Venice Trip: Back to Piazza San Marco

We next walked in the direction of Piazza San Marco so we could take a boat to nearby Murano. You can easily get lost among the small lanes with their twists and turns and are often unable to keep a certain church steeple in view as a guide. We followed the words "San Marco" that were spray painted onto walls with arrows indicating the way, hoping this wasn't the work of local youths who wanted to mess with tourists and lead them on a wild goose chase through town. It turns out it must have been the inexpensive work of the local tourist office, as we made it to the piazza with no problem.

Yesterday, as we made our way through Venice, I told David this city has to be the closest thing to Disneyland Europe has to offer (excluding Disneyland Paris, of course). Picturesque locations, a large crowd that drags you along with it, tourists everywhere, charming sights around every corner (yes, I find Disneyworld charming), plenty of food, shopping, shopping and more shopping. And not having any automobiles around helps give it that park-like atmosphere. I wondered aloud if Mr. Disney himself could have time traveled to the past, as da Vinci seems to have done, and set up the perfect historic amusement park.

And then what do we find as we stroll through town but a Disney Store. Surely this is proof of Mr. Disney's influence! Emilie and Rebecca were dying to go inside. "You said we could spend 20 Euros here on a souvenir and I want to buy something in the Disney Store!" argued Emilie. But we were having none of it. Even when I explained that she will be able to find the exact same merchandise in any Disney Store in the U.S. and that Venice was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and she should get an actual Venetian souvenir, Emilie was still sorely disappointed.

Walking back to Piazza San Marco via Saint Mark's Clocktower.

All thoughts of the Disney Store vanished once Emilie began looking at the souvenir wagons spread out all over the square.

One of Emilie's purchases

We went window shopping along the Procuratie, three connected buildings opposite the Basilica that house many stores.  I would have been happy sitting and having a sip of that wine the waiter is serving, but so be it.

Interesting glass sculptures from Murano, a nearby island. Venice was world famous for its glassmaking, but fearing fire and destruction to the city’s mostly wooden buildings, authorities ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano in 1291.

A nice view of the square with a blue sky

Walking along the 16th century National Library of St Mark.

Leaving the piazza

Maybe we'll take a gondola ride on a future visit.

Everyone was enjoying the beautiful, sunny day.

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.

Venice Trip: Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit

Our very Italian-looking hotel room

The hotel had a charming terrace with room for at 25 people to lounge around. The kids took full advantage while David was checking out.

We decided the da Vince exhibit was worth a look, so we walked back to San Barnabas.

Waiting for the exhibit to open, we watched as people and businesses from the neighborhood brought their garbage to the canal edge. Tuesday must be trash day. Soon enough, the garbage truck came by -- in this case, the little garbage barge with the mechanical arm.

Resting up a bit. David had a spill from James' ripstick Sunday morning and his wrist has been bothering him ever since. Here in Venice, he has been constantly picking Rebecca up and putting her on his shoulders and it seems to be taking a toll on his sore wrist. We have been monitoring the swelling and color change with concern, but it doesn't stop Becca from requesting shoulder rides, because, as she puts it as we walk around, "But Dad, I am so smaller."

Angelic Emilie with Leonardo's wings

Inside "Leonardo da Vinci Machines Museum" exhibit which presents over 50 models entirely reproduced from da Vinci's notebooks.  Many of the pieces were interactive. To overcome points of inertia and to increase momentum, he drew a series of flywheels, either equipped with wheels or provided with weights.

Da Vinci is often credited with drawing the first roller bearing around the year 1500.

There were many war machines, including ships. A sickle is mounted on a wooden pole moved by a pinwheel and tears the sails of enemy ships with a 360-degree rotation.

There were several different pulley systems.

"A connecting rod is a mechanical member, placed between two pieces of a machine in order to transform reciprocating rectilinear motion into continuous rotary motion." Yikes. This exhibit was mindboggling. Looking around at the incredible variety of inventions, we were convinced da Vince had been a time traveler from the future. There was no other way to explain all this.

A perfectly functioning model of a bicycle.

Leonardo developed a machine for gliding flight that pilots can control by changing the center of gravity moving only the upper part of their body.

A flying machine with bird wings: a set of belts tie the pilot, supine, on a wooden surface. The pilot pushes the pedals with his feet, thus setting the wings in motion.

Floating skis. We recalled seeing a Mythbusters where Adam tried a similar invention to walk on water, but it didn't work well.

Machine gun

Horse sculpture designed after da Vinci's drawings

In this study, Leonardo shows how to lift heavy loads without any effort. In fact the weight to be lifted is equally distributed on the various pulleys. We had the exhibit all to ourselves the entire time.

Venice Trip: Wandering, Indiana Jones and Pizza

It was time to check in at our hotel and hunt down dinner. We walked and walked and walked, following Google Maps directions to the hotel David printed out back home. And we walked some more.

What many of the bridges look like in the more residential areas of Venice.

And we walked some more. Where was the hotel? After at least an hour and a half of wandering the streets, David called the hotel, got directions, and realized that Google had failed us miserably by at least 10 blocks. Where's your navi when you need it? We finally managed to find the lovely hotel, deposit our backpacks and it was time for dinner. And we didn't need to bring umbrellas. No rain after all.

Walking through the neighborhood of Campo San Barnaba, we turned a corner and came upon the Church of Saint Barnabas, at which point I whooped, "Aha! Found it!"

To prepare the kids a bit for our trip here, we did what we usually do, which is watch a movie that was filmed in the city we would be visiting. We watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but since this trip came up rather quickly, I didn't map out places to see from the movie, and really, there is a scene at a library and a chase in a canal and that was it for Venice. I made a mental note that the library Indiana visits and under which he find catacombs was actually a church with big green doors. (Research I did after the trip confirmed that filming was done in front of the 14th century Church of Saint Barnabas.)

Emilie posing on the sewer cover through which Indy makes his escape, finding himself in the middle of a crowded café. Indy looks around at the postcard-perfect setting, smiles, and says, "Ah, Venice!"

The church was hosting a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.

Ah, dinner! Pizza, spaghetti carbonara and chicken nuggets.

Chefs don't slice pizza for you in Europe. James couldn't wait to cut it up.

Gelato on the way home was a must

A fantastic, but closed, gift shop featured wood cut-outs of the city. If I couldn't buy one, I would at least take some pictures.

Ah, gelato!