Life is Fun in Spain: Venice

Venice was our last stop in Italy. (We were there September 15-18.) Wow, what a spectacular place! Of course, it is an extremely unique city, having been built completely on islands of marshes, so there are no true roads. Instead, there are waterways with boats, and riotous webs of pathways for walking. You most certainly need a map with all the skinny alleyways that go off in a variety of directions at every turn. It is a fun and crazy experience to navigate yourself around Venice! This is also where Jacob's intuitive directional abilities came in extremely handy! :)

First off, we awaited a vaporetto (which is a commuter boat that travels the Grand Canal) in the covered "dock" to take us to the stop to meet our apartment host (it is essential that she showed us to the apartment...we never would have found it!).

Buildings in Venice have been built using long wooden posts (long enough to hit firmer ground far below) as the foundation under the bearing walls. Venice began its existence in the 400's, so there has been plenty of time for the settling of these buildings, and the city is truly sinking. For instance, there used to be steps from certain "entrances" of the buildings, alleys, etc. down to the water level. Most of those steps are visibly underwater. This issue is something that engineers will have to find a solution for, or the ground level of Venice will eventually be underwater.

Views from the vaporetto...

We found what we thought was the best restaurant discovery! It was a mix of Greek, Turkish, Iranian food. It was amazingly delicious with bursting flavors and it was NOT pasta or pizza! :)

Cars are forbidden in Venice. One thing I noticed right away was how QUIET everything was...no noisy motors as you walk through the streets, not even distant motor noise! (If you are next to the canal, you can hear an occasional motor boat.)

Transport boat delivering ice cream...

This is Rialto Bridge, a major tourist spot on the island. This one outer side of the bridge...

...and here is the "inside"...

Happened across this old monestary with an ancient well in the middle.

Masques, masques everywhere...so many masque shops!

This is Piazza San Marco, the plaza where St. Mark's Basilica was built. In 828, St. Mark's remains were stolen from Alexandria, Egypt by Venice merchants, who brought him back and built the church to house his body.

Outside of the church...

The church is laden with mosaics, mostly gold, some telling stories, including the one of retrieving (stealing) the body of St. Mark.

Another headstand, in Piazza San Marco

Here is a view of a different island from the main one we were staying on.

Here are some of the famous gondolas. No, we did not ride in one. We did something more fun than that (read on!).

Do you see all those people in the photo below? I just have to say that Venice is PACKED OUT with tourists. Sometimes you can hardly turn around there are so many. The reason is that several cruise ships stop each day and unload thousands upon thousands of people. Apparently, the city of Venice is not happy with the situation of so many people wandering through the streets, and causing wear and tear on the city, and not being very good consumers. They don't buy much, and therefore do not put enough money back into the city. The apartment where we stayed was pretty far off the beaten path from the throngs of people, so we got a true glimpse of what Venice is like.

Below, we are standing in front of the 600 year old building with the apartment we stayed in.

This is another photo of the building, taken further back (see that black door on the right again?)

Another shot in the Piazza San Marco

And more gondolas...

Remember when I said we would search endlessly to find a great gelato place? We did this in Venice, too, which is ten times more challenging (even with a map!). Jacob was a great guide... with extra motivation!

Guess who also LOVES gelato...and is not afraid to ask for it multiple times a day?

As I mentioned, the apartment we stayed in was in a 600 year old building. There was clear evidence that the building is sinking. See the tilting lamp below.

Here is the kitchen. It is not so apparent in the photo, but the boys could have used the sloping floors as a mini skateboard park.

The doors in the photo below show the sloping floor

The apartment owner told us that none of the original ceiling and wall decoration (very intricate) is allowed to be changed, since it is officially a historic building.

So, instead of a gondola ride, we took a rowing lesson! (Our friend back in California saw a TV show about Venice and these rowing lessons and wrote to me the day we arrived in Venice, so I called right away and booked it!) This style of boat is the traditional Venetian rowing boat that is no longer used today. However, the rowing techniques are the same, and it is a more stable and spacious (and safer) boat to learn to row in. There are two positions from which to row the boat. First, in the front where Jacob is below, where you actually row to move the boat forward. In a later photo you will see where the steering happens at the back.