Venice: the original Disney Land

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Hi Everyone!
Here is an excerpt from my journal for Venice.

August 21, 2009
Today I am in Venice. I love Venice in the sense that it is the most unique place I have ever seen. I can’t believe that it has been around for so many years. Rick Steves sais that it has been a tourist destination since the 14th century and I can imagine there is truth behind that. Its like the original Disneyland. A magical man-made oasis. Venice it a city on a man-made island. It is in a lagoon that has been engineered by humans to drain the water through a system of canals. These canals seem to have formed naturally because there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to them. And while the island is small and can be traversed by foot in about an hour it is very easy to get lost and turned around. A good map is crucial. Venice is an entirely pedestrian city. There is a 2 mile bridge that connects the island of Venice to the mainland and cars and buses converge on Piazza Roma where there are parking garages, but traffic goes no further. You must walk. I can see why everything is so expensive to buy in the shops around Venice as everything has to be hand carried from the Campo Roma or off a boat to the inland shop. I wonder how ambulances can get to people who are having a medical emergency. They must have to stop the ambulance at Campo Roma and walk in and carry the person out by hand. I have heard that they have fire department boats, so they probably have ambulance boats.
You are not supposed to picnic anywhere on the island except the parks. There are signs up all over, where ever there are seat-like ledges that you aren’t supposed to sit and/or eat. I usually just eat as I walk or find an empty alley. If you try to sit on the bridge steps you will get trampled. I find it difficult to site-see here. There is no where to pause and relax. It is one never ending concrete maze.
I arrived on the 19th and got on the wrong bus to Venice and ended up not even getting off the mainland. I found some food and shopped some.
On the 20th I spend the day getting lost on the island. I eventually found San Marco piazza. It was difficult. The way the Grand canal snakes around it is easy to get turned around and think you are one side when you are on the other. It is hard for me to consult my map because the street names are abbreviated. It was given to me by a fellow traveler who said it was crucial to have a map.

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Photos

Murano island
Where the famous glass is made, also home to the glass museum.

window costumes
Carnivale which is the celebration before lent is a Venice tradition that drives locals away to make room for the tourists.

View from Academy bridge
Academy bridge is a wooden spanning the Grand Canal and it leads to the Academy of arts.

Vapopretto
the public transport boats that run down the Grand Canal and from the main island of Venice to the other islands in the lagoon.

The Symbol of Saint Mark
The patron saint of Venice.

This is the chuch on the cemetery island
Apparently this entire island in the lagoon is dedicated to a cemetery.

Boat route map
The shape of the islands are exaggerated a bit, but see how Venice looks like a fish.

Ghetto
This is the center of the original Jewish Ghetto. All the Venetian Jews were required to live in this area (which was a gated community) and wear yellow hats when ever they went anywhere so that everyone would know they were Jewish.

Statue of Saint Theodore
This statue is on top of high column on San Marco Piazza

Saint Mark's symbol
statue of the winged lion on San Marco piazza.

connecting bridge
This bridge connects the dodge palace where trials were held with the neighboring prison. Unfortunately you can't really see buildings as they are covered with advertising for a department store named Coin.