Photos from an architectural exhibit in Venice

On one of our Venice days, we were riding the slow vaporetto down the Grand Canal while listening to Rick Steves's guided tour when the woman sitting next to us asked us what Ben's iPhone was. We explained, and then we explained that we were listening to podcast tours of the canal and its surrounding buildings. She said that she knew we were Americans because of my "bracelet"--a black hair elastic that never leaves my wrist. She had its twin--they were even frayed and stretched in the same part.

The woman, from LA, was in Venice with her husband to celebrate her fiftieth birthday. Several months prior, he had offered her a party or a trip, and she wisely chose the vacation (who would choose the party??). We swapped stories--Yoko Ono and Julian Lennon had walked into their lunch eatery that day; and we had taken a gondola ride the evening before for our anniversary. She wanted to take a ride but her husband was unconvinced, so Ben offered his manly impressions of the experience in an effort to help her convince him.

We were on the boat for a pleasure cruise, but she was heading in the direction of an architecture exhibit that was in town. She said that it originally came from the United States and was supposed to be interesting.

Several days later, for our last full day in Venice, I asked Ben to pick the activity for the day, and he chose the architecture exhibit, so off we went to an abandoned building far from the crowds of St. Mark's Square for some modern art exhibits that were among the coolest we saw our entire trip.

The guidemap said that the exhibit was about more than just structures--it was about art and life and materials and who knows what else (art exhibits are always about something more than they seem to be). It was a cool walk-through experience with lots of photo-taking opportunities--here are a few of my favorites.