Venice, Day Two

Venice, Italy 

Starting the day with a quick water bus ride to the Gallerie dell'Accademia, we peered intensely at many of Leonardo da Vinci's doodles and sketches. We had seen advertisements for this exhibition all around Venice and our visit to the city happened to coincide. Quite fortuitous really. Wandering from room to room, we were amazed that we were able to see so much of his work in one place. His sketches were mounted in glass panes, allowing us to view both sides. Leo worked quite messily; he had used up all the available space on some pages, scribbling images and notes. Also, Vitruvian Man! 

After spending so long in the da Vinci section of the museum, we were incredibly hungry, but food was verboten. We hid from the security guard in a stairwell and tried not to crinkle the wrappers as we ate our muesli bars. I think he saw me at one point, so I quickly crammed the half-eaten snack into my handbag. 

Finding a place for lunch wasn't difficult, but finding a seat in such a place was. We were told that they did have a table free, but it was in the back room. Thinking that it wouldn't be so bad as long as the food made up for it, we agreed. What we got was a little table next to all the wines. It had a cellary feel about it, and we didn't regret for a second not being able to sit outside. 

I found it so strange that buildings just dropped like a cliff into the water.

We went to see this crazy spiral staircase in a palazzo, but it was closed so we sneakily photographed it through the railings. 

The were several towers on a slightly worrying angle in Venice. 

We went in search of this one's base and ended up in this quiet dead-end canal. 

One church had posters outside advertising a musical exhibition. Upon entering, we discovered that it was filled with an array of old string instruments. It turns out that this was Vivaldi's favourite church.

In the distance you can see one of the huge cruise ships that were harboured here. The cruise ships are in fact a major problem for Venice because the wash they generate churns up the lagoon bed, causing erosion that is harmful to the city. 

The night ended with pizza al taglio for dinner from a tiny pizzeria that had a queue out the door. We ate on a park bench in the square, watching rowdy Italians throw around colourful glow sticks.

Venice, Day Three