Marco Polo was a Venetian. His father was one of the men who created “The Silk Road” to China. Young Marco went to China with his father and when he finally returned home many years later, his tales were so full of what the Venetians reckoned to have been exaggerations (our out-and-out lies), they took to calling him, “Il Milione” (the millions). The neighborhood where he and his family lived became known as “la Piazza dei Milioni” (the plaza of the millions).
In keeping with Polo’s tradition of exaggeration, modern Venice has two plazas known as “la Piazza dei Milioni.”
Marco Polo was a Venetian.... But he wasn’t blind.....................