Many have said that a tourist in Venice can wander the tangled streets and alleys of this ancient city lost for hours in search of a destination. They should say it louder. The street maps squeeze 47-character Italian names onto each represented alley in 4-point type, making a high-powered magnifying glass a requirement to determine that street names on any map have little in common with the names posted on the sides of buildings. 80% of streets are deadends and several bridges serve only one large building. Such is Venice’s charm.

There are alleys in Venice so narrow that Walmart shoppers can only navigate them with hired flagmen at each end to prevent blockage.

Our hotel, when located, turned out to be quite charming.

A siting room on every floor.

We bravely left our luggage, after a quick shower, and headed out for dinner and a stroll about town, certain to get lost again. In that regard, Venice never disappoints. Nevertheless, it was wonderful to see St. Mark’s Square in after dark:

A place to gather

You might be able to see a blue spec in the upper left sky. It is a strange new toy that is being flogged in all the open squares. A slingshot-like device hurls it far into the air. An on-board light traces the gentle fall to earth using some spinning mechanism that acts much like the seed of a maple tree.