Today I took my visiting sister to
Venice. I’m not sure how many times I have visited there now, but each time is
a new experience as different guests have desires to see different aspects of
Venice and Venetian culture.
This excursion may have been one of
the more pleasant visits I have experienced, simply for the fact that my neighbor watched
my LO all day and I got to experience Venice child free. I sat on the
train and took care of business instead of chasing my toddler up and down the
aisles. I didn’t have to wear a large sweaty backpack to carry him, or a
stroller (which we tried last time, and with all of the bridges in Venice, that
was a miserable experience. Venice is NOT handicap or stroller friendly…) And
when lunch time rolled around and the family next to us had a child melting
down and screaming, I got to happily munch my Panini and be thankful to be
child free. I don't think I'll be returning with children to Venice any time soon...
My sister
is not one for historic buildings or touring museums, which is a nice change
for me because I’ve certainly done those a few times. Instead, she wanted to
visit the bookstores of Venice. This was a unique experience all it’s own, as
the pictures show below. We stopped at several bookshops, which have been
around for many years and held very old books, but our favorite was the Acqua
Alta Bookshop.
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| This bookstore can be found at: and is open from 9:00 am - 8:00 pm daily. |
The Bookshop’s interior had several narrow adjoining rooms,
overflowing with books. What made this shop stand out was not it’s assortment
of both new and old books, nor the amount or genre range they spanned, but how
they were stored.
All of the books were
piled into boats, barrels, and even tubs! Some smaller wooden boats were turned side ways and mounted onto the walls, an interesting twist on book shelving!
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| What bookstore would be complete without the bookstore cat? |
The bookshop had an opening right
onto the water (as seen in the picture left), and I am unsure whether or not the books are all stored this
way to protect them in case of flood (which is frequent in the Venice rainy
season, and the water level in July was already RIGHT at the bookstore's edge!), or if it’s solely to attract visitors and make this quirky bookstore
stand out amongst the rest. Regardless of the reason, it was certainly fun to
explore.
The open air nook for reading right on the water was a peaceful and enjoyable way to pass the time. We also got to wave at the curious tourists taking gondola rides as they passed by the opening.
Through one of the bookshop's exits is a courtyard, and in this courtyard the bookshop has piled, strung, and glued together numerous books to make a large, colorful, book wall (The Great Book Wall of Venice? ha!) And one can reach the top of the book wall by a book stair case on either side. Atop the weathered book staircase, you can walk along the book wall and overlook one of the Venice canals.
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| Here my sister lounges atop the large book staircase, browsing through the Italian version of Harry Potter. She ended up purchasing the unique book as a souvenir of her time there. The Italian version seemed quite a bit different than the English versions I have seen, and the pictures were drawn in an Italian style and all the characters had Italian looks and hair cuts. It was a good laugh! |
We did stop in San Marco Square,
and also crossed the ever-crowded Rialto Bridge and later viewed the Bridge of
Sighs, but visiting the bookshops had been a new adventure, one not packed with
tourists like the more popular stops, and it was a good change of pace to pick
a less traversed and desired part of Venice to explore.
No matter how many times I have done
Venice, each visit always seems to end the same: with me and the guests running
across the island to catch the next train. My sister and I caught our train
home with a few seconds to spare. I have found
that towing bags and not knowing quite where one is going, it takes us an
average of 40 minutes to jog from San Marco Square to the train station (just in case you ever happen to be in that situation... there is my time estimate for you).
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| My sister, unbeknownst to me, quickly snapped this pic as of me leading the way as we wove down narrow alley streets towards our destination. |
It was about a 5-10 minute drive (roughly
3.5 km) from Lake Bled and the well-posted signage made it an easy find. Tip:
Drive past the restaurant for parking. Some people see the rows of parking and
cars lined on the side of the road as a sign that it’s a really packed day and
decide to park at the first spot they see and walk from there, however if you
drive past the restaurant to the gorge entrance, there is plenty of parking
spaces and you don’t have to walk the whole distance. 
