June 11: Venezia (Venice)

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Ah Venice - the fairytale city. Stepping out of the train station was really stepping into another world. A world of narrow streets and arches and streets cut short by canals.

The Grand Canal, just outside S. Lucia station

MASK SHOP - the owner's whole family was in the business of making these masks, traditionally for Carnaval but also for tourists. We watched as he hand-painted masks, with Mozart's Clarinet Concerto playing in the background!

ST. MARKS CATHEDRAL - such intricate details (not really pictured)! Stunning!

OSTERIA DAI RICCIO PEOCO - a small local cafe (operating with one fryer behind the bar!)

  • Sarde in saor - fried sardines, lightly dressed and served with salad. Slightly disappointed because was expecting it to be agrodulce with pine nuts, raisins, vinegar onions
  • Baccala mantecato - salted cod made into a dip. Very creamy and savory. Both this and the sarde was served with grilled polenta cakes, which were rather firm and hinter of corn.
  • Fritto misto
  • Crudo e melone
Places to try next time: Cantina do Spado, Osteria Bancogiro, Osteria al Portego, Trattoria alla Rampa, Trattoria Al Gatto Nero (a little farther out), Ristorante della Marisa (farther out)

PASTRIES
What I wanted to try, but we didn't have time :(

Almond cake in pastry crust, not too sweet!
Glazed almonds on top add toastiness that enhances flavor and texture

MODERN ART
We visited some free outdoor spaces with cool sculptures, as well as Il Latte Dei Sogni (The Milk of Dreams) which is a modern art museum. The museum had a main building, as well as many smaller buildings surrounding it. Each of the smaller houses featured an artist from a different country. It was very cool to see diverse perspectives in the form of art, although we didn't get to see them all.


Some interesting leaning trees in the Gorilla Garden
There were some larger and smaller ones too


The South Korean was great for my MechE friends!
It took advantage of a lot of fluid dynamics, etc. and turned it into cool art.
There were pumps and reflections and cool fluids and topologies.
Photos don't do it justice.

FERRY - We took the ferry back to the train station. The most interesting part of the experience was not the boat ride, but rather waiting for the boat. The dock was essentially a boat in itself, so we were really one with the waves :)) and some of us got seasick before even stepping foot on the ferry.


Thank you, Venice, for the fun and whimsical time!

Laura being a great tourist,
trying to take nice photos of Bridge Realto,
and me being a great friend.

What's the magic password?
We thought maybe there was more to this wall
than met the eye at the end of a mystical alley/





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