Ciao Venicia!

We arrived at Venice (mainland) where our bus had to pay an exorbitant "tourist" parking fee (over 200 euro... so more than $260) where we then hopped on our private boat ride to Venicia.  It was a sloooow boat ride because there is a big effort to reduce wakes from passing boats because it is eroding the pillars and supports of the island's buildings.

Here's a view of the main Square from the water.  The buildings are really beautiful and so ornate - especially when you think that all building materials have to be brought to the island via boat!

We're here! The stone walkways underfoot were cool - there were places where you could see through the cracks to the water below!  

The group went to a small Murano glass blowing demonstration which was fun to see in action. I convinced Brian that we should buy a pair of hand made/blown drinking glasses as our "souveniers" from Italy, since it was our goal to skip the impulse touristy junk and only come home with stuff we would still appreciate a year from now. I'm so glad we got them too - I love drinking from them!

After that we were on our own to explore the city.  It was a maze of narrow alleys and bridges and it was so fun to just wander through, turning here and there to find another bridge, small shops (oddly fairly apparel-focused, definitely for the tourists' benefit) and plenty of beautiful views.

And since we were still in Italy.... another gelato lunch!

There was this beautiful clock tower in the main Square, dedicated to the island's patron saint, Saint Marco (symbolized by a crowned lion with wings).  We were told we shouldn't miss the clock at the top of the hour because something really cool would happen.  So we hurried back to the square before the hour changed and video taped the beautiful blue dial with zodiac decoration for over a minute while the bells rang...... nothing.  Did we miss something?!?  So an hour later we made sure we were back again and this time we just watched.  At the tippy top of the tower there was a figure of a man with a large hammer that moved to bang/"ring" the bell (something we couldn't see from our first viewpoint).  It was definitely very cool since it was fairly old and completely automated, but at the same time a little disappointing since we were expecting the clock dial to spin and shift....

These piles of plywood and metal legs were around the island here and there.  Our guide explained that these were left for anyone to make their own walking bridges if the water rose up through the walkways and made it otherwise impassible.  With the island's buildings sinking as much as 3 feet over the years, they're at the point where there's a lot of logistical problems to living here. Since the city is pretty much built on top of water rather than land, when the water rises it doesn't just flood the edges of the city but comes up from below to flood everything.

Time for our gondola ride - something Brian had on his MUST DO list from the day we booked the trip!

The gondola ride was fun and relaxing. It was cool to see that people's doors opened right out into the canals.  They even had "garages" for their boats built under their houses.  Barber shop (complete with red and white striped poles), an opera house with a wide entrance staircase, apartment windows decorated with flower baskets... your normal sights all facing the canal.

After our gondola ride we wandered over to the other side of the island - less tourists, more locals. We were excited when we turned the corner to walk down this alley and saw all this laundry hanging over the walkway.  It was refreshing to get a tiny glimpse of "real" life here.  Shortly after this we found ourselves in a tiny little square where a group of 10 or so young children were playing soccer (football ;-)) against the side of a church.  We just stood and watched for a while; much more entertaining than the ringing of the bell in my opinion.

 And then it was back to the boat, to take us to our hotel on the mainland (where we saw the aftermath of a motorbike/car collision - the motorbikes weave in and out of traffic without a care there!).  A new country in the morning!