Commissioner Wolfgang Böck and poet Günther Schatzdorfer travel to Venice to explore the original native culture that still exists in hiding despite mass tourism and marketing. Together with their captain Fiore, they navigate shallow waters, low bridges, and swarms of mosquitoes. Sometimes they find themselves stuck with their houseboat, having to wait for the ebb or flow of the tide, passing the time by dreaming of their longed-for destination. Small harbors and docks with simple trattorias line the way, where one can settle in the shade of the poplars or towering oleander bushes with a glass of cool wine, listening to the flapping wings of the herons.