VENICE: Oh...There's Water Everywhere! (Part 1)

October 02, 2016 • 1 Comment

Venice, ItalyVenice, Italy

24-HOURS IN VENICE

So again, thanks to the perks of being an employee in the travel industry, I decided last Thursday to hop on flight the next evening from Montreal to Venice....this time taking the youngest child (13 years old now....so I guess not that young anymore!) with me. Same as last year (see here and here for last year's 24-hour Venice getaway), we arrived at noon on Saturday and had to be back at the airport at noon on Sunday.

As with all the other times I take one of the children on these trips....what they say while we're there is what inspires the blog post title. As we start walking from Piazzale Roma (the last point where vehicles are allowed), the child says, "Oh....there's water everywhere! This is gonna make my feed sooooo tumblr."

I won't get into everything again on logistics, just a three-part series with time stamps and captions so you can see that it is very possible to do Venice in just 24 hours! So here's the first in the series, that features photos from our walk through Venice's labyrinth of calles and canals to the Rialto Bridge and the Libreria Acqua Alta – enjoy!

2:11 PM – "Oh....so there's water...like...everywhere..."

2:11 PM – Admiring a canal right behind our hotel

2:11 PM – "My feed is gonna be sooo tumblr!"

2:14 PM – The child is right....I mean look at this!

2:15 PM – Walking around Venice, you can't help but stop and snap every time you cross a bridge

2:17 PM – Can't get enough of all these little waterways

2:17 PM – It's all the same....but different at the same time

2:18 PM – Tearing ourselves away from the canals to see beautiful buildings like these - Scuola Grande di San Rocco Art Museum

2:18 PM – And this...Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

2:20 PM – Campo dei Frari

2:21 PM – The Basiclica's campanile, the 2nd tallest in the city after San Marco, was completed in 1396

2:24 PM – Weaving our way through Venice's ancient calles

2:27 PM – It's taking twice as long to get to where we wanna go because I can't stop snapping away

2:40 PM – The child's first glimpse of the Grand Canal

2:40 PM – Plenty of traffic on the Grand Canal

2:40 PM – Fought our way to the middle of the Rialto Bridge to check out the view

2:40 PM – Someone is happy to be in Venice!

2:40 PM – Selfie time at the Rialto Bridge (you can get a glimpse of all people here in the reflection of my glasses!)

2:44 PM – Made our way to the other side of the Rialto Bridge

2:48 PM – Some canal....somewhere in Venice

2:52 PM – A wedding in Venice

2:52 PM – Gondola traffic

LIBRERIA ACQUA ALTA

The one place I didn't get to see on last year's trip to Venice, I made sure that this was one of the first on our list. Surprisingly, it was the hubs who saw this book store on a documentary last year and told me I should go check it out — you know, since he doesn't seem to wanna get on a plane lately.

I mean, it's not what you come to Venice to see, but it is such a kooky place – books spill out of everywhere, including from the massive gondola and old row boats inside the store, as well as from old bathtubs. Why store books in boats and bathtubs? Because every year (usually in October, I believe), Venice experiences acqua alta, literally meaning high water, so it only makes sense to store the books in boats cuz they'll just float, right?

At first glance – ok even at a closer glance – this book shop looks chaotic, but there is a method to the madness. Crime novels can be found stacked up in the gondola, travel guides can be found on the shelf next to it. And if you don't know where to look, just ask the eccentric owner who can usually be found chain-smoking somewhere in the store. Don't forget to check out the book staircase at the back, and the fire exit that leads straight out into a canal. For me, it's a must in Venice!

3:09 PM – Outside Libreria Acqua Alta