Wednesday May 30

This blog entry is going up a little late due to an issue with our train from Venice, a topic to be addressed in a future blog entry.

Wednesday marked our first full day in Venice. We began the day by eating a meager breakfast in our hotel’s courtyard, although this task was a little harder than planned. As we ate our cereal and Danishes we simultaneously fought off hoards of pigeons intent on eating our breakfasts. Fortunately I never had to actually hit one of the pigeons, but I was fully prepared to if necessary. The group met up shortly after breakfast to walk to our meeting with Venice’s public works department. 

Venetian "Fire Truck"

Insula is Venice’s public works authority who is in charge of such tasks as canal upkeep, repaving streets, as well as coordinating various construction projects. Insula is obviously a very different public works authority due to Venice’s location and unusual problems associated with the water-bound city. Our group met with a few Insula representatives, each member explaining their roles and answering our questions regarding upkeep of the city. It was incredibly interesting to learn more about how Insula remedies the fluctuating tides as well as the effects of saltwater on the foundations of buildings. While it would be fun to work in construction in Venice, I don’t think I would enjoy it as much as in the States because there is very little heavy machinery used in the small city. There obviously isn’t too much dirt to be moved when the whole island is built-up on piers. Anyway, I came away very impressed by Insula and their construction methods. 

After our meeting, the group visited the first large grocery store we had seen on our trip. Until that point, we had only seen smaller shops with not a whole lot to offer food-wise. Capitalizing on the big selection in the store, I paired up with another group member to buy a rotisserie chicken, roasted potatoes, and two sticks of bread for about 5 Euros a person- a great deal in one of the most expensive cities we have visited thus far. One thing we forgot to buy with our meal was forks, so we ended up sitting in a park tearing at the chicken with our hands. We caught a few laughs from passersby, but it didn’t bother us as we enjoyed the delicious and cheap meal.

Rialto Bridge

To round out the afternoon we were released to tour the city on our own. Similar to the day before, a couple of us walked around somewhat aimlessly. We ended up walking all the way to the Rialto Bridge, one of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal in Venice. Similar to the Ponte Vechio bridge in Florence, the Rialto Bridge had a bunch of shops on the actual bridge. After glancing in the different shops I was finally able to find a few non-touristy presents for family. Presents in hand, I headed back to the hotel after a fun day in Venice.