Lorenzo Quinn’s “Building Bridges”

We had a plan… first stop today was Lorenzo Quinn’s sculpture “Building Bridges.” We knew our vaporetto stop…the driver swooped into the stop and out again without opening the gate🤷‍♀️… we watched our stop fade away. We were determined to see that piece of art so we perservered. It’s in a pretty obscure part of Venice, definitely not anywhere a tourist would just happen upon it, so you really have to want to see it, which we did. It’s quite spectacular, and I’m thinking our country might want to commission this artist to find a spot for it in the US. The sculpture has 6 pairs of monumental hands that arch over a waterway, forming a bridge to symbolize the 6 universal human values of Friendship, Wisdom, Help, Faith, Hope, and Love. Its aim is to convey a message of unity, commonality and the need to bridge differences in a divided world. Spectacular.

We’re having a good attitude about the transportation misses… it just adds to the adventure. After the sculpture we went to the Libreria Acqua Alta, self proclaimed “the most beautiful bookstore in the world,” a quirky packed-to-the ceiling in every room, bookstore that draws a few too many people these days. It has apparently suffered from frequent flooding over the years, so their books are up high off the ground or in bathtubs, bins, and even a full-sized gondola. Along with piles of swollen water-logged books. It was packed, so we moved to the back patio, climbed the stack of books and had a photo taken and scooted out the side door. Then off to the Rialto (have to see it) after a cicchetti stop, photo taken and back to weaving through the narrow streets. We read there was a secret good luck charm in a location in St Mark’s square, so we followed the instructions to no avail. We googled it and learned we’d been fooled… it’s just a legend and we fell for it. We had a successful vaporetto transport back to our apartment and made a delicious risotto dinner and made a plan for tomorrow…. A day of relative rest. Beach day on Lido Island. We’re all looking forward to our fitbits NOT jumping for joy at 10,000 steps tomorrow!!Read more