Venice, Italy

I love Venice ... despite the hoards of tourists and the overcommercialization of it all, I still love it. It is just full of these tiny winding streets that are so narrow that you have to walk single file, that suddenly open onto these gorgeous unexpected piazzas, or onto beautiful bridges over hidden canals. And the sky seems so much more luminous that I have ever seen it, it must be the combination of the sea and the mountains ...

Oh dear, I just waxed poetic. This is probably a bad sign ... let me just skip on to the pictures:

Here's a veiw of the grand canal from a Vaporetti*

(*that's a Venetian "bus" which of course is actually a boat)

And here's Bridget, enjoying the canal ride

We also visited Piazza San Marco, which was completely huge, and filled with people and pidgeons. Actually, I think there were more pidgeons than people, they just take up less room...

Here's the view of the Doge's palace from the balcony of St. Mark's Basilica:

And me, on top of St. Marks

The Basilica was really cool, by the way, it is done in a Byzantine style (which means lots of mosaics and gold) and the floor which is done in a beautiful marble pattern is actually WAVEY because it is sinking into the lagoon. This makes a very interesting visiting experience, especially in the half-light of the church...