Venice ~ A Little of This, A Little of That

Post 3 of our trip to Venice.  I took a lot of pictures — it's Venice, after all.
Post 1: Venice ~ La Serenissima
Post 2: Burano ~ In Living Color

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Saturday afternoon, 23 December

After a morning in Burano, we resumed our Venetian exploration.

Scuola Grande di San Marco (Great School of St. Mark) is the main public hospital of Venice.

The building is known for the technique of trompe l'œil which the artists used to create an optical illusion on its facade. We didn't go inside, but apparently it boasts a medical museum on the first floor.

Note the "colonnades" that flank the actual doors.

Towing services

Visited Libreria Acqua Alta, the High Water Bookstore,

"Welcome to the most beautiful Bookshop in the World"

which acknowledges and honors the city's propensity to flood,

by storing books in boats and bathtubs.

They even made creative use of some waterlogged tomes to build a staircase on the back terrace.  Customers are invited to climb them and sneak a peek at the canal.

Don't fret about the books — they're old encyclopedias.

Seems like an apt use for them.

I have to admit, I've soaked a book or two when I have tried to read in the tub. Inevitably I'll nod off mid-sentence.

But here the bathtubs are the dry havens for pulp and bindings.

Everything is crammed in and up.

A fork in the canal ~ the flag from the terrace of Libreria Acqua Alta is just above the boat on the right. 

Pastry break

Humans! You, too, could sport Venice's latest look.

Ponte di Rialto

"Ei! Antonio!"

Humans of Venice, no. 7

Stopped by a church for some high culture.

Photo source here.

The Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari is a Franciscan church that is loaded with artwork. It features several pieces by Titian, and the artist himself is buried here.

Entrance to the choir loft 

Monument for Doge Giovanni Pesaro by Longhena, Barthel, & Falcone (1660-69)

Seems to be missing his bow.

The Frari's centerpiece is Titian's Assumption of the Virgin (1516-18)

And a close-up.

Wooden Choir (1468)

Madonna Ca' Pesaro by Titian (1519-26)

Monument to Titian by Luigi, Pietro & Zandomeneghi (1843-52)

Madonna with Franciscan Saints by Bernardino Licinio (1535)

Not part of the Frari collection.

Next stop:

Charming hands-on museum that highlights da Vinci's creations.

Gives you a chance to recreate them yourself.

Garrett went one better than he and Karl had done together.

Da Vinci's tank design took its inspiration from a turtle's shell.

Dome design

Checked out some masks.

Steampunk Unicorn

And finally, for a little low culture, we attempted an escape room. Unfamiliar with escape rooms? I'll let Wikipedia fill in the details. (You're welcome, Mom.)

This started out promising enough. We were given instructions to arrive at the door to the facility. Then we had to work out a puzzle sent by email to get to a code to open the door.

Got it.

Once we were inside, however, it kind of fell apart. We knew it would be tough (the room boasted a ridiculously low success rate), but we hoped it would follow a theme and make sense. It didn't really. Ah, well. It was amusing.

Off to dinner.

Buon appetito!

Next up: Buon Natale da Venezia