Ottawa: The Venice of the South
Stefan Caiafa (Traveler designer, traveler extraordinaire, world citizen, photographer, and general polymath) chose to sprinkle some of his many pearls before our delighted snouts this week, with an erudite post about city nicknames:
What's in a name? Much, of course. But what's in a nickname often says more. Take Venice, the enchanting Italian tangle of canals and gondolas, as an example. Once called La Serenissima (The Most Serene, a title originally used for the ruling doges), Venice itself has become a nickname for countless cities encompassed by water. Wikipedia lists almost 50 such centers, including Venices of the North (Amsterdam, Ottawa, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg), the South (Tarpon Springs, Florida, and Zakynthos, Greece), the East (Bangkok, Thailand and Udaipur, India) and West (San Antonio, Texas). Some countries single out a specific city with a Venice reference meant to entice prospective visitors (Suzhou, China, and Recife, Brazil, are often marketed with the doges' hometown in mind).
Others seem to liberally apply the moniker to any well-hydrated urban area (Japan has at least eight Venice-tagged cities). So popular is this handle, even tourist vacuums like the Garden State and Iraq have jumped on the gondola (Cranford and Basra are respectively the Venices of New Jersey and the Middle East).
But it should come as no surprise that great historical cities serve as grounds for comparison for other centers. Athens, the Cradle of Democracy and birthplace of Western philosophy and education, draws homage from equally scholastic centers around the globe. The universities in Edinburgh, Melbourne, and Berkeley support claims to be the Athenses of the North, South, and West, respectively. Likewise, any city with a grand and cosmopolitan je ne sais quoi immediately becomes associated with the beautiful City of Lights officially known as Paris. There seems to be at least one in every inhabited geographical region: Africa? Check (Dakar, Senegal). The Americas? Check (Buenos Aires). Asia? Check and check (Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City). Napoleon himself played a round of this game, calling Düsseldorf Petit Paris. More exotic sounding Parises include the Paris of Arabia (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Paris on the Nile (Cairo), the Paris of the Caribbean (Havana), and the Paris of the Middle East (Beirut, Lebanon). And ambitious Melbourne, not satisfied with being the Athens of the South, must also be Paris of the Southern Hemisphere.
As important as iconic cities are to bringing mystique and grandeur to a traveler's dreams, there are cities celebrated for being less exalted capitals. Ohakune is the Carrot Capital of New Zealand, while Tennessee boasts the Mule Capital of the World in Columbia. For every mule after a carrot you may also find a diamond in the rough (Antwerp, diamond capital) or, at the very least, a cloud with a silver lining (Taxco, Mexico, silver capital). Consider the feast you'd have on a trip through Gilroy, California, (garlic capital), Naples (pizza capital), and Bordeaux (wine capital). And there are ample options for entertainment (Las Vegas) should you find yourself interested in rodeos (Cody, Wyoming), streaking (Knoxville, Tennessee), or indoor foliage (Apopka, Florida). Should the existence of any of these capitals come as news to you, you may very well be in Washington, D.C. (the News Capital—or should we say Capitol?—of the World).
There are also countless cities Big (Apple: New York) and Little (Vienna: Zagreb) with variant appellations. However, if nicknames aren't your cup of tea, you can always stop reading this blog and go make a cup of your own. (I suggest Marshall, Texas, the Pottery Capital of the World.)"
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