If you like to know how things work, you're a boat-lover, or have small children to entertain, you'll be interested in the different types of boat which plough through the waters and canals of Venice and its lagoon.Apart from the car parks by the mainland bridge, and a private port area, all transport in Venice is by boat. And the more you think about it, the more difficulties that represents. Deliveries, emergency services, taxis - everything that is done on wheels in other cities must here be done by boat.So boats are a major part of everyday life, not just for passenger transport but for pretty much everything else too. This is very helpful for parents with children - architecture and churches might get boring, but who can get bored of boat-spotting? You could try setting your children challenges to spot as many of the following types of boat as possible.Delivery barges are the most common kind of utility vehicle you'll see. Big delivery firms like DHL and UPS have their own liveried boats. Other barges will pass by stacked with anything from casks of wine to shoeboxes. Some have freezers to transport cold food and drink. Once goods get as near to their destination as the canals permit, they are unloaded and wheeled on handcarts through the lanes to their destination. You can often watch shop merchandise being unloaded right alongside the Rialto Bridge. Barges are used for everything: trees and shrubs being delivered, a grand piano being unloaded outside a Grand Canal palazzo, domestic furniture, boxes of computers and much more.