Venice

Venice, as you can imagine, has devolved into a massive and crowded theme park, to a large extent. Sure there's a complex and historic culture underneath. But the tourist layer that lies atop that culture is significant. And with a five-year-old in tow, even the obvious cultural points are a challenge to access. We didn't want to stand on a line several hundred people long to enter the Basilica, or go to a museum that would be crowded and expensive. My loving and cultured parents took me to many museums all across Europe when I was Ria's age, and what I recall most from that time is just how powerful a force gravity is, as it sucked me to the ground any time we paused before a masterpiece.

So, we wandered the streets, took the vaporettos (public bus-boats), ate gelotto, played with Italian children we ran across, and generally just absorbed the ambiance of Venice, which is considerable. Here are pictures of the people and places in Venice which particularly caught our eye, including St. Mark's Basilica, La Fenice opera theatre, shop windows, and both locals and tourists.














The Basilica at St. Mark's











La Fenice












The view from our apartment window; we ate at this restaurant our first night in Venice.