I was in Venice the week my family usually goes to the beach, so it was really refreshing to be able to be on the water so much; my hostel was on Giudecca, which required a taxi-boat to get to most of the attractions of the city.
I was there primarily for the Architecture Biennale, directed this year by Rem Koolhaas, friend of the blog, which was fascinating and overwhelming. I spent approximately 12 hours there over the course of two days and didn't manage to see everything. The exhibition reduced architecture to a seried of 15 elements chronicling their acquisition of "degree[s] of consciousness" via the incorporation of digital technology. I felt more hopeful about the developments showcased there than the apocalyptic tone of the exhibition catalog indicated Mr. Koolhaas did.
Apart from the Biennale was a lot of wandering. I got lost a few times, but was lucky enough to find out that my phone was able to track my location despite my not having access to mobile data, so I was rarely out of danger.
