

The “City of Water” is located in northeast Italy, spanning 118 islands in the Venetian Lagoon. Buildings in Venice were constructed on wood piles driven into the mud, sand and clay layers under the lagoon. Many of the buildings in Venice still sit on these piles driven more than a thousand years ago. LINK

LIVIO De MARCHI, THE ONLY MAN WHO CAN DRIVE IN VENICE

Livio De Marchi is the only man who drives a car in Venice. The artist's has sculpted a full size Ferrari F50 boat out of wood. It floats on water, enabling him to drive around the many canals in his home town of Venice, much to the delight of tourists and locals. LINK: Youtube

"Aqua Alta Surfing": St. Mark's Square on a Wakeboard

Everything happened at the speed of light on Tuesday: just a few minutes after 11 a.m., the high-water mark had reached 1.35 metres, equivalent to a good half metre of water covering St. Mark's Square.

Duncan Zuur's team pulled a compact, 20 horsepower motor winch from its hiding place and placed it under the square's arches. One team member, clad in rubber boots, pulled the winchs cable about 120 metres across the square and pressed one end firmly into the hand of Duncan Zuur, who had taken the opportunity to get into his wakeboarding gear. Four elegant turns later, the event was over prompting by a standing ovation from an astounding crowd of tourists.

And luckily for Duncan, the police didn't even notice. LINK: Youtube

Amazing Venetian Glass Sculpture

While Mike Yazzara was touring Europe with his kids' high school orchestra in February 2006, they visited a glass factory in Venice and saw a glass sculptor create a horse out of molten glass. He captured it on video. LINK