Venice Trip: Rialto Bridge

Venetian version of a public bus, a vaporetti. We walked to the Grand Canal and took a waterbus just like this one up to the Rialto Bridge, the oldest bridge to span the Grand Canal.

By the way, the waters around Venice are saltwater and this morning, at a corner where there was a lot of seaweed in the water, Micaela sniffed the air, wrinkled her nose and said, "Venice smells like Massachusetts! Like where Mimi and Deeda live."

The first bridge on this site was a pontoon one built in 1181.  It was replaced in 1255 by a wooden bridge that looked very similar to today's bridge, with rows of shops on either side of the bridge. The present stone bridge was completed in 1591.

Walking toward the bridge, I was distracted by this traffic jam in a side canal.

So much for a calm, romantic gondola ride.

Looking over the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

At one point, James asked us what the rules of traffic were for the canals. Did you have to ride up the right side of the canal? As we observed the boats making their way up and down, we couldn't figure out what the rules were.