Venice ~ Italy Day 9

We slept pretty well and enjoyed a great breakfast. When we checked-in yesterday, Monica was very educational about other ways to get to the airport that aren't as expensive as a private water taxi, and after doing some research and talking with Monica again, we decided that we will take the public water taxi to the airport tomorrow at a cost of 15€ per person. So we did a practice walk to the pick-up area and even purchased our tickets for tomorrow.  It'll be cool to leave in a different mode than how we arrived. 

The weather was about 10 degrees cooler today, so it was lovely to walk around - which is pretty much what we did. Again, lots of photos, 'cuz apparently one cannot take enough photos of canals......

This was a little over an hour before high tide - hard to see, but the stairs are under water. 

We came upon (well, Monica told us about it) a very interesting book shop....

Hi Cat! Meow!

The backdoor opens onto the canal - again - it was not yet high tide - notice the water.

We kept meandering.....still not high tide......

Cool 24-hour clock!

Nope, still not high tide........

We came upon the open-air fish and farmer's market.....

We continued......and yes, FedEx delivers to Venice! (Boat below)

Walking along the outer promenade and seeing a nearby island....

More gondolas.....

We found ourselves in an art area, and there were a couple shops of glass bead makers. Suzanne recently read the (very good) book The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier, so it was fascinating to see a woman working in the same manner as the lead character.  

Onward we walked.....(the roads - really alleyways - are not straight at all - all curve, some dead-end...)

(Had lunch here.)

Saw an ambulance leave a house call......

Eventually the rains did come and we headed back to our hotel room sometime late afternoon. We have no idea how many miles, well, kilometers, we walked, but we have definitely seen Venice by foot (and water).

We are glad that we decided to spend a day-and-a-half in Venice ~ it is certainly a unique place ~ and we really enjoyed our time here. That being said, take away the canals, it is basically a city - graffiti, pigeons, odors, litter. 

Some interesting facts about Venice:

• The sewage is dumped into the canals and the tides take it out to the ocean. (Yuck!) Does it smell? Yes, there is a bit of a sewage smell.
• You are not allowed to ride a bike in Venice. Why? No idea.
• The highest paying job in the city is that of a gondolier. 
• Over 20 million tourists visit Venice each year.
• Venice is build on 10 million underwater logs and is sinking 1 -2 mm per year.
• Venice is made up of 118 islands linked together by 400 bridges over 150 canals.

That, pretty much, was Italy.